2015 program for Website.indd - Kansas Electric Cooperatives

Kansas Rural Electric Cooperative
Accountant’s Association
76th Annual
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
October 21-23, 2015
Preston Family Room
Memorial Union Building
Emporia State University
1331 Market Street
Emporia, Kansas
Agenda
Wednesday, October 21
5:30-7:30 p.m. Social/Mixer
First floor meeting room, Holiday Inn Express
Thursday, October 22
8:00-8:30Registration
8:30-8:45 Welcome & Introduction
8:45-9:45 Connie Bolz, Enterprise Solutions Support Manager,
National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC)
9:45-10:15 Mike Lewis & Aameer Arshad, Regional Vice President,
National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. (NRUCFC)
10:15-10:30 Break & Door Prizes 10:30-11:15 George Durler, Professor of Accounting, Emporia State University
11:15-12:00 June Coleman/Student Panel, Director of Career Services,
Emporia State University
12:00 Noon Lunch
1:15-2:00 Lindsay Bays & Jayme Gillund, Master Licensed Professional
Counselors, Corner House, Inc.
2:00-2:30 Graham Kaiser, Relationship Manager, Co-Bank
2:30-2:45 Break & Door Prizes
2:45-3:15 Patrice Petersen-Klein, General Field Representative,
Rural Utilities Service (RUS)
3:15-4:15 Kelvin Kelso, Managing Principal, Dreyer & Kelso, P.C., P.A.
4:15-4:45 Roger Cole, President, Kansas Rural Electric Cooperative
Accountant’s Association
-2-
7:30
South Pacific, performance by Emporia State University
Theatre Department. Albert Taylor Hall (1 Kellogg Circle)
Friday, October 23
8:00-8:15 Bob Hall, Director of Finance, Kansas Electric
Cooperatives, Inc. (KEC)
8:15-8:45 Marcia Kampling, Office Manager, Sedgwick County
Electric Cooperative
8:45-9:45 Susan Olander, Vice President & General Counsel,
Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange
9:45-10:00 Break & Door Prizes
10:00-11:00 Michelle Gordy, Field Representative, Insurance &
Financial Services, National Rural Electric Cooperative
Association (NRECA)
11:00-12:00 Susan Olander, Vice President & General Counsel,
Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange
Thank You to our Contributors
See page 8 for those who have helped
to make this meeting possible.
-3-
Minutes of the 75th Annual
KANSAS REC ACCOUNTANT’S CLUB MEETING
Wichita, Kansas
October 22, 23 & 24, 2014
The 75th annual Meeting of the Kansas REC Accountant’s Club was held at the Ambassador
Hotel in Wichita. A social/mixer was held the evening of October 22nd.
President Jacque Boyd called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. by welcoming 45 members
& guests.
Elena Larson, Rate and Financial Analyst with Power System Engineering, was the first speaker
of the day. She talked about net metering and renewable electricity generation. Wind and Solar
are leading the way in renewables. Industrial Distributed Generation (D.G.) is projected to grow
46% to 85% through 2016. Load growth is projected to slow due to higher prices and improved
efficiency. In such cases decreased sales means increased rates. Future rate design consideration
will be different because our fixed costs will remain the same even though kWh sales decrease.
PSE’s services include Utility Automation, Economic Research, Rates and Financial Planning.
Diane Espinoza, NRECA Benefit Service Representative, was the next speaker. She informed
the group that Michele Gordy has been named to replace Steve Newton when he retires in 2015.
The RS Plan prepayment has received nearly 1.8 billion dollars with 75% of co-ops participating. This has helped the immediate problem. The Cooperative and Small Employer Charity
Pension Flexibility Act has made RS plans Pension Protection Act exemption permanent so the
DRC is off the table.
There are no changes in base rates for 2015. Eight month billing will continue through 2015
but the goal is to eventually return to twelve month billing.
The 401(k) plan has taken a back burner because of RS issues so NRECA has done a study to
bring it back into focus.
Medical has been a hot topic for the past couple of years and they’ve seen medical rate
increases average 0% to 4%.
HSA and high deductible limits changed from $1,250 to $1,300. A new option this year is FSA
carry-over. Up to $500 in unused funds can be carried over to the next plan year OR the cooperative can choose to have a grace period, but both cannot be offered. HRA and FSA will have the
option of a debit card, but only 2 co-ops elected to adopt the debit card.
