---
kind: "range"
citation: "31 U.S.C. §§ 3511–3513"
title: "31"
from: "3511"
to: "3513"
count: 3
release: "119-102"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/31/3511..3513"
---

# §3511. Prescribing accounting requirements and developing accounting systems

- (a) The Comptroller General shall prescribe the accounting principles, standards, and requirements that the head of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) shall observe. Before prescribing the principles, standards, and requirements, the Comptroller General shall consult with the Secretary of the Treasury and the President on their accounting, financial reporting, and budgetary needs, and shall consider the needs of the heads of the other executive [agencies](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2).
- (b) Requirements prescribed under [subsection (a)](#a) of this section shall—
  - (1) provide for suitable integration between the accounting process of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) and the accounting of the Department of the Treasury;
  - (2) allow the head of each [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) to carry out [section 3512 of this title](/usc/31/3512.md); and
  - (3) provide a method of—
    - (A) integrated accounting for the United States Government;
    - (B) complete disclosure of the results of the financial operations of each [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) and the Government; and
    - (C) financial information and control the President and Congress require to carry out their responsibilities.
- (c) Consistent with subsections [(a)](#a) and [(b)](#b) of this section—
  - (1) the authority of the Comptroller General continues under [section 121(b) of title 40](/usc/40/121.md?p=b); and
  - (2) the Comptroller General may prescribe the forms, systems, and procedures that the judicial branch of the Government (except the Supreme Court) shall observe.
- (d) The Comptroller General, the Secretary, and the President shall conduct a continuous program for improving accounting and financial reporting in the Government.

