The Foreign Service Journal, October 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2021 75 AFSA NEWS AFSA Annual Audit For the 12th straight year, AFSA received the highest possible commendation in its annual audit: a clean, unmodified opinion. The accounting firm CliftonLarsonAllen LLP found no defi- ciencies in AFSA’s 2020 financial reporting and operations. The AFSA Governing Board received the official report at its August meeting. Special attention to financial management and related gover- nance procedures began more than a decade ago and has yielded genuine progress, which was recognized by the auditing firm in their report. AFSA’s good resource stewardship has provided an opportunity to deepen services, professionalize operations and better advance strategic goals. Said AFSA Executive Director Ásgeir Sigfússon: “I appreci- ate the strong endorsement of AFSA’s financial and accounting practices by the experts at CLA. Even during the challenges of a pandemic, the AFSA professional staff delivered a strong perfor- mance while safeguarding transparency and internal controls in our finances.We look forward to building on this strong support.” n Foreign Service Know-How For years, the FSJ has periodically published “FS Know-How” columns featuring information, advice and experiences that are specific to life in the Foreign Service. We are pleased to present an archive of more than 30 of these columns in one central loca- tion, at afsa.org/fsj-archives-fs-know-how. There you’ll find columns ranging from “Retirement Planning 101” and “10 Things I Wish I Had Known: Confessions of a Recent Retiree” to “Going Home: How to Buy a House for Home Leave and R&R”. The webpage also features a step-by-step guide for Foreign Service spouses looking to go back to work, tips for packing out, a tech guide to Foreign Service life and much more. n