Important Dates
- August 11, 2025
- November 17, 2025
- Auditor's report must be dated on or before this date
- Agency applications due
- December 3, 2025
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December 8, 2025
- December 2025 (TBD)
- FY2025 CEAR Program agency packet and filing fees due
- December 31, 2025
- December 2025
- Digital reviews begin
- Agency packets mailed to reviewers
- March/April 2026
- May 2026 (TBD)
- CEAR Awards Ceremony, Washington D.C.
AGA's Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting (CEAR)® Program has helped many federal agencies improve their Agency Financial Reports (AFRs) and Performance and Accountability Reports (PARs).
The CEAR program was established in 1997 in collaboration with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Chief Financial Officers Council (CFOC) to improve accountability through streamlined, effective reporting that clearly demonstrates to taxpayers the federal agency accomplishments and challenges that remain. The CEAR program reviews, with their detailed critiques and recommendations, are a significant factor in the steady improvement of federal government annual reports.
Harold I. Steinberg Excellence in Accountability Reporting Award
Nominations for the Harold I. Steinberg Excellence in Accountability Reporting Award will be open soon.
CEAR Awards Ceremony photos
Download and share all photos from the FY2024 CEAR Award dinner and previous CEAR Award dinners.
Thank you to our sponsors KPMG and Kearney & Co!
Congratulations to the FY 2024 CEAR Award Recipients!
The FY 2024 CEAR Award ceremony was held at the Grand Hyatt.
Here are some comments from agencies representatives that have participated in the CEAR Program:
- "We participate in the CEAR program because we believe it is essential to present the most informative, interesting, useful, and readable financial and performance information possible. And we believe in continuous improvement."
- "The CEAR program provides our team with inspiration and motivation to prepare the very best document that they can. Otherwise, the summary of best practices is very beneficial. The summaries of Best-in-Class awards across all winning agencies are also very helpful."
- "We always read those award descriptions and review those other agency documents to see their best practices and thus what we can do better."
- "We participate to demonstrate our commitment to excellence and to challenge ourselves to improve our AFR continuously. The review comments are helpful (suggestions for improvement) and encouraging (highlighting we did well). It is also a pleasure to celebrate excellence during the Awards Dinner."
Questions?
Email cear@agacgfm.org or call 800.242.7211 ext: 322.