Results of Annual Survey of Gvt CFOs

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Results of Annual Survey of Gvt CFOs

July 1, 2009 (SmartPros) Governments should base transparency on eight practical principles, says a new survey of 500 public sector financial executives and managers in the United States and Canada sponsored by the Association of Government Accountants and Grant Thornton LLP.

"The principles can be summed up as 'Produce accurate, timely and reliable financial and performance information that people inside and outside government want and can use for making decisions,'" says survey director Clifton A. Williams, a partner with Grant Thornton. For the first time, a survey shows consistencies and some differences between U.S Federal, State/Local and Canadian governments.

Asked to define transparency for government financial and performance information, survey respondents offered these chief principles:

Have a process for ensuring that data you disclose are accurate and reliable, and make that process transparent to users.
Understand the information that people want and deliver it. If they are not sure what they need, help them define it.
Along with the information you provide, show them how to leverage it.
Be as open as possible without creating risk.
Provide information that helps make decisions.
Do not just react to requests-active outreach is important.
Give context to data: show goals, benchmarks and other information with which to compare them. Take action yourself based on the information, and communicate your actions. This includes using it to make policy and budget decisions and to manage and improve operations.
Be conscious of the dollar cost of transparency, and invest wisely in it. Set priorities for disclosure, and strive for the best return on investment.

The results of this year's survey clearly show a renewed focus on financial management and transparency because of the current financial crisis and the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in the U.S. and the Canadian Economic Action Plan.

"This year's survey strikes right at the heart of the worldwide debate over transparency and performance and financial management. The views expressed in this survey on the Recovery Act, transparency, what new CFOs need to know and the usefulness of financial statements, are the views of 500 financial executives and managers who work on a daily basis to make our financial apparatus click. I can think of no better group of public servants with whom to discuss these important issues," said Williams.

The National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT) and the Financial Management Institute of Canada (fmi*igf) also participated in this year's survey.

For a copy of the 2009 AGA CFO Survey, please go to www.GrantThornton.com/publicsector.

Source: Grant Thornton

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