May 15, 2013
Welcome back.
In my recent posts, I have continued a conversation about the re-release of OMB Circular A-129 Policies For Federal Credit Programs And Non-Tax Receivables. As I mentioned previously, this update was 12 years in the making and contains substantial revisions and additions. OMB has stated that it wants agencies to indicate their level of compliance by the end of June. Simply measuring compliance can be a major task, depending upon how well the program is already managed.
Sarah Lyberg, the head of OMB’s Credit Crew, spoke at a panel recently and discussed A-129 and I was there to listen. Below are some talking points she provided:
- Sarah said one of the big themes of A-129 compliance is focusing on the measuring of policy risk and how well programs meet their policy goals.
- She named four important revised components of A-129, including:
- Management and Oversight Structures
- Program Reviews
- Data-Driven Reporting (dashboards)
- Communications
- She said the appendices were included to highlight important questions that credit programs should ask themselves, steering agencies towards best practices.
- Sarah spent some time discussing the two reconstituted deliverables called for by the revised Circular. The first is the Biennial Program Review, and the second is a Quarterly high level dashboard. OMB is still revising their implementation plan, and guidance will be forthcoming.
- Finally, Sarah admitted that the delayed President’s Budget this year may have set some programs back a few weeks in responding to the self-assessment due at the end of June.
That’s all for now. Let’s pick up the next section of OMB Circular A-129 in my next post.
CredTip: When preparing your cash flow for FAIC and Reestimates, remember that intragovernmental debt values need to have a negative sign in the cash flow. Cash has a positive sign.
