"But as someone who was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1984 on the very platform of fiscal responsibility-and who was the first practicing CPA ever elected to Congress-I want to sound a more fundamental warning: the number may be much less meaningful than meets the eye. We will never truly know what the national debt really is, or tackle it effectively, unless we adopt full-GAAP accounting at the federal level."
"The Act was meant to bring professional accounting, auditing, and financial reporting standards-based on GAAP-into every major federal agency. Unfortunately, more than three decades later, its full promise has yet to be realized. Much like our incomplete debt accounting, the CFO Act itself remains only partially implemented, and until it is fully carried out, Congress and the public still lack a reliable picture of our government's true fiscal condition."
The U.S. gross national debt exceeded $38 trillion, but that headline lacks full clarity without standardized, comprehensive accounting. Full GAAP accounting at the federal level would record and consolidate actual liabilities, obligations, and fiscal results, producing a reliable measurement of national debt and fiscal health. The Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 aimed to implement GAAP-based accounting, auditing, and financial reporting across major federal agencies, but implementation remains incomplete decades later. Partial implementation prevents Congress and the public from seeing a dependable picture of government finances. Complete GAAP adoption is required to measure and manage the nation’s true fiscal condition.
Read at Fortune
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