Town of Banff

Chris Hughes

Finance Officer Chris Hughes is one of the Town of Banff's newest tangible assets Photo:Cheryl Hyde

Finance Officer

In April, 2008, the Town’s finance team welcomed Chris Hughes to the new position of Finance Officer.

Chris tells us he moved to Banff as a fresh-faced boy in 1998 from his hometown of Bridgewater, NS. (We think he is still “fresh-faced.”  Must be the mountain air.) Chris fell in love with the area, and his planned six-month stay turned into ten years.

Chris comes to the Town from the Banff Centre, where he spent the last ten years in positions beginning at the switchboard, and ending with program manager for new business in the leadership development division.  He has a bachelor of business administration, specializing in finance, and is working toward his CGA designation.

Chris’s first major project is to prepare for the new accounting and reporting requirements for municipalities with respect to tangible capital assets.

“Without using too much geeky accounting speak, a recent study showed that there is an estimated $123 billion infrastructure deficit in Canada,” Chris explains. “This includes roads, buildings, equipment, water and sewer lines, etc.  In response, the public sector accounting board, which is the governing body for accounting standards for all levels of government, has revised the requirements for how municipalities account for and report their capital assets starting in 2009.” 

This is a major change to our current accounting practices, which will result in better information being available to council and taxpayers in order to make sound long-term decisions. That being said, Chris notes that, “There is a boat load of work to be done before the end of the year to prepare for these changes.”

What's it like at work?

Most of us are happy just to deal with our personal budgets and taxes once a year, but the finance officer role is responsible for working with the Town’s accounting and budget-related functions year-round.  These duties include:

• Reconciling general ledger and other accounts
• Preparing reports, working papers, and other documents
• Preparing and posting journal entries
• Assisting in the preparation of working papers for annual financial statements
• Maintaining proper documentation and working papers for audit follow-up
• Reviewing and verifying financial accounting codes for departmental purchases
  

Role Requirements:

• at least three years of experience in an accounting position with similar level of responsibility
• a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or economics
• a CMA or CGA designation, or working toward a recognized professional designation
• excellent communication and problem solving abilities
• a self-starter with attention to detail
• an ability to identify opportunities for streamlining operations and a consistent quest to improve efficiencies
• expertise in Microsoft Office, especially Excel and database applications.

Want more information?

For more information on why there are so many late nights in corporate services (and we don’t mean parties), see our resident wizards in all areas of finance: Tom, Kelly, Chris, Michiko, Natalie and Tara. 

For information on how to become a chartered accountant or certified general accountant, visit:

• Chartered Accountants of Alberta
  

• Certified General Accountants Association of Alberta