COBRA will be administered by UMR and is an option for NRECA medical plan participants.
NRECA is no longer offering Post-65 group plans.
Connie Bolz, NISC Enterprise Solutions Support Manager, gave an Accounting Business System (ABS) update. You can now set up controls to automatically populate Parts B – O of the
annual Form 7, although there may be issues with Part O. Connie will send out a document with
instructions on how to set up the controls. It can be exported over to CFC, but RUS isn’t automated and ready for it yet.
iVUE Budget – CFC Budget Pro pulls information for payroll, fleet management, material
inventory and other income and expense.
iVUE AppSuite is for your employees use to get information when they’re out in the field or
away from the office. There is a $1,200 one-time setup/install fee. It works with Android or iOS.
Kevin Kelso, Dreyer & Kelso, and Connie Bolz conducted a round table discussion on ways to
(continued on page 5)
-4-
(continued from page 4)
make the audit go smoothly and move toward paperless. Some suggestions were:
•Give your auditor sign-in capabilities to the system. Kevin wants only inquire and report
capabilities.
•Use General Ledger Transaction Extract
•Use Unbilled Revenue Calculation
•Reconcile subsidiary accounts monthly
•Schedule reconciling reports to process automatically
•Use revision history
Kevin also discussed leases and revenue recognition and loss contingencies.
Lunch was held at the hotel and sponsored by Federated, KEPCo and Sedgwick County Electric.
Seth Hart, CoBank Vice President, spoke about how global economy challenges affect interest rates. He said if anyone is interested in buying out of RUS debt he would be happy to take a
look at the numbers for your cooperative.
CoBank is now a participant in the REDLG program. One of the ways they’re focused on
giving back to rural America is their “Sharing Success” matching grant program.
Chance Hayes, National Weather Service Warning Coordinator Meteorologist, gave a presentation on Weathering the Storm and Reducing Risk. He pointed out that situational awareness
matters so get the information, understand the information and think ahead. Complacency kills
and you have to take personal responsibility for your safety. Stop thinking “it won’t happen to
me”!
The National Weather Service can come to your location to give safety talks.
Kim Christiansen, KEC Manager of Government Relations, presented a program on why coops should care about politics. Her first point was “What is Lobbying”? It is the art of persuading
political decision makers by advocating your point of view. Legislators need to be contacted
in order to do their job well. You are a voter in Kansas so even if you don’t know much about
government you should get involved. It’s a numbers game and you need an army on your side. If
YOU don’t do it SOMEONE ELSE will. It will only take as much of your time as you want it to. In
order to continue cooperative values and protect your lifestyle you must have a voice. Two ways
you can help – stay informed and support ACRE & KCRE.
The meeting was adjourned for the day. The group met in the hotel lobby that evening to
walk to the Looney Bin Comedy Club for dinner and entertainment.
The Friday morning session began at 8:30 a.m. with Bruce McAntee, KEC Loss Control & Safety Instructor, speaking about safety “off the job” vs. “on the job”. We conduct safety meetings at
work but too often safety at home isn’t addressed. His focus was fire safety.
