Fiscal Experts
Catherine Romero, CPA:
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Background:
Fiscal Consultant: For county and city departments of human and social
services, housing, community development, administration and fiscal
services, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Malibu, Simi Valley, Long
Beach, Ventura and Modoc.
Lecturer: Develops hands-on workbooks and teaches accounting,
auditing, budgeting, and financial management to government and not-for-
profit sub-grantee directors, program, administration, and fiscal staff
members who are responsible for maintaining compliance and reporting
on HUD, CDBG, HHS, EPA, DOL, DOD, and other federally funded
projects.
Certified Public Accountant: Sole proprietor of a public accounting
practice since 1985. Specializes in Government and Not-for-Profit
agencies. Current active CPA license expires in 2008.
Knowledge of:
County Expense Claim (CEC)
Time Studies
Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
Fiscal operations
Budgets – Allocations, Appropriations, and related analytical tools
Financial reports, and related analytical tools
Policies, procedures, and related standard forms
Fiscal systems – selection, implementation and training
Internal control systems
Funding compliance and reporting requirements – program and fiscal
Operational audits and process reviews to
Increase efficiencies
Reduce costs, redundancies, and waste
Ensure program and reporting compliance
Staff training
Accounting and Fiscal Management
Auditing
Budgeting
Strategic planning and implementation
Benchmarking
Performance Measurements
Consulting Projects:
Redesigned the Fiscal Services Department for a County Human
Services Agency. Developed meaningful financial reports and a new
budget methodology; created a functional organizational structure and
mapped all fiscal operations; reviewed and updated internal controls,
wrote policies and procedures, created standard forms; developed
analytical and decision-making tools or work papers for general
accounting, the County Expense Claim, and the Workforce Investment Act;
provided basic accounting, auditing and budgeting training to all staff;
prepared account analysis and correcting journal entries for backlogged
accounting tasks.
Redesigned the operational and administrative systems of a low-income
senior housing program. Used fiscal and operational audit techniques to
discover and eliminate program waste and inefficiencies. The program
now serves 35% more constituents without an increase in program
funding.
Conducted a forensic audit for the City of Los Angeles and HUD on a
partnership receiving funding for a $22 million construction project.
Documented deviations from mandatory HUD regulations, City
contractual agreements, and tax compliance requirements.
Developed a fiscal and operational audit program for the City of San
Francisco’s Office of Community Development to enable program
monitors to track the operations and ensure program compliance of their
not-for-profit sub-grantees.
Conducted a process review of the computer, manual, and reporting
systems of the City of Los Angeles, Housing Department’s Administrative
Services Section. Recommended to the Mayor’s Office numerous clerical
changes to improve efficiencies, cut redundancies, and streamline
internal and external reporting.
Fiscal Consultant: For county and city departments of human and social
services, housing, community development, administration and fiscal
services, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Malibu, Simi Valley, Long
Beach, Ventura and Modoc.
Lecturer: Develops hands-on workbooks and teaches accounting,
auditing, budgeting, and financial management to government and not-for-
profit sub-grantee directors, program, administration, and fiscal staff
members who are responsible for maintaining compliance and reporting
on HUD, CDBG, HHS, EPA, DOL, DOD, and other federally funded
projects.
Certified Public Accountant: Sole proprietor of a public accounting
practice since 1985. Specializes in Government and Not-for-Profit
agencies. Current active CPA license expires in 2008.
Knowledge of:
County Expense Claim (CEC)
Time Studies
Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
Fiscal operations
Budgets – Allocations, Appropriations, and related analytical tools
Financial reports, and related analytical tools
Policies, procedures, and related standard forms
Fiscal systems – selection, implementation and training
Internal control systems
Funding compliance and reporting requirements – program and fiscal
Operational audits and process reviews to
Increase efficiencies
Reduce costs, redundancies, and waste
Ensure program and reporting compliance
Staff training
Accounting and Fiscal Management
Auditing
Budgeting
Strategic planning and implementation
Benchmarking
Performance Measurements
Consulting Projects:
Redesigned the Fiscal Services Department for a County Human
Services Agency. Developed meaningful financial reports and a new
budget methodology; created a functional organizational structure and
mapped all fiscal operations; reviewed and updated internal controls,
wrote policies and procedures, created standard forms; developed
analytical and decision-making tools or work papers for general
accounting, the County Expense Claim, and the Workforce Investment Act;
provided basic accounting, auditing and budgeting training to all staff;
prepared account analysis and correcting journal entries for backlogged
accounting tasks.
Redesigned the operational and administrative systems of a low-income
senior housing program. Used fiscal and operational audit techniques to
discover and eliminate program waste and inefficiencies. The program
now serves 35% more constituents without an increase in program
funding.
Conducted a forensic audit for the City of Los Angeles and HUD on a
partnership receiving funding for a $22 million construction project.
Documented deviations from mandatory HUD regulations, City
contractual agreements, and tax compliance requirements.
Developed a fiscal and operational audit program for the City of San
Francisco’s Office of Community Development to enable program
monitors to track the operations and ensure program compliance of their
not-for-profit sub-grantees.
Conducted a process review of the computer, manual, and reporting
systems of the City of Los Angeles, Housing Department’s Administrative
Services Section. Recommended to the Mayor’s Office numerous clerical
changes to improve efficiencies, cut redundancies, and streamline
internal and external reporting.