Financial Management, Accounting, & Reporting

IEc staff have technical expertise and decades of experience in economics, accounting, and finance. Leveraging those capabilities, we maintain a robust practice providing expert analysis in the fields of financial management, accounting, and reporting. Clients such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Interior, private firms, and non-governmental organizations turn to IEc for assistance in gathering, analyzing, and communicating business information, leveraging our unique combination of business management and programmatic (i.e., policy) expertise.

IEc consultants are versed in the principles and application of managerial cost accounting and financial management principles. We frequently support client efforts to collect relevant data and report costs of selected activities for management purposes. We develop systems and decision tools to improve the accountability and effectiveness of federal programs.

In addition, IEc advises clients on internal controls and audit readiness, including processes to establish, assess, correct, and report on internal controls. We assist our clients in measuring program performance, establishing accountability regimes, and managing outcomes. IEc consultants are well-versed in the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act, as well as Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SSFAS), Number 4; Government Performance and Results Act of 1993; the President’s Management Agenda; and OMB Circular A-123, among others.

Specialty Areas

IEc consultants understand the financial accounting standards governing the disclosure of environmental risks, liabilities, and intangible assets. Our staff work within the framework of these financial accounting principles to assist public- and private-sector clients in understanding and analyzing the impact of existing rules and guidelines on the accounting and reporting of environmental assets.

Federal and state program and budget managers are increasingly required to demonstrate financial integrity. IEc staff are skilled at helping government agencies navigate these requirements and ensure they are practicing sound cost accounting, to protect public resources from instances of fraud, waste, error, and abuse.

One of the guiding principles of sound financial management is that government agencies should prioritize resources for initiatives that achieve clear, measurable results. IEc helps public sector agencies assess trends in financial cost information and track and integrate cost information with programmatic data to improve management and performance.

IEc serves public- and private-sector clients by interpreting financial statements, evaluating financial performance, and establishing values for businesses.

Methodologies and applications include:

Anticipating future financial performance. Using information from the recent past as a basis, IEc conducts pro forma financial analysis to project the future financial health of businesses, not-for-profits, and municipalities. We focus on both profits and cash flow in our assessments. After replicating and analyzing an organization’s recent performance, we construct alternative scenarios to evaluate the impact of internal management decisions and external economic factors on near- and long-term prospects.
Measuring earnings and cost accounting. IEc employs fundamental accounting principles to translate an organization’s operations into an objective set of values that can be reviewed and analyzed to determine current performance and future prospects.
Developing financial computer models. IEc staff create financial analysis computer models appropriate for lay audiences as well as financial professionals. We also write model user manuals, maintain models, provide technical support, and design training materials.

IEc supports state and federal cost recovery efforts by developing and reviewing cost documentation protocols. We provide expert advice, support settlement negotiations, and provide expert witness testimony in hearings and trials.

IEc staff have reviewed and reconciled cost documentation for numerous federal agencies associated with a range of activities, including standard business operations, natural resource damage assessment activities, and remedial investigation and feasibility studies.

Federal and state agencies increasingly focus on government-wide accountability and fiscal transparency. Several Federal laws (e.g., Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act of 1982, Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990), GAO initiatives, and OMB Circulars require agencies to establish decision support structures that foster fiscal integrity. Agencies achieve integrity by maintaining accountability and control of resources, as well as by requiring information and decision support services that link financial data and program performance. Policy verification serves as an integral component of an effective internal control processes, providing a mechanism (or framework) by which government managers can measure the effectiveness, efficiency, and consistency of any policy, function, or program element. IEc staff are expert in designing verification frameworks, conducting verification reviews, and designing rigorous statistical sampling methods. We also assist organizations in designing tools that build institutional capacity, support succession planning, and integrate effective internal control reviews as standard business practices.