# §3512. Executive agency accounting and other financial management reports and plans

- (a)
  - (1) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress and make available on a website described in [section 1122](/usc/31/1122.md) a financial management status report and a governmentwide 5-year financial management plan.
  - (2) A financial management status report under this subsection shall include—
    - (A) a description and analysis of the status of financial management in the executive branch;
    - (B) a summary of the most recently completed financial statements—
      - (i) of Federal [agencies](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) under [section 3515 of this title](/usc/31/3515.md); and
      - (ii) of Government corporations;
    - (C) a summary of the most recently completed financial statement audits and reports—
      - (i) of Federal [agencies](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) under section [3521(e)](/usc/31/3521.md?p=e) and [(f)](/usc/31/3521.md?p=f) of this title; and
      - (ii) of Government corporations;
    - (D) a summary of reports on internal accounting and administrative control systems submitted to the President and the Congress under the amendments made by the Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act of 1982 (Public Law 97–255);
    - (E) a listing of [agencies](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) whose financial management systems do not comply substantially with the requirements of Section[^1] 3(a)[^2] the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996, and a summary statement of the efforts underway to remedy the noncompliance; and
    - (F) any other information the Director considers appropriate to fully inform the Congress regarding the financial management of the Federal Government.
  - (3)
    - (A) A governmentwide 5-year financial management plan under this subsection shall describe the activities the Director, the Deputy Director for Management, the Controller of the Office of Federal Financial Management, and [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) Chief Financial Officers shall conduct over the next 5 fiscal years to improve the financial management of the Federal Government.
    - (B) Each governmentwide 5-year financial management plan prepared under this subsection shall—
      - (i) describe the existing financial management structure and any changes needed to establish an integrated financial management system;
      - (ii) be consistent with applicable accounting principles, standards, and requirements;
      - (iii) provide a strategy for developing and integrating individual [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) accounting, financial information, and other financial management systems to ensure adequacy, consistency, and timeliness of financial information;
      - (iv) identify and make proposals to eliminate duplicative and unnecessary systems, including encouraging [agencies](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) to share systems which have sufficient capacity to perform the functions needed;
      - (v) identify projects to bring existing systems into compliance with the applicable standards and requirements;
      - (vi) contain milestones for equipment acquisitions and other actions necessary to implement the 5-year plan consistent with the requirements of this section;
      - (vii) identify financial management personnel needs and actions to ensure those needs are met;
      - (viii) include a plan for ensuring the annual audit of financial statements of executive [agencies](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) pursuant to [section 3521(h) of this title](/usc/31/3521.md?p=h); and
      - (ix) estimate the costs of implementing the governmentwide 5-year plan.
  - (4)
    - (A) Not later than 15 months after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall submit the first financial management status report and governmentwide 5-year financial management plan under this subsection to the appropriate committees of the Congress.
    - (B)
      - (i) Not later than January 31 of each year thereafter, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a financial management status report and a revised governmentwide 5-year financial management plan to cover the succeeding 5 fiscal years, including a report on the accomplishments of the executive branch in implementing the plan during the preceding fiscal year.
      - (ii) The Director shall include with each revised governmentwide 5-year financial management plan a description of any substantive changes in the financial statement audit plan required by [paragraph (3)(B)(viii)](#a-3-B-viii), progress made by executive [agencies](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) in implementing the audit plan, and any improvements in Federal Government financial management related to preparation and audit of financial statements of executive [agencies](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2).
  - (5) Not later than 30 days after receiving each annual report under [section 902(a)(6) of this title](/usc/31/902.md?p=a-6), the Director shall transmit to the Chairman of the Committee on Government Operations of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate a final copy of that report and any comments on the report by the Director.
- (b) The head of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) shall establish and maintain systems of accounting and internal controls that provide—
  - (1) complete disclosure of the financial results of the activities of the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2);
  - (2) adequate financial information the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) needs for management purposes;
  - (3) effective control over, and accountability for, assets for which the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) is responsible, including internal audit;
  - (4) reliable accounting results that will be the basis for—
    - (A) preparing and supporting the budget requests of the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2);
    - (B) controlling the carrying out of the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) budget; and
    - (C) providing financial information the President requires under [section 1104(e) of this title](/usc/31/1104.md?p=e); and
  - (5) suitable integration of the accounting of the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) with the central accounting and reporting responsibilities of the Secretary of the Treasury under [section 3513 of this title](/usc/31/3513.md).
- (c)
  - (1) To ensure compliance with [subsection (b)(3)](#b-3) of this section and consistent with standards the Comptroller General prescribes, the head of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) shall establish internal accounting and administrative controls that reasonably ensure that—
    - (A) [obligations](/usc/31/3801.md?p=a-11) and costs comply with applicable law;
    - (B) all assets are safeguarded against waste, loss, unauthorized use, and misappropriation; and
    - (C) revenues and expenditures applicable to [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) operations are recorded and accounted for properly so that accounts and reliable financial and statistical reports may be prepared and accountability of the assets may be maintained.
  - (2) Standards the Comptroller General prescribes under this subsection shall include standards to ensure the prompt resolution of all audit findings.
- (d)
  - (1) In consultation with the Comptroller General, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget—
    - (A) shall establish by December 31, 1982, guidelines that the head of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) shall follow in evaluating the internal accounting and administrative control systems of the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) to decide whether the systems comply with [subsection (c)](#c) of this section; and
    - (B) may change a guideline when considered necessary.
  - (2) By December 31 of each year (beginning in 1983), the head of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2), based on an evaluation conducted according to guidelines prescribed under paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall prepare a statement on whether the systems of the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) comply with [subsection (c)](#c) of this section, including—
    - (A) if the head of an executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) decides the systems do not comply with [subsection (c)](#c) of this section, a report identifying any [material](/usc/31/3801.md?p=a-10) weakness in the systems and describing the plans and schedule for correcting the weakness; and
    - (B) a separate report on whether the accounting system of the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) conforms to the principles, standards, and requirements the Comptroller General prescribes under [section 3511(a) of this title](/usc/31/3511.md?p=a).
  - (3) The head of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) shall sign the statement and reports required by this subsection and submit them to the President and Congress. The statement and reports are available to the public, except that information shall be deleted from a statement or report before it is made available if the information specifically is—
    - (A) prohibited from disclosure by law; or
    - (B) required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or the conduct of foreign affairs.
- (e) To assist in preparing a cost-based budget under [section 1108(b) of this title](/usc/31/1108.md?p=b) and consistent with principles and standards the Comptroller General prescribes, the head of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) shall maintain the accounts of the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) on an accrual basis to show the resources, liabilities, and costs of operations of the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2). An accounting system under this subsection shall include monetary property accounting records.
- (f) The Comptroller General shall—
  - (1) cooperate with the head of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) in developing an accounting system for the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2); and
  - (2) approve the system when the Comptroller General considers it to be adequate and in conformity with the principles, standards, and requirements prescribed under [section 3511 of this title](/usc/31/3511.md).
- (g) The Comptroller General shall review the accounting systems of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2). The results of a review shall be available to the head of the executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2), the Secretary, and the President. The Comptroller General shall report to Congress on a review when the Comptroller General considers it proper.

# §3513. Financial reporting and accounting system

- (a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall prepare reports that will inform the President, Congress, and the public on the financial operations of the United States Government. The reports shall include financial information the President requires. The head of each executive [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) shall give the Secretary reports and information on the financial conditions and operations of the [agency](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) the Secretary requires to prepare the reports.
- (b) The Secretary may—
  - (1) establish facilities necessary to prepare the reports; and
  - (2) reorganize the accounting functions and procedures and financial reports of the Department of the Treasury to develop an effective and coordinated system of accounting and financial reporting in the Department that will integrate the accounting results for the Department and be the operating center for consolidating accounting results of other executive [agencies](/usc/31/1352.md?p=g-2) with accounting results of the Department.
- (c) The Comptroller General shall—
  - (1) cooperate with the Secretary in developing and establishing the reporting and accounting system under this section; and
  - (2) approve the system when the Comptroller General considers it to be adequate and in conformity with the principles, standards, and requirements prescribed under [section 3511 of this title](/usc/31/3511.md).