Numbers are at the core of a public finance officer’s job. A big part of the job is communicating those numbers to other people. The challenge is that numbers are not a first language for many people in the finance officer’s audience. In fact, the average American has only “basic”* number skills, according to the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies. Even so, there are opportunities for finance officers to communicate numbers better and, in doing so, generate a better understanding of and enthusiasm for savvy financial decision-making.

Read the report, then consider entering our Fiscal Fluency Challenge.

• Publication date: May 2023