Financial Management

The Defense Department (DOD) needs accurate financial information to effectively manage its vast resources--more than $1 trillion in assets, 3 million personnel, and a projected budget of $250 billion for fiscal year 1997. Financial management information not only reveals DOD's financial position and the results of its operations but also provides Congress with information for making decisions and assessing DOD's performance. One challenge to DOD's financial management is putting in place a quality, professional financial management workforce. This report--part of a series of planned GAO reports discussing DOD's financial management workforce--identifies the qualifications, including formal education, training, professional certifications, and work experience, of persons serving in key financial management positions at DOD.

GAO noted that: (1) in collaboration with the DOD Comptroller's Office, GAO identified the three Defense executives (Comptroller/Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Deputy Comptroller, and Deputy CFO) and 21 staff in the Office of Accounting Policy as the key staff responsible for DOD financial management; (2) the three executives: (a) had formal education degrees ranging from bachelors to doctorate; (b) had certifications in government financial management; and (c) had served in DOD financial management-related positions from 4 to 27 years, with two of the executives also having prior careers with congressional committees and congressional agencies; (3) of the 21 staff in the Office of Accounting Policy, 19 had responded to GAO's survey as of April 8, 1997; (4) the respondents included 3 senior executives, 14 GS-15s, 1 GS-14, and 1 GS-13; and (5) highlights from the profiles of these staff follow: (a) 18 staff held bachelors degrees in accounting or a business-related field, 10 held master degrees, 8 of which were also in business-related fields, and one respondent also held a doctorate in management; (b) 16 staff had completed courses in six or more accounting-related subject areas as part of their bachelors and masters studies, typically equating to at least 24 credit hours--the general standard for personnel serving in GS-510 accountant positions--and 14 of these staff members listed their education major as accounting; (c) 8 staff indicated that they had completed accounting-related training and 4 additional staff had completed other financial-related training during 1995 and 1996, and of the remaining respondents, 7 reported receiving training in general topics such as computers or attending professional seminars and symposiums; (d) 3 staff reported being both Certified Public Accountants and Certified Government Financial Managers (CGFM), a fourth staff member holds the CGFM and other certifications, such as Certified Cost Analyst, 13 additional staff also hold the CGFM, and 2 staff reported holding no professional certifications; and (e) the average length of professional work experience was 26 years, with 13 of the 19 staff performing tasks in several financial management-related functions throughout their careers.