General Accounting Office - Accounting

The comptroller general has the following statutory responsibilities with respect to the accounting systems of federal agencies:

• Prescribe the accounting principles, standards, and related requirements to be followed by the agencies
• Cooperate with federal agencies in developing their accounting systems
• Approve agency accounting systems when they are deemed adequate and meet prescribed principles, standards, and related requirements
• Review, from time to time, agency accounting systems in operation
• Conduct—jointly with the Office of Management and Budget, the TREASURY DEPARTMENT, and the Office of Personnel Management—a continuous program to improve accounting and financial reporting in the federal government

By law, the comptroller general cooperates with the secretary of the Treasury and the director of the Office of Management and Budget in developing for use by all federal agencies standardized information and data-processing systems and also standard terminology, definitions, classifications, and codes for federal fiscal, budgetary, and program-related data and information.