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Performance & Accountability

CPAG Research Publications

Questions? Contact Anna Miller at amiller@agacgfm.org.

	State and Local Governments' Use of Performance Measures to Improve Service Delivery - This project explores state and local governments’ use of performance measures to monitor the delivery of services and make adjustments, if necessary, to improve the delivery and assure the achievement of desired results. The project is also intended to determine how performance measures are used for improving service delivery and describe their efforts in such a way that other governments can adopt the practice. The project had three parts: identification of the elements of performance management used to improve service delivery; development of case studies describing five governments’ successful use of performance measures to improve service delivery; and execution of an online survey to determine the extent to which the performance management elements are used. Read the report.

	Managerial Cost Accounting in the Federal Government: Providing Useful Information for Decision Making - This research examined the status of managerial cost accounting (MCA) implementations within federal government agencies. Ten case studies are described and conclusions drawn regarding shared characteristics that seem to be correlated with successful implementations. The case studies depict entities at various stages of implementation, from one that has been in existence for more than thirty years, and other mature systems (more than ten years in existence) to some that have only just started (two years or less). Read the report.

	2009 CFO Survey: Recovery and the Transparency Imperative - In spring 2009, nearly 500 government financial executives and managers from the United States and Canada participated in the 15th annual chief financial officer (CFO) survey sponsored by the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) and AGA Professional Corporate Partner Grant Thornton. Key topics for 2009 include economic recovery, transparency, what new CFOs need to know and annual financial statements. Read the report.

	Trends in Technology - The technology world changes fast. The 2007 AGA Trends in Technology review explored how technology led to a connected world of people, processes and things. This 2009 review of Trends in Technology expands on this theme, looking at how connectivity and technological advances lead to further disruptions that will impact governments, businesses and individuals. This report focuses on the five most pervasive of the seven digital disruptions mentioned previously: Platform Makeover, Social Power, Information Transparency, Living in a New Reality and Smarter World. Read the report.

	Performance-Based Management - Public officials can speed up and enhance government reforms and transparency through performance-based management (PBM) right now with modest changes to existing information systems. PBM integrates existing financial, operations and other data into eye-opening and actionable facts for enlightened decisions. It is able to consistently track cost and performance over time and improve predictive ability. PBM is flexible, so that different entities can tailor it to their needs and still give top leaders consistent, cross-government views of performance and the cost of creating societal value. Read the report.

	Procuring Audit Services in Government: A Practical Guide to Making the Right Decision - Government program and procurement officials routinely procure services to support agency missions and operations. In the case of audits, it is important that acquisition decisions be informed by a clear understanding of the distinction between audits and other evaluative services. This research paper, which is written as a guide, seeks to clarify for the non-auditor exactly what an audit entails, the professional standards followed, who can perform an audit, the value derived from an audit, and the standards and oversight to which government auditors and independent public accountants (hereafter referred to as CPA firms) are subject to when performing government audits. *Read the report.*

	Grants Management: How XBRL Can Help: Grants are a major conduit whereby the federal government provides funds to states and other recipients. The situation today is difficult for recipients because they have to manage multiple requirements, often for very similar grant programs, and there is no streamlined process for reporting the progress to the federal agency or agencies. P.L. 106-107, which became law in 1999, required outreach to the recipient community but there has not been a lot of progress on this front in the eight years since the law was passed. In the absence of reauthorization, it was allowed to sunset in November 2007. Congress did introduce legislation to reauthorize P.L. 106-107 in April 2008 but this has not become law. Ten years later, many of the goals of P.L. 106-107 have not been met. Read the report.

	Characteristics of Effective Audit Committees in Federal, State and Local Governments: The private sector financial debacles of the early 21st century (Enron, World Com, Tyco, Health South and others) resulted in sweeping corporate governance legislation known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). SOX places significant new responsibilities on the board of directors of publicly traded companies, including expansion of audit committee responsibilities. The audit committees of all publicly traded companies are responsible for all aspects of the audit for the company, including hiring, compensating, monitoring, evaluating and, if necessary, firing the external auditor and closely monitoring and evaluating the internal auditor. Even though there is significant government interest in audit committees, little information is available on how governments use audit committees. Thus, the objective of this research was to identify the characteristics of effective, mature audit committees at all levels of government—local, state and federal. *Read the report*.

