The Government Accountants Journal最新文献

{"title":"Improving Financial Management","authors":"H. Steinberg","doi":"10.14217/9781848597686-8-en","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14217/9781848597686-8-en","url":null,"abstract":"Governments are finally recognizing the importance of professional financial management. Revenue bases are no longer growing, governments are expected to provide more programs and the taxpayers want more value. Hence, elected officials are asking the program managers to focus their limited resources on achieving specific results and to consider the financial implications of their program actions. At the same time, they are expanding the role of financial managers and are looking to fill the positions with employees who possess extensive knowledge in a wide variety of functional areas. The Association of Government Accountants' Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) program is a response to this call for an increased level of professionalism in government financial managers. The CGFM Program seeks to identify and designate individuals who have knowledge in many functional areas and know how to apply it in a government setting. The designation further recognizes that the knowledge brought to government financial management differs significantly from private sector financial management expertise. The key elements of the CGFM program are the three examinations that have been designed to determine whether an individual has this unique knowledge as defined by the CGFM program. This article explains the comprehensive development of three separate examinations that candidates must pass to become certified as well as the subject matter covered by each exam. DEVELOPING THE EXAMINATION The development of a successful and professionally defensible certification exam must follow a rigorous plan. The process followed during the development of the CGFM exam was defined by the Chauncey Group International, a wholly owned subsidiary of the world-renowned Educational Testing Service. Chauncey guided and participated in every step. The Content Specifications Outline The process started with the development, by the CGFM Professional Certification Board, of a Content Specifications Outline. The purpose of a Content Specifications Outline is to define the body of knowledge to be covered on the exam. This complex effort was undertaken by the Association of Government Accountants' Professional Certification Board. Other purposes for the outline are to establish the foundation from which the exam is developed, assure consistent coverage on the exam over time, communicate the content of the exam to interested parties, aid candidates preparing for the exam and provide information to the designers of exam preparation courses. In the Content Specifications Outline, the board declared what an individual should know in order to perform as a government financial manager. The outline did not, however, include the technical aspects of the various disciplines in which a government financial manager might work. For instance, it did not include extensive aspects of accounting theory, auditing practice or information management. The board concluded that the examinations for ot","PeriodicalId":198136,"journal":{"name":"The Government Accountants Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124141045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Performance Auditing: What Is It?","authors":"Katherine Thompson","doi":"10.4135/9781412972024.n1853","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412972024.n1853","url":null,"abstract":"At some point in recent accounting history, auditing grew from an examination of the fairness of financial statements to auditing the performance of management. The federal government, along with at least 16 states and numerous local governments, are either using or preparing to use performance audits. But what is performance auditing? Sometimes known as an operational audit, program audit or management audit, Government Auditing Standards define a performance audit as: ...an objective and systematic examination of evidence for the purpose of providing an independent assessment of the performance of a government organization, program, activity or function in order to provide information to improve public accountability and facilitate decision-making... The standards go on to say that performance audits include economy and efficiency and program audits. In short, performance audits identify ways government can work better and cost less. By taking a thorough, top-to-bottom look at every operation, performance audits measure economy and efficiency, effectiveness of services and then recommend appropriate changes. Performance audits uncover waste and fraud. Ultimately they change the way government works. What does performance auditing mean to the practicing professional? Here are some definitions provided by leaders in government performance auditing: Gerald R. Silva, CGFM, City Auditor, City of San Jose, California: \"From a technical standpoint, performance auditing is compliance review with laws, ordinances, statutes and rules...and the three \"E\"s--economy, efficiency and effectiveness...But really a performance audit is an audit of management's performance.\" Kurt Sjoberg, CGFM, State Auditor of California: \"A performance audit is an independent evaluation of an organization's operation with an eye toward making it work better, faster and cheaper. Along with these streamlining efforts, a performance audit may also determine whether management is fulfilling its promises to the taxpayers by effectively providing the services intended to meet its goals and objectives.\" Francis E. Reardon, CGFM, Auditor General, US Army: \"A performance audit is a detailed examination and evaluation of the efficiency effectiveness and propriety of an entity's operation...with the goal of providing management with real-time recommendations and assistance that improves operations and processes while saving taxpayers dollars...\" Some of the questions a performance auditor might answer are: What is the mission of the activity? Is it still needed? Is management achieving its mission? How does it know it is achieving its mission? Can it be more effective in achieving its mission? Is management achieving its mission as effectively as possible? Performance auditors must make sound, workable recommendations to make government work better for less. But why is a performance auditor any better at making government more effective and efficient than a government manager? According t","PeriodicalId":198136,"journal":{"name":"The Government Accountants Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116553730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}