Managerial Cost Accounting Practices At The Department Of The Interior

Managerial Cost Accounting Practices at the Department of the Interior

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

In the past 16 years, a number of laws, accounting standards, system requirements, and related guidance have emphasized the need for cost information in the federal government, establishing requirements and accounting standards for managerial cost accounting (MCA) information. In light of these requirements, GAO was asked to determine how federal agencies generate MCA information and how government managers use that information to support their decisions and provide accountability. Since 2005, GAO has reviewed and reported on MCA practices at 10 large civilian agencies resulting in five reports. This report brings the overall observations of these studies together in one place.

GAO-06-599R Managerial Cost Accounting Practices: Department of Health and Human Services and Social Security Administration

GAO-06-1002R Managerial Cost Accounting Practices: Department of Agriculture and the Department of Housing and Urban Development