	XBRL and Public Sector Financial Reporting: AGA has long supported the use of XBRL to potentially improve the transparency and analysis in government financial reporting. Accordingly, AGA decided to implement a research project to study the benefits of developing and using an XBRL-taxonomy to tag data in a state’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, or CAFR. AGA’s Corporate Partner PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) supported the effort. The research could not have been completed without additional significant contributions made in terms of time, effort and software development from the staff at Allocation Solutions, JustSystems and the Oregon state controller’s office. It was decided that the project should focus on one state pilot, with the intent that the results would prove to be helpful to other states contemplating a similar effort.. Read the report. Transparency May Require a Change in Language - Listen to Joe Kull discuss XBRL with Jane Norris on WFED AM 1500. (12.22.09)

	AGA Annual CFO Survey - Financial Management: Providing a Foundation for Transition: In 2008, 239 federal financial management executives and managers took part in the 12th annual chief financial officer (CFO) survey sponsored by AGA and conducted by Grant Thornton LLP. Survey respondents are proud of the financial management and internal control successes of the past 7 years. However, they say that the government must head in a new direction to achieve even greater gains. Future improvements need to focus on how the CFO can add value to missions and programs, not just comply with regulations. Read the report.

	SAS 70 Reports: Are They Useful and Can They Be Improved? This research paper addresses the usefulness to governments of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' (AICPA) Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No.70, Service Organizations, and whether improvements to the implementation of the standard could increase its usefulness. SAS 70 reports are used by numerous federal and state agencies when they outsource their financial systems and services, most commonly payroll. They have limitations, such as not meeting FISMA requirements and the AICPA is considering changing some requirements. Read who is using them, what they say about them and what the future may hold for SAS 70. *Read the report*.


	21st Century Federal Financial Managers - A New Mix of Skills and Educational Levels? Federal government agencies face a serious human capital and leadership challenge. Recognizing the human capital challenges facing government agencies, the Association of Government Accountants (AGA), with support from its Corporate Partner Advisory Group partner Management Concepts, decided to conduct a study to provide a snapshot in the year 2007 of how federal financial management leaders and mid-level professionals are framing the challenges facing them. The study identifies the skills federal financial managers need to do the work of the government in the 21st century, discusses the research findings, and makes recommendations for action to improve the capacity and capability of the federal financial management workforce for the next century. Read the report.

	AGA Annual CFO Survey - Scoring: Financial Management & Oversight Efforts: Since 1996, the Association of Government Accountants (AGA), in partnership with Grant Thornton, has sponsored an annual survey of federal CFOs and other financial executives. In 2007, 132 executives and managers took part in the 11th annual survey, which looked at financial management priorities, barriers to progress, the Financial Management Line of Business initiative and oversight groups. *Read the report*.

	The Federal Travel Card - Uses, Policies and Best Practices - This report presents the findings of an AGA study and survey of travel card use by federal government departments and agencies. It is the fourth and final in a series of AGA reports on the use of purchase and travel cards by federal and state governments. It is the first research effort to address use of the travel card in the federal government. The AGA series is designed to provide a comprehensive review of the current policies and procedures regarding the use of purchase and travel cards. Read the report.

	Trends in Technology - 2007 Review - As the world becomes more deeply interconnected, what new demands will be placed on public sector financial executives? What tools and techniques will they possess for meeting those demands? The 2007 review of Trends in Technology examines developments in six key technology areas that are expected to make a significant contribution to future public and private sector financial planning and management. Read the report.

	The State Travel Card - Uses, Policies and Best Practices - This report summarizes the findings of an AGA study of travel card use by state government departments and agencies. It is the third in a series of AGA reports on the use of purchase and travel cards by federal and state governments and the first to focus solely on use of the travel card in state government. The AGA series is designed to provide a comprehensive review of the current policies and procedures regarding the use of purchase and travel cards, to assess the financial implications of purchase and travel card use and to identify policies, practices and innovative management actions that can be transferred between and among the levels of government to maximize the benefits of this payment option. Read the report.

	Process-Based Financial Reporting - AGA, with funding from Grant Thornton LLP, initiated this research study in 2006 to determine the applicability of process-based accounting to federal agencies. Process-based accounting was first proposed by James A. Brimson in his book The Handbook of Process-Based Accounting: Leveraging Processes to Predict Results (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 2002). The study included interviews with 28 federal CFOs and other top government executives involved in financial management. These executives gave their views on the current and potential value of financial reporting, internal controls, performance measurement and related topics. Some agencies provided financial data to use in constructing conceptual models of process-based financial statements. Read the report.

