Transparency and trust are symbiotic concepts. The willingness and ability to be transparent about one’s actions or intentions—or finances—creates trust. And one is trustworthy if their actions or intentions are clear and intelligible.
Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution states that “a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.” The federal government—specifically, the U.S. Treasury Department—has been issuing a monthly statement of receipts and expenditures since 1790, laying the foundation for what has become a long-enduring conduit to a broad array of important government financial information. But the passage of landmark legislation, including the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990, the Government Management Reform Act (GMRA) of 1994, and the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) in 2014, has been transformational, ushering in process and technology changes that have significantly enhanced the federal government’s transparency, providing for the availability of financial information not just in static monthly or annual reports, but in more dynamic, customer-centric reports that can be accessed electronically in real time.
- Publication date: February 2025
- Authors: R. Scott Bell and Aileen Burgman