Audited financial statements in the us federal government: The question of policy and management utility

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-25-01-2013-B007The Chief Financial Officers Act and subsequent legislation require federal agencies to produce corporate-style financial statements. Arguments for financial statements drew on private sector analogies and suggested policy makers and managers would use the information to make better public policy and management decisions and improve accountability for financial management and program performance. Nearly all major government agencies have unqualified audit opinions and improvements in financial management are claimed. But benefits for policy making and management are not yet well understood. This paper examines the question by comparison with the private sector and by examining what agencies say about the uses and users of financial statement information. The emerging challenge in the evolution of federal financial reporting is to develop better government-specific analytical tools and other financial information for policy makers and managers

Budgeting for national security: A whole of government perspective

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-24-01-2012-B002There is a current argument that “national security” and “national defense” are no longer synonymous terms—that there is a new and broader definition for the activities that contribute to “the common defense.” A whole of government approach is suggested as a means for integrating and coordinating national security policies and programs. To support this approach, recommendations have been made for an integrated national security budget. Focusing on the executive budget process, three approaches to an integrated national security budget are examined: organization-based, program-based and function-based. Though there are questions about the importance of budget structure and the effectiveness of program budgeting, a whole of government integrated unified national security budget could facilitate the fiscal trade-offs required between alternative means of pursuing national security objectives in the executive budget.Towsley FoundationSchool of Public Policy, University of Michiga