WHAT WE NEED
The NAWBC requests that Congress pass a government version of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. Key points of this legislation should include (or be based upon) the following: (1) require that the government's finance-related political appointees [Executive Schedule (EX) and Senior Executive Service (SES)] and supervisory GS / GM 9 through GM 15 accounting and budgeting positions have minimal 4-year accounting degrees (with the intent of integrating and streamlining our government’s accounting and budgeting processes). The same 4-year degree requirements should also apply to government computer science (CS) professionals, (2) confirm only those CFO’s with impeccable accountant credentials (Certified Public Accountant certificate) and a stated number of years experience, (3) hold all CFO’s accountable for hiring a competent staff of college degreed accountants and CS professionals and generating accurate, meaningful, and timely financial statements, (4) provide a moratorium on the procurement of all government financial software because without a credible Central Agency (and government-wide accounting standard) there is no ability to test the financial software procured, (5) mandate that our government no longer rely on AICPA firms for our accounting standards and off-the-shelf financial software vendors for our financial software standards. (These corporate friends have 20 consecutive years of documented failures and no incentive to improve their performance). These standards, processes, and financial systems should be developed by government college degreed accountant and CS professionals, (6) provide jail time and stiff financial penalties for all political appointees and government supervisory (GM level 13 – 15) managers who abused their positions of public trust, and (7) eliminate paybanding – and a gimmick to legally remove our whistleblowers.
As a start, Congress should require each agency and Department to provide them with a list of all credentialed accountants (4-year degrees and CPA certificates) to obtain an inventory of the government’s credentialed accountants and CS people. All managers and staff not fitting this minimal 4-year college degree requirement should be required to remain in their existing position until current processes are explained and understood (by the their replacements).
The NABC also requests that both the Executive and Legislative Branches consider making the minimal budgeting changes needed to integrate our government’s accounting and budgeting processes. Two minimal changes are requested: 1) replacement of the government’s ongoing annual and multiple-year appropriations with X (or no-year) appropriations. This change ensures that all the same appropriation activity is consolidated in a single appropriation instead of scattering that accounting and budgeting data over several of the same appropriations having one-year or multiple-year appropriations. 2) replace the government’s 200+-year old 4-digit budget object class codes with a government Chart of Accounts. These two minimal changes are some of the key changes needed to replace the current failed process with a single integrated accounting and budgeting process that is easily explained, tested, and implemented.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to implementing a single financial software package to fit all (24) agency needs. This is accomplished by using our own government accountants and hiring additional government CS professionals since many have been (and are still being) removed. If possible, require the off-the-shelf financial software companies to turn over their system flow charts (assuming they exist) and computer codes. The NAWBC and the government’s accountants and remaining CS professionals will select the best software (depends on our testing) and the government will pay that vendor for the rights to this software. If there are too many technical problems, obtain the necessary resources to design our own software using a modular design that allows different portions of that software to be designed, tested, and implemented at various times (as completed). By using a modular software design, it is possible to use the same (basic) accounting concepts and software and apply those concepts to agencies as small as the Environmental Protection Agency and to very large departments (including the Department of Defense).
Finally, the NAWBC is advocating that our government's 4-year degreed accountants and CPA's work together in providing an objective and detailed review of the integrated accounting and budgeting model that appears in (http://www.tgar.org). This model is also based upon Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Upon completion of that review (including any necessary changes), we can begin the process of simultaneously completing manuals and text books and beginning the financial software design, testing, and implementation phase of this process.
The intent of this integrated accounting and budgeting model is to foster an open and transparent government (at all levels) and that this single accounting standard apply to all governments -- federal, state, local, and even foreign governments. This concept is not unique because a single AICPA standard applies to all private sector businesses. This same integrated accounting and budgeting concept can (and does) apply to all governments. The only hurdles are political and not technical!! With a single government (Federal, state, and local) accounting standard, the same financial software will apply to those governments as well – assuming that the politicians at those levels institute the very minimal budgeting changes required to accommodate this single integrated accounting and budgeting process.