United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2005-12-19 monographic deposited born digital 52 p. GA 1.13:GAO-06-301R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-301R P0b002ee180386e0f f:d06301r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-301R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-301R GAO-06-301R Accountability Accounting standards Cost accounting Data collection Decision making Financial management systems Internal controls Management information systems Performance measures Correspondence A43538 Authoritative bodies have promulgated laws, accounting standards, information system requirements, and related guidance to emphasize the need for cost information and cost management in the federal government. For example, the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990, contains several provisions related to managerial cost accounting, one of which states that an agency's CFO should develop and maintain an integrated accounting and financial management system that provides for the development and reporting of cost information. Statement of Federal Accounting Standards No. 4, Managerial Cost Accounting Concepts and Standards for the Federal Government, and the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's (JFMIP) Framework for Federal Financial Management Systems established accounting standards and system requirements for managerial cost accounting (MCA) information at federal agencies. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 built on this foundation and required, among other things, CFO Act agencies' systems to comply substantially with federal accounting standards and federal financial management systems requirements. MCA involves the accumulation and analysis of financial and nonfinancial data, resulting in the allocation of costs to organizational pursuits such as performance goals, programs, activities, and outputs. The data analyzed depend on the operations and needs of the organization. Nonfinancial data measure the occurrences of activities and can include, for example, the number of hours worked, units produced, grants managed, inspections conducted, people trained, or time needed to perform certain functions. In light of the requirements for federal agencies to prepare MCA information, Congress asked us to determine the extent to which federal agencies develop cost information and use it for managerial decision making. The objectives of our review were to determine how federal agencies generate managerial cost accounting information as well as how governmental managers use cost information to support managerial decision making and provide accountability. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-301R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-301R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-301R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-301R.pdf GAO-06-301R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-301R Correspondence GAO-06-301R; Managerial Cost Accounting Practices: Departments of Education, Transportation, and the Treasury; Accountability Accounting standards Cost accounting Data collection Decision making Financial management systems Internal controls Management information systems Performance measures Volume 104 Page 2838 104 Stat. 2838 Volume 110 Page 3009 110 Stat. 3009 Public Law 101-576 Public Law 104-208