The Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–576) signed into law by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

on November 15, 1990, is a

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as va ...

intended to improve the government's

financial management Financial management is the business function concerned with profitability, expenses, cash and credit, so that the "organization may have the means to carry out its objective as satisfactorily as possible;" the latter often defined as maximizin ...

, 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). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

(OMB) was given greater authority over federal financial management. For each of 24 federal departments and agencies, the position of

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

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: *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 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 (EOP). The President of the United States ap ...

(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 The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful panels in the ...

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.

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 law United States federal government administration legislation Government finances in the United States {{US-fed-statute-stub

See also

References

External links