	Should State and Local Governments Strengthen Internal Controls by Applying SOX-Like Requirements? - This research study explores the current state of internal controls in state and local governmental entities. The project was undertaken because, in the aftermath of the 2002 passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX or the Act), there was considerable concern that its requirements would be extended beyond the private sector. State and local governments were concerned that even though there was nothing to equal the level of scandal that had plagued the private sector, legislators might be tempted to mandate similar requirements for state and local governmental entities. Read the report.

	Federal Real Property Asset Management - AGA engaged Gail Young and Eugene Kaczkowski to research the best practices used by federal, state and private sector entities in managing their real property assets. Anna Miller, AGA’s Director of Research, researched the state entities surveyed. The research was conducted in support of the Real Property Asset Management initiative within the President’s Management Agenda (PMA). An important facet of this effort is to improve real property asset management practices across the federal government. *Read the report*.

	The State Purchase Card: Uses, Policies and Best Practices - This report focuses on the use of the purchase card by state governments and is the second in a series of AGA reports on the use of purchase and travel cards by federal, state and local governments. The AGA series is designed to provide a comprehensive review of the current government policies and procedures regarding the use of these cards, to assess the financial implications of purchase and travel card use, and to identify policies, practices and innovative management actions that can be transferred between and among the levels of government to maximize the benefit of this payment option. *Access the report*.

	PAR - The Report We Hate to Love- In December of 2004 AGA and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) undertook a cooperative research project to determine the usefulness of Performance and Accountability Reports (PARs) for their intended audiences, and how that usefulness can be improved. Click here to access the report.

	Challenges in Performance Auditing: How a State Auditor with Intriguing New Performance Auditing Authority is Meeting Them `—`The objective of this research study is to document the initial actions taken by Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag to implement the provisions of the initiative and prepare to conduct performance audits. Click here to access the report.

	2006 Federal Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Survey - Advancing Federal Financial Management. Click here to access the report.

	The Federal Purchase Card: Use, Policy & Practice —This report summarizes the findings of an AGA CPAG Research Program study of purchase card (government issued charge cards used for purchases) use by federal government agencies. The subsequent three phases of this AGA study series will provide similar reviews of purchase card use by state and local governments; the travel card—government issued charge cards used for travel—by federal government agencies; and the travel card used by state and local governments. Click here to read further.

	Trends in Technology, is the third in a planned series of studies covering areas of interest to our members. Trends in Technology is an annual report on emerging issues in information technology and financial management. The study covers compliance management, business process management, project portfolio management, RFID and wireless communications. It analyzes each topic area and discusses its implications for functional management. Click here to access the report.

	IBM sponsored this project to identify best practices in shared services of federal agency financial management operations. The project identifies best practices in selecting services to share, managing the transition, setting up service arrangements, governance, service level agreements, and other aspects of the business arrangement. The project had three phases: research of existing literature; interviews with selected subject matter experts and surveys sent out to other interested parties; and finally, a report summarizing recommendations and containing suggestions as to best practice. The research was conducted by Irwin T. (Ted) David, CGFM, with the aid of AGA’s Director of Research. Click here to view the report.

	The 2005 CFO Survey Integrating Internal Control with Performance Management, sponsored by AGA Professional Corporate Partner Grant Thornton, explores the impact of emerging issues on CFO operations, discusses issues candidly with peers and related functional communities and shares findings within the federal community. This year’s survey focuses on internal controls and performance measurement including integration with other management improvement initiatives within agencies. Click here to view the report.

	Audit Federal Financial Controls: Sooner Rather Than Later? - This report is the product of a research project, sponsored by AGA Professional Corporate Partner Kearney & Company, aimed at evaluating and assessing current internal control procedures and reporting in the federal community, and the potential impact of Sarbanes Oxley on the government community. The research, primarily carried out by Cornelius Tierney, author of the Federal Accounting Handbook, included identifying internal control reporting alternatives, existing standards, guidance, and current practices, and providing recommendations on reporting on internal controls. The report provides recommendations on internal control reports, applicable standards, and timing. We hope you find it a useful contribution to the debate about internal controls. Click here to view the report.