Financial Management: Providing a Foundation for Transition - AGA

23What to avoid“Enough already!” say several executives whothink the government should avoid introducingany new finance and accounting initiatives untilentities finish addressing the current ones. Otherthings to avoid include those listed below.Stop raising the bar. Several CFOs want theGAO, OMB and IGs to stop raising the baron requirements. Examples of this includeaccelerating the timing of financial reports andlowering materiality thresholds. They wouldlike Congress and the Executive Branch to setclear priorities when promulgating rules foror overseeing entity financial management. Asdiscussed in the earlier section on compliance,they would also like to see more cost/benefitanalysis done before introducing new lawsand rules.No more unfunded mandates. Too many newcompliance requirements arrive with noadditional resources to fulfill them. Someexecutives say that such requirementsshould be funded in the entity budget,instead of taken out of its hide.Avoiding overreaction. Some executivessay that the government-wide initiatives,systems and regulations introduced in thepast few years are starting to identifymore fraud, waste and abuse, whichis good. “However,” says one, “Wemust target this misuse and holdpeople accountable for correctingit, instead of creating additionalinitiatives, systems andregulations.” Another says,“Lawmakers and oversightgroups should stay away fromall niche issues like premium class travel. Theentity that has a niche problem should dealwith it; there don’t have to be new rules orregulations for everyone else.”Requiring data no one uses. CFO Act annualfinancial statements are only one example ofreports that few people read and use, accordingto respondents. There are many others.Cannot go back to not caring. “We need tounderstand the importance of cost,” says a CFOwhose department accounts for a major slice ofthe federal budget. “We can’t say a problem istoo big to solve. If we strive to add value, we cando it. We cannot go back to not caring.”