Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service Reports on Two Years of Progress Toward Its Vision for the Future of Federal Financial Management

February 13, 2020

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service has released Progress Statement 2019: The Future of Federal Financial Management which details its progress in transforming federal financial management.

Two years ago, the Fiscal Service envisioned a future where financial management meets citizens’ expectations for a government that is more efficient, more transparent, and provides a modern customer experience. With an emphasis on improving federal disbursing, collections, financial reporting, and services available to agencies, we are able to improve the customer experience for both agencies and the American public.

In 2019, the Fiscal Service met two of its goals –

• The release of Your Guide to America’s Finances. This engaging, interactive guide, available at USAspending.gov, presents a comprehensive overview of the revenue and expenses of the federal government. The Your Guide site is viewed by thousands of Americans every month who want to learn more about the financial operations of the government.
• Eliminating the annual closing package reporting requirements for 40 federal agencies. By making smarter use of data that the Fiscal Service already collects, the change saves time and drastically reduces repetitive work during the busiest time of year for agency finance offices.

The Fiscal Service also made substantial progress in other key areas, including:

• In FY2019, Treasury disbursed $66 billion of payments for the Department of Defense, exceeding its projections by 12%. DoD is switching over to Treasury disbursing as part of its efforts to modernize its financial management systems. By the end of FY2022, the amount of Treasury-disbursed payments is projected to be approximately $483 billion. The switch will allow DoD to focus its resources on its core mission to protect the security of our nation.
• There was a dramatic reduction in intragovernmental buy/sell differences, from $27.4 billion to $21.0 billion, down by 30%. The improvement is credited to the use of G-Invoicing, a paperless, web-based application that manages buy/sell transactions. Reducing intragovernmental differences contribute to a clean audit opinion in agency’s consolidated financial statements.
• The number of receivables through Fiscal Service’s Centralized Receivables Service jumped from 192,000 to 752,000, increasing nearly three times more than the previous year.

Fiscal Service also reports areas of progress in disbursing, collections, reporting, shared services, and financing. Further information can be found at https://fmvision.fiscal.treasury.gov

“Our progress is motivated by a renewed emphasis on the customers we serve,” said Fiscal Service Commissioner Tim Gribben. “Two years ago, we committed to a bold vision for the future of federal financial management. We set ambitious goals to achieve it. We are making genuine progress that is visible to citizens and agencies. With clear goals ahead of us, we will continue to move forward and report on progress every year.”