Seven agencies lauded for exceptional performance reports

The Association of Government Accountants on Friday recognized seven federal agencies for presenting clear, concise performance reports describing finances and progress toward strategic goals.

AGA, a 16,000-member professional group, praised award recipients for publishing exceptional fiscal 2002 Performance and Accountability Reports-summaries of financial health and program results mandated by the Office of Management and Budget and Congress. The 2000 Reports Consolidation Act allows agencies to combine financial data and performance data into one report.

Officials at the seven agencies taking home awards can answer questions about results "better than anyone else in government," said Robert Shea, counsel to Clay Johnson], the deputy director for management at OMB. Integration of financial and performance data is one component of President Bush's five-part management agenda.

The Interior, State and Labor departments, and the General Accounting Office, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Patent and Trademark Office and Social Security Administration received the awards. These agencies stood out because they published complete and reliable reports, highlighting important performance goals, the measures used to show progress toward meeting those goals and status on implementing each part of the president's management agenda, according to the award selection committee.

Jonathan Breul, a fellow at the IBM Center for the Business of Government and a former senior adviser at OMB, said agencies have made some strides in integrating financial and performance data, but have a "long way to go before they can follow all the statutory requirements and produce a manageable, easy-to-read report at the same time."

Many consolidated reports are more than 200 pages long, but Breul noted that some agencies, such as the State Department, have started producing slimmed down versions. State's report is 48 pages long and contains charts summarizing program accomplishments in 2002, a section illustrating its marks on OMB's traffic-light style management scorecard alongside goals for improvement, and streamlined charts of financial data.

A panel of 48 outside reviewers selected Friday's award recipients from a pool of 12 agencies that participated in AGA's Certificates of Excellence in Accountability Reporting program. Established in 1997 with the help of the Office of Management and Budget and the Chief Financial Officers Council, the program provides agencies with advice on streamlining their reports.

The Patent and Trademark Office received its first award this year. Jo-Anne Barnard, the agency's chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, said that this also marks the first year PTO submitted a report for evaluation.

The award is meaningful because it recognizes PTO's "results-oriented" culture and efforts to demonstrate accountability to customers, Barnard added. PTO is unique in that it is funded entirely by user fees, she said.

Aside from PTO, the agencies recognized Friday all earned awards in past years. AGA has previously presented four awards to SSA, and two to both the Labor and Interior departments.