Agencies annually submit reports that detail their financial information and operations. MirageC / Getty Images
Agency financial, performance report writers get their moment in the spotlight
An association of government financial professionals sponsors a yearly award ceremony that recognizes outstanding agency accountability reports.
Agency financial reports aren’t known for being page turners, but Ann Ebberts, a former federal consultant and CEO of AGA, formerly known as the Association of Government Accountants, said she likes to show particularly “slick” ones to her in-laws.
“It's a financial report, so it pulls all the financial information together, but it's really [answering] why does the agency exist? What are the key things they're trying to get done this year?” she said. “If you take them all together and put them in a huge stack, you would have the annual financial report for the United States.”
While Ebberts said that awards for federal employees tend to focus on “big things” like “a new space capsule that went up,” her organization annually honors the teams behind agencies’ financial, performance and accountability reports.
“Sometimes you don't understand, or even think about, the people that are managing the money that help afford and pay for those big things that you see,” she said. “They really are kind of the unsung heroes because the financial community is responsible for managing trillions of dollars and to do it accurately and to report on time.”
At a black-tie event in Washington, D.C.’s Grand Hyatt on May 21, 26 federal agencies received a Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting award for their fiscal 2024 reports that were determined to be complete, informative and candid. Additionally, AGA gives out special awards that vary yearly and recognize features of individual reports.
For example, IRS’ report received a special award for “outstanding messages from the agency head and chief financial officer that exemplify a commitment to customer service,” and Interior’s submission won for “a management discussion and analysis that tells a compelling story.”
“The special awards are secret. Nobody knows them until I read them out loud,” Ebberts said. “So that's when the tables all stand up and cheer and everybody hoots and hollers. You'd think that they had won the lottery.”
The honorees are selected by teams of agency officials and external auditors who review the submitted reports and provide suggestions for improvement. Implementing their recommendations is a factor in making award determinations.
“The comment letters we send back to the agency — it's not just a one pager that says, ‘Hey, great, congratulations. You're getting an award,’” Ebberts said. “We'll say, ‘Congratulations, you're getting an award. Please see the set of comments that we are submitting to you to please consider for the next year.’”
The awards program has been going on since 1997 when it was started in collaboration with the Chief Financial Officers Council and the Office of Management and Budget.