About TFLEx

Business Plan
Member Benefits
Member Commitment and Fees
Policy Statement (Group-Live)

Business Plan

Purpose

The Transit Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) began with the inaugural workshop in March 1999. The conference shaped the ideas of a few leading finance professionals into an active nation-wide working group of transit finance professionals. T-FLEx enables transit agencies to share and exchange training materials, instructors, uniform procurement scopes of work, policies and procedures and best business practices.

T-FLEx membership totals approximately twenty-five organizations and approximately 250 participants.

Vision Of T-FLEx

Advancing the training and development of transit professionals in Finance.

Mission Statement of T-FLEx

T-FLEx exists as a strategic alliance of transit agencies formed to leverage mutual strengths and continuously improve transit finance leadership, development, training practices and information sharing. The purpose of T-FLEx is to evolve the finance function into a value-added business partner within each transit authority.

Member Benefits

Members benefit by joining this consortium through a variety of exchange-developed and administered programs. These include:

Development of uniform specifications and templates

In response to member requests, the Exchange will conduct workshops for the purpose of establishing uniform guidelines and templates for transit agencies. Templates will be established for member agencies who wish to standardize such items as finance policy and procedure manuals, request for proposals, memorandums of agreements, etc. using best practices found in the private sector, finance and transit finance community.

Sourcing and administrative alliance

The Exchange will coordinate sourcing and purchasing of educational courseware, software, talent, hardware and other resources to reduce overall risk, lower costs, and enhance quality for all members. Additionally, the "alliance" will benefit from economies of scale for specific finance training programs, where several member agencies are brought together to form a viable class size. The T-FLEx courseware clearinghouse will also facilitate a single consortium price, with the best vendor, achieving best cost, and top quality. Additionally, to enhance the image of member agencies, positive media relations and coverage will be established.

Sharing of the best finance practices in transit

The Exchange will consolidate and maintain a catalogue of transit focused best practices in finance processes, training and development for the purpose of member sharing. Additionally, this alliance will share and benchmark business, financial, controls, and cost management best practices relating to the transit industry, both within and external to the transit authority.

On-demand targeted research

In response to member inquiry and requirements, the exchange will provide transit targeted research studies on the best business practices to provide up-to-date, viable information and guidance to members. Additionally, research findings will be shared in the context of the semi-annual programs.

Regularly scheduled workshops

Regularly scheduled workshops will be planned and scheduled for the winter and summer seasons. Member companies will receive complimentary registration fees for participants. However, workshop participants will be responsible for their own travel and lodging costs associated with the workshops and will also pay in advance, a modest fee (about $125) to cover costs of continental breakfast, coffee breaks, and luncheons associated with the workshops.

Peer review program and sharing of benchmarking information

The Exchange will coordinate and maintain a Peer Evaluation Team database made up of transit finance people who have been identified as experts within their field. This team would be available for the purpose of identifying those areas within member agencies that can benefit from implementing established best practices to enhance their ability to meet and exceed customer expectations.

Develop standardized procedure manuals for finance agencies in transit

The Exchange will develop a standardized format and template that can be utilized by member agencies in the development of finance department procedure manuals.

Access to the T-FLEx website

In order for you to receive an user account to the T-FLEx website you must be an employee of one of the T-FLEx member agencies. There is no limit as to how many website accounts each member agency might have.

If this is your first time here and you are eligible for an account, set up your TFLEX website account now to get your password. You will be asked to provide some information for our directory of members. This information is for use only within T-FLEx. See our Privacy Notice.

Membership Commitment and Fees

Members are expected to be committed as members of the exchange for at least three years. Although this three-year commitment is not contractually binding, it is expected given the dynamics of the consortium and the prescribed number of organizational memberships. The cost for annual membership is as follows:

Authorities with an operating budget less than $50 million : $2,500
All others: $5,000

This fee includes full Exchange membership privileges and invitation to all Exchange programs, workshops, and conferences of up to three representatives per member agency. Payment of annual dues is expected within 30 days of annual membership renewal date. This fee structure may be adjusted in future years, based on the recommendation of the T-FLEx Steering Committee. New members will be permitted to join only by majority consent of the Steering Committee.

If you wish to find out more information on TFLEX or how your agency can join, that information is provided on the How to Join TFLEX web page.

