GAO issues last financial systems checklist

The Government Accountability Office released its final checklist for federal financial systems requirements last week, signifying the end of an era in financial systems certification.

Last December, the officials in charge of the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program, the organization responsible for certifying federal such systems, signed an agreement that shifted many of its responsibilities to the Office of Management and Budget.

As a result, GAO will no longer issue checklists, the preface to last week's report (GAO-05-225G) explained. GAO's chief, David Walker, is a JFMIP principal.

"We're getting out of this line of business for right now," said McCoy Williams, a director of GAO's financial management and assurance team.

Until recently, the watchdog agency issued its checklist as a way of helping agency executives navigate systems requirements and recommendations. Each item is carefully marked as either mandatory or "value-added." The value-added requirements include best business practices and state-of-the-art technology.

"The need for these value-added features in agency systems is left to the discretion of each agency head," the report states.

Financial data on inventories, acquisition and travel are among the sources that feed into agencies' financial reporting systems. The systems are used to manage agency funds and payments and to track program costs. They also create financial reports.

The following items are included on the checklist: "Does the core financial system provide the capability to tie responsible organizational units to programs, projects, and activities? Does the core financial system provide the capability to maintain an audit trail from the original postings to the final posting?" The former is a requirement, while the latter is classified as value-added.

"This checklist is a great tool for agencies as they're employing their new systems. It helps them navigate the requirements that they need and the best practices that they should have," said Tabetha Mueller, spokeswoman for the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and Financial Management.

Those requirements are not always easy for agency executives to sort out on their own. "We've had people comment to us that they like that component of making sure [they] can cross check" against what is required and what might add value, said Williams.

The future of the checklist is unclear. While executives have relied on it to help them navigate the many rules and regulations issued by OMB and JFMIP, it may not be published again. OMB did not respond to an inquiry about whether or not it will issue similar reports in the future.

"No one has responded to us yet to say they are going to miss it," said Williams, adding that the checklist was issued Friday and executives may not yet have noticed that it will be the last one.

"Depending on what the demand is, we might revisit it down the road," he said, "but right now, this will be the last one."