Homeland Security says it's following financial law

"While the subject of financial management may seem arcane and dry to some . . . getting financial management right is critical to the operational effectiveness of the federal agency charged with leading the effort to secure the homeland,"...

Judge May Tell IRS to Open Collection Bids

Judge Robert H. Hodges Jr. of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims told the Internal Revenue Service that he intends to rule that tax collectors were too restrictive while looking for companies to run the first phase of the agency's new debt collection program. Hodges wrote in the order that the IRS could best meet its goal for a successful project "by opening the list of potential bidders to everyone" qualified to receive government contracts.

DHS says CFO reports to Chertoff

“There is no doubt in our mind that Andrew Maner, the CFO, has a direct report to the secretary,” said Janet Hale, DHS' undersecretary for management, testifying yesterday on Capitol Hill.

Oracle Fusion platform coming into focus

Government program managers are finally starting to get a glimpse of the next-generation enterprise resource planning platform from Oracle Corp. At the Oracle Government Users Conference, held last week in Washington, the database giant revealed some details about its forthcoming Fusion platform.

Labor scores green sweep on President's Management Agenda

Clay Johnson, OMB’s deputy director for management, identified the Labor Department as the first to achieve an “all green” score card for management this quarter.

GIVING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE MORE FOR THEIR MONEY - A Report from the President's Management Council

Dear Mr. President,

Four years ago you charged us, the chief operating officers of the Federal
Government, with improving the management of the Government. You
challenged us to make a difference.

We report to you that we are making a difference, a big difference. We
are effectively establishing the management disciplines that will help us
consistently improve performance and efficiency, at a $50 billion to $100
billion level each year.

OMB releases final budget guidance

Circular A-11, final guidance for agency fiscal 2007 budget preparations, sent out by the Office of Management and Budget in late June contains guidance on financial management, requires agencies covered by the Chief Financial Officers Act to submit an overview of their financial management systems. Included in the overview should be a migration strategy to a cross-agency financial management service center, the circular states.

Pension insurer seeks financial management system

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. seeks proposals for development of an integrated financial and accounting system. PBGC, which ensures workers’ retirement pensions against the possibility that their employers may default, wants to reduce costs and delays involved with aging systems and outdated business processes and provide an online transaction-based system.

Public/private team wins Energy IT services deal

The Energy Department has awarded a competitive sourcing contract potentially worth about $1 billion to a joint venture of federal workers and private-sector companies to manage information technology services. It is apparently the first time that federal employees have teamed with private industry to win a competitive sourcing deal.

Accounting organization honors agency performance reports

An independent organization of government accountants announced that it would award the Defense, Energy and Interior departments, among others, for producing high-quality performance reports. Eleven awards, called the Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting, will be presented to agencies on Sept. 14 at the National Press Club in Washington.

House cuts off funding for eTravel

The General Services Administration’s eTravel budget would be cut to nothing under an amendment attached to the House Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies funding bill for fiscal 2006. ...amendment would cause “the shutdown, entire shutdown of the eTravel program.”"

IBM Debuts Sarbanes-Oxley Software For Federal Government Agencies

The application will help agencies comply with an OMB directive governing internal controls over financial reporting.

Lawmakers raid DOT CIO’s budget to fund Amtrak

Transportation Department CIO Dan Matthews may not have a job if lawmakers sustain cuts that the House approved yesterday. The House gutted the entire funding — $11.9 million — for salaries and expenses for the Transportation CIO’s office in order to help keep the beleaguered Amtrak passenger rail system afloat another year.

Oracle lands order for Transcom financials replacement, DEAMS

The Air Force has awarded a $22.7 million task order to Oracle for commercial software to build a new accounting and finance system for U.S. Transportation Command (Transcom). The Defense Enterprise Accounting and Management System (DEAMS) will update Transcom’s general funds and working capital funds processes, create an enterprise view for financial data and improve information accuracy.