Congress

Timeline: The Evolution of Financial Management in the Federal Government

Building on the foundation of the Accounting and Auditing Act of 1950, Congress has increased the oversight and transparency of government spending over the yea...

Michael O'Connell@moconnellWFED

April 8, 2013 2:33 am

< a min read

(This interactive timeline is part of Federal News Radio’s special report, Rise of the Money People.)

The roots of today’s federal financial systems oversight can be traced back to the Accounting and Auditing Act of 1950, which authorized the head of each federal agency to establish internal controls over its assets.

The act also tasked the Government Accountability Office with drawing up accounting standards for agencies and, through audits, ensuring that agency internal controls met those standards.

Over the last three decades, Congress has expanded the scope of financial oversight at agencies, and, with the help of new technology, provided for greater transparency in agencies’ fiscal reporting.

This timeline provides an overview of the initiatives introduced by the White House and legislation enacted by Congress to establish greater oversight of government spending.