| In 1990, Congress passed the Chief Financial Officers Act. This law committed federal government agencies to the production of accrual basis, business-like financial statements. It has been costly for federal government agencies to measure and report this accrual data. This research used a case study methodology to assess how federal agencies, Congressional overseers and the OMB have used the new accrual information. The case studies are based on the Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Justice, and the Small Business Administration. The study concludes that accrual data was costly to prepare and not useful to the policy process in many circumstances. It is likely that in many contexts federal agencies, the OMB and Congress will not be able or willing to use the accrual data in the manner intended by CFO Act proponents. However, the dissertation research shows that some governmental operations were improved by the application of accrual accounting techniques. |
