By TIM UNRUH
Salina Airport Authority
A knack for accurately sharing Salina Airport Authority bookkeeping in ways that are consistent and understandable, has won high praise for Shelli Swanson and her team.
The SAA was awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2019, from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. Director of Administration and Finance Shelli Swanson, Business and Communications Manager Kasey Windhorst and Airport Administration Specialist Jazstyn Moyer were recognized for their financial reporting achievements.
“It’s nice to get some feedback. You find out where you stack up with your contemporaries,” said Swanson, the airport authority’s director of administration and finance, in her 25th year.
“It’s a team effort. Everything has to pencil out,” she said, crediting colleagues Kasey Windhorst and Jazstyn Moyer for their help in meeting and exceeding the lofty compliance.
“The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management,” GFOA reported in the award announcement.
“It’s very worthwhile. We look at financial statements no less than monthly, and it’s nice to have your peers grade your statements,” Swanson said. She is also a Certified Member (C.M.) of the American Association of Airport Executives.
Conformity among government agencies, and efficient form of communicating facts to the public, are essential, she said, agreeing to the necessity for an “apples to apples” comparison.
It’s about communication and integrity, Swanson said, and interpreting what’s on paper.
“If you’re recording something, another entity has to record in similar fashion,” she said. “One of the goals is that spirit of full disclosure.”
High praise in this area for Swanson and her associates “is not at all surprising,” said Kristin Gunn, who chairs the airport authority board.
“Shelli is able to handle not only the more typical and anticipated accounting tasks, but also to respond promptly, competently and cheerfully to the many opportunities and challenges that arise,” Gunn said. “She has the unique ability to discuss accounting practices with a CPA as well as with the general public. For Shelli, no task is too large or too small to address in a timely and professional manner."
Another advantage of the GFOA is receiving notices of how accounting standards are going to change, so that the agency you represent stays up with the times.
“You have to stay on the cutting edge,” Swanson said. “You have to keep up to date on best practices in communicating our finances.”
Financial reports to the board are her responsibility, and they’re a mainstay at most board gatherings.
“Sometimes numbers aren’t the most interesting thing to talk about,” Swanson said, “so to get recognition like this is very rewarding.”
. . .
The above story is republished with permission from the Salina Airport Authority.