2: Strategic Management of Financial and Budget Performance

Develop and maintain integrity and transparency in financial analysis and reporting using financial information to drive results. Link funding decisions to results by integrating budget and performance.

Other Information:

A core function of every Federal agency is to ensure the proper use and reporting of budgetary and financial information in support of program and business activities delivered to the taxpayers and, in the case of GSA, our Federal agency customers. GSA leadership must continually focus on the linkage of our financial management practices and business and program operations. This linkage must support GSA’s Mission and Strategic Goals and drive decision-making so that strategic planning, budgeting, and financial management (which includes rigorous cost containment) lead to performance results—for GSA, our customers, and the Federal government. As one of the largest fee-based agencies in the Federal government, GSA must ensure rates charged are based on reliable cost projections, prepared in accordance with cost estimation best practices, and result in full-cost recovery. Moreover, every GSA executive and manager is responsible for monitoring program and business performance throughout the year and is accountable for both operational and financial results. GSA’s performance and rates must equate to the services, commodities, and rental payments for space and land we manage on behalf of our Federal customers. GSA leaders are accountable for the performance, productivity, operations, and integrity of their programs. To foster accountability, GSA will continually strive to provide managers and external stakeholders with timely financial, program, and performance information. To achieve these objectives, GSA continues to implement agency-wide initiatives that drive the improvement of GSA’s financial performance and health. GSA’s core financial management improvement initiatives align the agency’s accounting practices, rooted in generally accepted accounting practices, with the agency’s strategic direction. To achieve our financial management objectives, GSA must capture, assign, track, and accurately report the millions of financial transactions recorded GSA-wide, while demonstrating transparency and traceability in these processes. GSA fosters a culture that integrates financial decision-making with institutional knowledge and business portfolio management. GSA has fully embraced OMB’s Circular A-123, “Management’s Responsibilities for Internal Control,” as an effective internal control that is the foundation for timely and reliable financial management information. More importantly, having internal controls in our financial and business operations assures our Federal customers that we are managing their funds legally from both an appropriation law and contract management standpoint. To make GSA a model of accountability and transparency, the use of internal control testing practices and audit follow-up management is embedded in the day-to-day administration of the agency. Our customers demand that contract administration and program management practices are conducted with fiscal responsibility and comply with laws and regulations. GSA’s internal control and audit follow-up programs ensure all audit activities are responded to in a timely manner and that internal control reviews are conducted for program components in a timely and accurate manner. Integrity and transparency in financial analysis and reporting are critical. Financial information must be accurate and precise, drive results in key areas, and positively influence management decisions. GSA must continually drive accounting process and practice improvements. While accounting and financial analysis were once solitary, behind-the-scenes, bean-counter type activities, the current and future challenge GSA will address is continual process improvement of financial policies and procedures to ensure alignment with our business processes and contract management practices. GSA’s core financial and business data systems are continually assessed against the Enterprise Architecture and business requirements of the programs and business lines to ensure best practices in decision support, program and business portfolio analysis, and financial reporting. GSA must continually demonstrate transparency in all financial and non-financial data storage, reporting systems, and audit activities. Both the private sector and Federal government have proven time and again that a shared services model for back office functions works effectively, saves money, and allows organizations to focus their resources on achieving their primary missions. GSA was selected as one of four Financial Management Line of Business (FMLoB) shared services providers in 2005. GSA’s Federal Integrated Solutions Center (FISC) provides financial management services and products to our clients, allowing them to concentrate on their core missions and use their limited resources where they will best support expending taxpayers’ dollars on effective programs. This allows our client agencies’ primary focus to be on achieving program outcomes. GSA plans to work collaboratively with customers to develop and deliver sustainable integrated solutions that allow them to focus on their missions while GSA focuses on ensuring their back office requirements are met. We know that providing financial management services is much more than just providing a data center and some software. By working together with our customers, GSA will identify and act upon opportunities to leverage economies of scale related to people, processes, and technology in order to achieve improved Federal financial management results.

Indicator(s):

Indicator:1

Content