Forest Service Cost Reporting for National Forest System Programs

GAO discussed the Forest Service's progress in developing a cost reporting system for managing national forests. GAO noted that the Service: (1) designed its All-Resource Cost Reporting System to provide cost information on individual programs and program activities, outputs, and socioeconomic information; (2) is on schedule with its system design, testing, and implementation plans; and (3) based the system design on forest management information it obtained from four national forests with different resource programs. GAO also noted that the new system will: (1) continue to enable the Service to report on expenditures, unexpended authorized amounts, and types of purchases and payments; (2) relate costs to the time periods in which they are incurred; and (3) provide accurate cost information to facilitate determinations of programs' financial returns and management efficiency. In addition, GAO noted that the Service: (1) completed development of its Timber Sales Program Information Reporting System (TSPIRS), designed to report timber program costs and revenues; and (2) believes that software improvements and managers' acclimation to data reporting requirements will eliminate initial TSPIRS inaccuracies. GAO believes that the Forest Service is progressing in its design of its cost reporting systems and in capturing accurate program cost information.