Managing IRS

Important Strides Forward Since 1988 but More Needs to Be Done Gao ID: GGD-91-74 April 29, 1991

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to improve its efficiency and managerial accountability, and the quality of its services, focusing on steps IRS took after a 1988 GAO management review of IRS.

GAO found that: (1) IRS has taken steps to establish a leadership framework that will enable it to improve its management direction and oversight; (2) IRS established the positions of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Controller, and Chief Information Officer (CIO), and established a business review process; (3) the establishment of the CFO and Controller positions provided IRS the leadership to meet long-standing financial management challenges; (4) the CIO position provided IRS the leadership to guide it through major information systems modernization efforts; (5) business reviews will be effective in helping IRS measure personnel performance and in holding managers accountable for meeting IRS-wide goals; (6) IRS identified actions that it needed to take, such as holding financial leadership responsible for all IRS financial matters, enhancing its senior managers' and executives' technical expertise, and developing measurable performance goals; and (7) IRS did not expect to finish its redefinition of occupations and skills needed to carry out its mission until September 1994, which would postpone its implementation of recruiting, training, and retention initiatives.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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