•Grilling safety – keep kids & pets away from the grill until it is cool
•Place a grill 3’ away from the house or shrubs
•Check the propane tank & fuel lines for leaks
•Never bring grills indoors
•Keep matches & lighters out of sight & reach of children
•Talk to children about fire danger and fire safety
•If clothing catches on fire don’t run! Stop, Drop & Roll
•Chimney fires are the #1 cause for house fires. Don’t burn unseasoned wood and have
your chimney cleaned regularly
(continued on page 10)
-5-
2015 Accountant’s Association Membership
Officers
President................................................................Roger Cole
Vice-President.................................................... Kathy Lewis
Secretary/Treasurer.....................................Jodi Marsteller
Membership
Karen Steffen....................Ark Valley............................................ksteffen@arkvalley.com
Penny Wood......................Ark Valley..............................................pwood@arkvalley.com
Marla Marshall..................Bluestem.............................marlam@bluestemelectric.com
Angie Wilson.....................Brown-Atchison..............................awilson@baelectric.com
Sarah Madden...................Butler........................................................madden@butler.coop
Bonnie Campbell.............Caney Valey................................... bonnie@caneyvalley.com
Kitty Champlin.................Caney Valey...........................................cve@caneyvalley.com
Allissa Harshberger.........CMS......................................aharshberger@cmselectric.com
Chuck Martin....................CMS.................................................cmartin@cmselectric.com
Deanna Walters................D S & O.......................................... dwalters@dsoelectric.com
Judy Barten.........................D S & O............................................. jbarten@dsoelectric.com
Chuck Goeckel.................Flint Hills...........................................chuckg@flinthillsrec.com
Shirley Henton..................Flint Hills......................................... shirleyh@flinthillsrec.com
Angie Erickson..................Heartland.....................................angiee@heartland-rec.com
Penny Gilmore..................Heartland....................................pennyg@geartland-rec.com
Angela Howard.................KEC....................................................................ahoward@kec.org
Bob Hall...............................KEC............................................................................ bhall@kec.org
Coleen Wells.....................KEPCo................................................................cwells@kepco.org
Shari Koch...........................KEPCo................................................................ skoch@kepco.org
Stephanie Anderson......KEPCo.......................................................sanderson@kepco.org
Jessica Bryan......................Kaw Valley........................................................jessica@kve.coop
Michelle Meyer................Kaw Valley....................................................mkippes@kve.coop
Jodi Marsteller..................Lane-Scott......................... jodi.marsteller@lanescott.coop
Katherine Lewis................Lane-Scott................................ kathy.lewis@lanescott.coop
Julie Spielman....................Lyon-Coffey..................................... JulieS@lyon-coffey.coop
Ken Caudell........................Lyon-Coffey..................................... KenC@lyon-coffey.coop
-6-
2015 Accountant’s Association Membership
Lindsey Audiss..................Lyon-Coffey..............................LindseyA@lyon-coffey.coop
Roger Cole..........................Lyon-Coffey................................. RogerC@lyon-coffey.coop
Connie Grant.....................Midwest Energy .............................. cgrant@mwenergy.com
Donna Reidel.....................Midwest Energy .................. donnariedel@mwenergy.com
Paulla Harris.......................Midwest Energy ............................. pharris@mwenergy.com
Todd Gabel........................Midwest Energy ...............................tgabel@mwenergy.com
Justin R. Burdiek...............Nemaha-Marshall......jrburdiek@nemaha-marshall.coop
Shannon Jarmer................Ninnescah......................................... sjarmer@ninnescah.com
Chris Wagner.....................Pioneer Electric.................cwagner@pioneerelectric.coop
Kady Jackson......................Pioneer Electric................ kjackson@pioneerelectric.coop
Marley Koons....................Pioneer Electric..................mkoons@pioneerelectric.coop
Alisha Stark........................Prarieland...........................................................astark@ple.coop
Kirk Girard...........................Prarieland...........................kgirard@prairielandelectric.com
Monica Kats.......................Prarieland...........................................................mkats@ple.coop
Julie Dietz............................Rolling Hills..........................................jdietz@rollinghills.coop
Sherri Jeffery......................Rolling Hills......................................sjeffery@rollinghills.coop
Vonda Wakefield.............Rolling Hills..............................vwakefield@rolling hills.coop
Jacque Boyd.......................Sedgwick.................. jboyd@sedgwickcountyelectric.coop
Lora Alloway......................Sedgwick............ lalloway@sedgwickcountyelectric.coop
Marcia Kampling..............Sedgwick.......mkampling@sedgwickcountyelectric.coop
Jody Hodges......................Tri-County................................................... jhodges@tcec.coop
Karen Rintelmann............Tri-County..........................................krintelmann@tcec.coop
Rebecca Hanigan.............Twin Valley................... rhanigan@twinvalleyelectric.coop
Angela Unruh....................Victory...........................................angela@victoryelectric.net
Jennifer Gaut.....................Victory.........................................jennifer@victoryelectric.net
Melissa Ruiz.......................Victory......................................... melissa@victoryelectric.net
Monica Lampe..................Victory....................................... mlampe@victoryelectric.net
Steve Stecklein.................Victory............................................. Steve@victoryelectric.net
Ashley Garrett..................Western ......................................ashleyg@westerncoop.com
Janet Geist..........................Western ........................................janetg@westerncoop.com
Barbara Kirk........................Wheatland........................................................... bkirk@weci.net
Vince Strickler...................Wheatland.................................................vstrickler@weca.net
-7-
2015 Accountant’s Association Contributors
Co-Bank
Cooperative Response Center (CRC)
ElectriComm, Inc.
Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange
Kansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (KEC)
Kansas Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (KEPCo)
Kriz-Davis Company
Lyon-Coffey Electric Cooperative, Inc.
National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC)
Solida Tree Service, Inc
Sunflower Electric Power Corporation
The officers and members of the Kansas REC Accountant’s
Association would like to thank the above contributors. These
contributors help to make our meetings possible. We appreciate
their generosity.
-8-
KANSAS REC ACCOUNTANT’S CLUB
2014 Treasurer’s Report
Balance
Balance transferred from prior year $8,547.38
RECEIPTS:
Members Dues $ 2,550.00
Sponsor Contributions $ 800.00
Evening Activities
$864.00
Donation
$0.00
Reimbursement – Left Over Food
$0.00
Total Receipts $ 4,214.00
DISBURSEMENTS:
Debit Card Nat’l Engravers Winfield, Ill. (09/09/14) $52.14
(Plaque)
Debit Card Dillons (10/23/14) $9.81
(Food)
Debit Card Dillons (10/23/14) $111.16
(Food)
CK 1082
Jacque Boyd (10/24/14)$566.95
(Officer Room/Liquor)
Debit Card Live at 215 (10/27/14)$888.49
(Entertainment)
CK 1083
Lyon-Coffey Electric Co-op (10/28/14)$267.02
CK 1084
Lane-Scott Electric Co-op (10/28/14)$267.02
CK 1085
Ark Valley Electric Co-op (10/28/14)$54.00
(Officer Room)
(Officer Room)
(Reimburse Entertainment)
Debit Card Ambassador Hotel - Wichita (11/03/14)$5,207.97
(Meeting Room/Catering)
Total disbursements $ 7,424.56
Cash on Hand at December 31, 2014 $5,336.82
-9-
(continued from page 5)
•Maintain smoke detectors and test them once a month
•Have a plan! Most victims succumb to smoke & toxic gases. Have two exits out of each
room – arrange a meeting place – once you’re out, stay out!
Dawn Franta, underwriter with Federated, said claim counts have declined each year since
2007.
Federated has an online vehicle management tool you can use to update vehicle information
for purchases & sales. You can also print insurance cards for your vehicles.
Mike Lewis & Aamer Arshad, CFC Regional V.P. and Associate V.P., spoke about KRTA. It can
be used to help analyze system operations, highlight strengths & weaknesses, track positive &
negative trending and is a high level comparison to your peers.
What KRTA does do:
Provides analysis of multiple areas of business
Reflects unusual events
Provides a good place for directors & managers to begin asking questions
What KRTA does not do:
Provide interpretation of financial goals (because there is not enough
information to draw conclusions)
CFC has available for free download a KRTA analysis toolpak that can be used to customize
reports and graphs. The business meeting of the Kansas Rural Electric Cooperative Accountant’s Association began by asking if there were suggestions on ways to reduce the balance in the bank account. There
were none at this time.
A motion was made by Raelynn Bervert to approve the 2013 Treasurer’s Report as printed in
the meeting brochure. Shirley Henton seconded. Voice vote taken, motion passed.
When we begin using the Association’s credit card we need to call Raelynn so she can notify
the credit card company or charges may be declined.
Old Business – None.
New Business – Judy Barten suggested the committee come up with a group or individual to
make a donation to. It could be voted on at the meeting and the committee could decide how
much the club could donate. A suggestion was made to establish a scholarship for an accounting
student.
A motion was made by Jennifer Gaut to move present officers up to the next position.
Coleen Wells seconded. Voice vote taken, motion passed. Roger Cole will be President and Kathy
Lewis will be Vice President.
A single nomination was made for the position of Secretary-Treasurer. After a motion and
second that nominations cease, a voice vote approved Jodi Marsteller, with Lane-Scott Electric,
for Secretary-Treasurer.
Current President, Jacque Boyd, presented former President, Penny Gilmore, a plaque for her
service to the Accountant’s Association.
Roger announced that the next Accountant’s Association meeting will be held October 21 –
23 in Emporia, Kansas.
Jacque announced that the meeting was adjourned.
Respectively submitted,
Katherine E. Lewis,
Secretary-Treasurer
- 10 -
Meeting Notes
Thank You Members and Guests
for Attending the Meeting!
- 11 -