The Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–576) signed into law by President
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
on November 15, 1990, is a
United States federal law
The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the supreme law is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...
intended to improve the government's
financial management, outlining standards of financial performance and disclosure. Among other measures, the
Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...
(OMB) was given greater authority over federal financial management. For each of 24 federal departments and agencies, the position of
chief financial officer
A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...
was created. In accordance with the CFO Act, each agency or department vests its financial management functions in its chief financial officer. The following is a list of the 24 affected agencies, which includes all 15
federal executive departments whose heads are included in the
Cabinet of the United States
The Cabinet of the United States is the principal official advisory body to the president of the United States. The Cabinet generally meets with the president in Cabinet Room (White House), a room adjacent to the Oval Office in the West Wing of ...
, as well as other large agencies:
*Department of Agriculture
*Department of Commerce
*Department of Defense
*Department of Education
*Department of Energy
*Department of Health and Human Services
*Department of Homeland Security
*Department of Housing and Urban Development
*Department of the Interior
*Department of Justice
*Department of Labor
*Department of State
*Department of Transportation
*Department of Treasury
*Department of Veterans Affairs
*Environmental Protection Agency
*National Aeronautics and Space Administration
*Agency for International Development
*Social Security Administration
*General Services Administration
*National Science Foundation
*Nuclear Regulatory Commission
*Office of Personnel Management
*Small Business Administration
The Act created a new position in the OMB, the Deputy Director for Management, who is the government's chief financial management official. It also created a new sub-division of the OMB, the
Office of Federal Financial Management
The Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) is a component of the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States
The Executive Office of the President of ...
(OFFM), to carry out government-wide financial management responsibilities. The OFFM's chief officer was designated as the newly created Controller position. Both the Deputy Director for Management and the Controller are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The
Committee on Government Reform oversees the management and infrastructure of the federal agencies, including those covered by the CFO Act.
The CFO Act also established the CFO Council, consisting of the CFOs and Deputy CFOs of the largest federal agencies and senior officials of OMB and Treasury.
For a discussion of the history and motivation underlying the CFO Act - with particular emphasis on the difficulties the U.S. Department of Defense has experienced attempting to comply with the financial-statement reporting requirements of the Act - see "Financial Accountability at the DOD: Reviewing the Bidding," published in the July 2009 issue of the Defense Acquisition Review Journal, pgs. 181–196.
The CFO Act was authored by staff of the House of Representatives Committee on Government Operations, now the Committee of Government Oversight and Reform, under the leadership of Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Ranking Minority Member Frank Horton (R-NY). The CFO Act passed the House of Representatives by Unanimous Consent.
Federal agencies not listed above, including at least 75 small or "micro" agencies, are not subject to the CFO Act. These agencies may be subject to other financial reporting standards under provisions such as the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002.
See also
*
Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB)
References
External links
CFO Council WebsiteGuide to the CFO Act(U.S. General Accounting Office now known as the Government Accountability Office)
Text of the CFO Act of 1990
1990 in American law
John Conyers
Presidency of George H. W. Bush
United States federal government administration legislation
Government finances in the United States
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