Insight in Indian Country
"It was always my passion." Building the NAFOA Orange Book with Corrine Wilson
Send us Fan Mail The Financial Reporting and Information Guide for Tribal Governments and Enterprises — known across Indian Country as the Orange Book — has shaped how Tribes and their enterprises approach financial reporting since NAFOA first published it in 2017. This episode, host Wes Benally talks with Corrine Wilson, CPA, former REDW Principal and National Tribal Practice Leader, about how the Orange Book actually got its start. Corrine walks through REDW's volunteer task force that helped turn the early guide into a ten-chapter Orange Book in 2017, how the book has since become a training staple for Tribal finance staff, auditors, and even federal regulators, and why she's spent nearly her whole career pushing for accounting guidance built specifically for Indian Country. Corrine also previews what's ahead: a third edition of the Orange Book, now in final print stages, reflecting new GASB guidance on leases, updated approaches to indirect costs, and IRS regulations on the general welfare doctrine. It's set to be front and center at NAFOA's Fall Finance & Tribal Economies Conference, September 21–22 in Santa Fe. Corrine will co-lead an Orange Book overview session and join a panel on Tribal enterprises. Heading to NAFOA's Fall Conference? Keep an eye out for the Orange Book sessions — and your friendly REDW professionals leading these sessions — and if you don't have a copy of the guide on your desk yet, now's a great time to get one. REDW Advisors and CPAs is proud to bring you the Insight in Indian Country Podcast, covering important advisory, accounting, and finance topics that impact Tribal Nations and business affairs. Thanks for listening! Chapters 00:00 – Welcome & Why the Orange Book Matters 01:29 – Before the Orange Book: The Purple Book Origins 06:50 – Creating the First Orange Book (2017) 10:58 – Structuring Ten Chapters Around Tribal Realities 14:03 – The Orange Book's Reach — Training Thousands in Indian Country 16:11 – What's New in the Third Edition (Leases, Indirect Costs, General Welfare Doctrine) 20:07 – A Labor of Love: Passing the Torch 22:56 – Get Ready for NAFOA's Fall Conference 24:29 – Why Tribal Accounting Became Corrine's Passion 27:29 – What Indian Country Still Needs 32:25 – Closing Thoughts & Session Preview Takeaways The Orange Book's roots trace back to NAFOA's "Purple Book," first published around 2003–2004 to help Tribes implement GASB Statement 34 — Corrine helped write it while serving as NAFOA's first-ever representative to the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC), from 2000–2006. REDW's tribal practice — led at the time by retired partners Bruce Bleakman and Glenn Post — volunteered to lead the task force that expanded the Purple Book into the ten-chapter Orange Book, published by NAFOA in 2017. The Orange Book is organized around how tribal governments actually operate — governmental activities, business-type enterprises, fiduciary funds, and common special-purpose entities like housing authorities, healthcare facilities, and gaming — with each chapter reviewed by GASB and AICPA for alignment with authoritative GAAP. University certificate programs held at Arizona State and Oklahoma State have trained thousands of Tribal finance professionals using the Orange Book as a core resource, and federal regulators have indicated that they rely on it too. A third edition is in final print stages ahead of NAFOA's Fall Finance & Tribal Economies Conference (September 21–22, 2026, Santa Fe), incorporating new GASB standards on leases, expanded guidance on indirect cost rates, and IRS regulations on the general welfare doctrine and 100%-tribally-owned enterprise funds. Corrine will join a panel for an Orange Book overview session with NAFOA's current GASAC representative and former REDW Senior Manager Hattie Mitchell, and join a separate panel on Tribal enterprises, at the Fall conference. REDW Advisors and CPAs is proud to bring you the Insight in Indian Country Podcast, covering important advisory, accounting, and finance topics that impact Tribal Nations and business affairs. Thanks for listening! Visit our website
