WFOA 2026 conference: SAO's resource and information hub

At this year’s Washington Finance Officers Association (WFOA) conference in Kennewick, we’re here to connect with you and provide support and training all week long. Throughout the WFOA 2026 conference and beyond, this webpage serves as a hub for helpful articles, tools, resources and guidance created to support finance officials across Washington – covering relevant topics and offering references you can return to whenever you need them.

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Introducing the SAO Navigator: key resources and reminders for government employees, when you need them most

Whether you’re new to government or just want a refresher on where to find relevant resources, SAO’s Navigator for Government Employees webpage can help. The Navigator brings together key information and resources you’ll need when working with SAO, such as annual report filing assistance, key dates and deadlines, and much more. Bookmark the webpage now to reference later.

You can also subscribe to the SAO Navigator newsletter here to make sure you don't miss any updates.

New and updated resources and trainings

New resource for counties and special purpose districts (PDF): County-SPD relationships can be complex, especially when it comes to required versus optional services, warrant payments and opening separate bank accounts. Our latest guide, Requirements of counties to provide certain services to special purpose districts (PDF), clarifies what they’re required to do for special purpose districts, plus fee limitations and warrant practices. It’s designed to help finance staff navigate complex statutes with confidence.

Updated Segregation of duties guide (PDF): We recently updated one of our most popular resources, the Segregation of duties guide, now with a new chapter focusing on federal awards. The Guide includes:

• Duties you should segregate, given certain roles for a specific financial process
• Best practices for using technology to enforce segregation of duties
• Example strategies you might use to assign tasks and responsibilities when you have only one, two or three employees

Coming soon: annual BARS update trainings: Watch our expert-led sessions to stay ahead with accounting updates and audit readiness. Annual Budgeting, Accounting and Reporting System (BARS) Manual updates are recorded and posted to our website every fall. Other current and relevant eLearnings include our Introduction to Governmental Accounting series, Interfund Activities, Common Financial Statement Errors and more.

Celebrating success with State Auditor Stewardship Awards

The State Auditor Stewardship Award (SASA) recognizes local governments that demonstrate exemplary financial stewardship and accountability. Congratulations to these commendable recent recipients: 

• Port of Pasco
• City of Lacey

Tools and resources from the Center for Government Innovation

Cyber incident response workshops help you prepare for a cyberattack: Gain the tools necessary to build an effective incident response plan to ensure every member of your team is prepared for a cyberattack. Contact the Center for Government Innovation, a service of SAO, at Center@sao.wa.gov to learn more.

Customized Lean process improvement trainings: Whether it’s permitting, payroll, purchasing or any other workflow, SAO’s Lean specialists can help you develop unique solutions that mean greater success for your organization.

SAO’s Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT): FIT is a free, publicly available tool that lets anyone explore financial data reported by Washington’s cities, counties and special purpose districts. Follow the money with FIT today.

Recent performance audits

SAO conducts performance audits to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs with the goal of making them work better. Read about the results of our latest performance audits in these report summaries:

• Evaluating Success of the Restoring Quality Home Care Initiative (I-1163) 
• Law Enforcement Training and Community Safety Act: Progress on Training
• Reducing Nonemergency Use of Emergency Systems

Looking for something more?

Remember, our Office is here to support you!

• Our Resource Library offers a variety of free guides, checklists, best practices and other tools to help Washington governments improve in the areas of internal controls, grants management, procurement practices, financial reporting, cybersecurity and more. 
• If you have specific technical accounting questions, submit them using our Help Desk in the client portal. 
• You can also look up your government’s assigned audit team on our website to access their contact information.

SAO’s WFOA 2026 conference sessions