Policy Statement (Group-Live)

Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Website: www.nasba.org

Attendance Monitoring Process

To ensure compliance with NASBA standards for the reporting and record retention of CPE credits, the Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) adheres to the following attendance monitoring guidelines:

Participants must sign in upon arrival and indicate their time of arrival.
Participants must sign out and indicate the time of their departure:

When they expect not to return even though the program has not formally concluded
When they will be absent from the program for a significant period of time
Upon conclusion of each break-out session, if applicable
Upon conclusion of the program

Every program will be monitored by at least one (1) T-FLEx member who will greet each participant as they arrive and ensure that sign in/sign out procedures are adhered to. In addition to sign in/sign out procedures, attendance monitoring may also include a number count throughout the day by the T-FLEx official or program facilitator, where appropriate.
Certificates of completion will only be issued upon verification of attendance using sign in/sign out sheets and personal observation, if necessary.

Program Updates

Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) offers a variety of programs that enables transit agencies to share and exchange training materials, instructors, uniform procurement scopes of work, policies and procedures, and best business practices. To ensure that learning objectives of each program are met and that the program content is up-to-date on a regular basis and continues to remain technically accurate, T-FLEx engages in the following activities:

T-FLEx programs are researched, designed, facilitated and evaluated by industry professionals who possess the necessary practical experience and education required of the subject matter. Individuals or teams qualified in the subject matter review each program during development and prior to implementation. Workshop evaluations, instructor evaluations, oral feedback and personal observations by T-FLEx members are reviewed following each program and communicated to developers and instructors so corrective action can be taken, where appropriate.

When it is impractical to review certain programs in advance, such as lectures or workshops given only once, T-FLEx exercises due diligence in evaluating the professional competency, instructional methods and technology of the instructors or presenters. Past workshop evaluations, recommendations or referrals from peers and personal observations by T-FLEx members may be considered.

Additional activities include:

"Needs and Leads"
Member participants are regularly asked to submit new topics, current issues, trends, requests for information throughout the year through a "Needs and Leads" forum. Interested volunteers are assigned to research needs and leads for posting on the web site or discussion at future workshops.

Workshop Evaluations
Workshop participants are asked to evaluate each workshop using a standard questionnaire. These evaluations are collected and evaluated by T-FLEx officers and used to enhance current and future workshop effectiveness.

Facilitated Workshops
T-FLEx members meet twice annually to share best practices and "needs and leads," learn from industry experts, and work together to develop and maintain the ongoing T-FLEx Business Plan. These are facilitated workshops where all members are able to participate in roundtable discussions.

Special Interest Group
T-FLEx established special interest groups among our membership. A special interest group is a community with a particular interest in a specific technical area. It is usually abbreviated SIG. Members of a SIG cooperate to produce solutions, identify trends and resources (or work through common frustrations) within their particular area. T-FLEx currently has three SIGs: Budgets, Grants, and Information Technology.

Sharing Best Practices
The Exchange will consolidate and maintain a catalogue of transit focused best practices in finance processes, training and development for the purpose of member sharing. Additionally, this alliance will share and benchmark business, financial, controls, and cost management best practices relating to the transit industry, both within and external to the transit authority.

On-Demand Targeted Research
In response to member inquiry and requirements, the exchange will provide transit targeted research studies on the best business practices to provide up-to-date, viable information and guidance to members. Additionally, research findings will be shared in the context of the semi-annual programs.

Peer Review
The Exchange will coordinate and maintain a Peer Evaluation Team database made up of transit finance people who have been identified as experts within their field. This team is available for the purpose of identifying those areas within member agencies that can benefit from implementing established best practices to enhance their ability to meet and exceed customer expectations.

Record Retention

The Transit-Finance Learning Exchange (T-FLEx) adheres to the record retention guidelines set forth by NASBA for approved CPE sponsors. Specifically, T-FLEx retains the following documentation for five years:

Records of participation
Dates and locations of presentations
Instructors, discussion leaders or program authors names and credentials
Number of CPE credits earned by participants
Results of program evaluations
Program materials
Evidence that the program materials were developed and reviewed by qualified parties
A record of how CPE credits were determined

Records are retained by designated T-FLEx members in a secured location or on secure computer applications. Only individuals who have a legitimate business reason are provided access. T-FLEx acts in accordance with applicable laws in the purging and destruction of personal and confidential information.

Questions or comments regarding T-FLEx's record retention policy should be addressed to:

Refunds, Cancellations, Substitutions and Complaint Resolution

Cancellations will be accepted at any time. Registrants have the option of receiving a full refund or having the amount applied to a future workshop. All cancellation requests should be directed to:
Substitutions from within the same institution are permitted at no additional cost.
In the event T-FLEx cancels a program, participants will be notified and refunds will be provided. Information will also be posted on the Web site, www.tflex.org.
If there are complaints about a T-FLEx event, contact:

Questions regarding this cancellation policy can be addressed to: