Improving Federal Financial Management

Since the enactment of key financial mgmt. (FM) reforms, the fed. gov¿t. has devoted significant resources to improving FM activities and practices. Yet continuing attention is needed to address persistent, long-standing accountability problems and to redefine success for fed. FM. Many gov¿t. agency FM systems do not produce the accurate, timely, and meaningful info. needed for mgmt. decision making. This forum brought together FM leaders from the fed. gov¿t., incl. the CFO, CIO, and IG communities, and other officials with extensive experience in FM from both the public and private sectors. The forum addressed: the future of fed. FM; applying lessons learned from fed. FM system implementations; and strategies for transforming fed. FM culture.

The inability to produce the data needed to efficiently & effectively manage the day-to-day operations of the fed. gov¿t. & provide accountability to taxpayers historically has been a major weakness at most of the largest fed. agencies. The central challenge in generating such data is overhauling inadequate & outdated accounting & financial-related mgmt. information systems. This annual report addresses: (1) compliance of the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies¿ financial systems with the requirements of the Fed. Financial Mgmt. Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA); (2) agencies¿ plans to bring their systems into compliance; & (3) other efforts to improve the government¿s financial mgmt. systems. Charts & tables.