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GASB Adds Performance Project to the Current Agenda

April 18, 2007

On April 6, 2007, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) announced that it has added a performance measurement project to its current agenda. Known as "Service Efforts and Accomplishments (SEA) Reporting," the project will help governments report the measures they develop and use to gauge achieved outcomes in pursuit of their public policy goals. SEA could result in suggested guidelines for governments to help them effectively communicate their accomplishments to the public.

More than two decades of GASB research show that SEA reporting provides important information that can help citizens and elected representatives better assess how well their governments are achieving their public policy missions. It is important to note that the SEA Reporting project is designed to produce suggested guidelines for voluntary reporting by governments. Accordingly, the GASB does not intend to require governments to report SEA information, nor does it intend to require that governments report specific performance measures or achieve specific levels of performance. Instead, the GASB will consider establishing guidelines that will help public institutions and other governmental organizations communicate performance results that are relevant to their expressed priorities and goals in a manner that the public will find meaningful and understandable.

You can read more about the GASB's SEA research and recommendations by visiting the the GASB's Performance Measurement site. NACUBO has also conducted research on performance reporting and has made available to  members a performance measurement toolkit. Members with comments or performance measurement tools to share are encouraged to contact Sue Menditto, director of accounting policy.