KENNETH (KEN) A. SMITH
Assistant Professor of Accounting
B.A., Anderson University
M.B.A., Ball State University
Ph.D., University of Missouri
Certified Public Accountant (CPA, California)

EML:  smithk@willamette.edu

“It takes skill and practice to identify when accounting issues are the center of a problem and when they are not. The Atkinson School curriculum gives students the knowledge and experience they need to know the difference.”

Kenneth A. Smith, Ph.D., CPA, a founding member of AGA’s Mid-Willamette Valley Chapter, is an assistant professor of accounting at Willamette University. He serves as the academic adviser to AGA’s SEA Certificate Program.

Professor Ken Smith is a regular contributor to the Association of Government Accountants. His blog postings include his work on performance reporting:

• Read Professor Smith's Blog on "Help for Performance Reporters" (March 23, 2009)
• Read Professor Smith's Blog on "Using Web 2.0 to Learn" (July 25, 2008)
• Read Professor Smith's Blog on "Performance Reporting" (June 5, 2008)

Other Media:

Read Ken Smith's recent interview by the Association for Government Accountants

Read the article by Professor Smith in B2B Magazine

Accounting information provides insight for all managerial decisions, but is most useful when integrated with the other management tools. It takes skill and practice to identify when accounting issues are the center of a problem and when they are not. The Atkinson School curriculum gives students the knowledge and experience they need to know the difference.

It's important that professors understand real people and real money to bring relevancy to the classroom. My experience includes owning a small business, serving as Executive Director of a non-profit and auditing/consulting with large and small governmental and business organizations. I invest my time, experience, and education in our students. But then comes the return on investment; Atkinson grads do wonderful things.

Non-financial performance measures (aka balanced scorecard) and information systems in governmental entities

Certified Public Accountant (CPA), American Accounting Association – Government Non-Profit Section (Membership Chair), Government Finance Officers Association, Former Owner “Best Kept Secrets”, Former Executive Director of “Wheels For Humanity” – an international human services organization.

Executive Committee - Oregon Public Performance Measurement Association (OPPMA)

AGA Audio Conference – March 25, 2009 with Sam McCall “SEA: Taking Accountability and Transparency to a New Level”.

PPMRN (Public Performance Measurement and Reporting Network) – January 2009

“Government Performance Reforms and Non-Profit Human Services: 20 Years in Oregon” - October 2008

AGA Audio Conference – December 10, 2008 with John Webster and John Radford “21st Century Financial Managers: A New Mix of Skills and Educational Levels”

Testimony to the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) regarding “Request for Response: Suggested Guidelines for Voluntary Reporting of SEA Performance Information”.  Chair of 7 person committee.  Testified via teleconference November 14, 2008.

AGA National Performance Management Conference – Luncheon Keynote, Seattle, WA October 2008 “Local Government Performance Reporting: Howz that werkin’ fer ya?!?”

Panel Organizer and Moderator: “Accounting and Auditing Standards for Government Performance Reporting”, American Accounting Association annual meeting, Anaheim, August 2008 (panelists represented IIA, AGA, GASB, and academia)

Testimony to the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) regarding revisions to Concepts Statement No. 2 on “Service Efforts and Accomplishments Reporting”.  Atlanta, GA.  July, 2008

Performance Measurement & Management Training.  Organized and moderated 1-day training for over 100 persons with 9 invited guest speakers.  Co-sponsored by Willamette University Center for Governance and Public Policy and the Oregon Public Performance Measurement Association (OPPMA). July 2008.

“Online Performance Reporting”
              *American Accounting Association – Government/Nonprofit mid-year meeting at GASB headquarters – Stamford, CT, February 2007
              *CIGAR conference (Comparative International Governmental Accounting Research), Coimbra, Portugal, June 2007
              *American Accounting Association - annual meeting, Chicago, IL, August 2007.
              *Association of Budgeting and Financial Management annual meeting, Washington, DC, October, 2007.
              *Public Performance Measurement Reporting Network – 1st annual Conference, Rutgers, NJ, November 2007.

“Tone at the Top: How it reduces fraud”
              AGA Spring Conference – Wilsonville, OR – April 2008
              IIA Western Regional Conference – Portland, OR – August 2007
              Institute of Internal Auditors – Monthly Meeting – Salem, OR – April 2007

“21st Century Financial Managers: A New Mix of Skills and Educational Levels” AGA – National Professional Development Conference – Nashville, TN – June 2007

Panel organizer: “Reporting Performance Measures” American Accounting Association annual meeting, Washington DC, August 2006 (only panel accepted in the Government and Non-profit area – panelists represented AGA, GASB, KPMG and academia).

“Auditing Performance Measures”  2-day Continuing Education for Salem Chapter of Institute of Internal Auditors. August 1-2, 2006.

Panel organizer & Moderator: “Government Accounting Standards Board: Views on Performance Reporting” – with Jay Fountain and Wilson Campbell. July 19, 2006.

“Fraud Examination (& Prevention)”, presented to Association of Government Accountants, Salem Chapter, June 2006.

“Assessing Reforms of Government Accounting and Budgeting,” (with R. Cheng) Public Performance and Management Review, September 2006, 30(1): 10-30.

“How does the Media Report on Government Performance?” (with Lee Schiffel) Journal of Government Financial Management, Fall 2006, 54(3): 19-23.

"The Looming Crisis in Governmental Accounting Education." (with Lee Schiffel) Journal of Government Financial Management, Summer 2006, 55 (2): 26-32.

“The Intersection of Accounting and Local Government Performance Measurement," Public Financial Management, 2006, edited by Howard Frank, Taylor and Francis, pp. 579-615.

“Voluntarily Reporting Performance Measures to the Public: A Test of Accounting Reports from U.S. Cities”, International Public Management Journal, 2004.

“Government Financial Reporting on the Internet: The Potential Revolutionary Effects of XBRL” (with M. Abdolmohammadi and J. Harris), Journal of Government Financial Management, 2002.

“XML: A Technology Tool for Today's Public Manager?” (with M. Abdolmohammadi and J. Harris), Government Finance Review, 2001.