How much information is too much? A recent GFOA survey suggests a large portion of members who produce financial reports question whether the benefits outweigh the costs. The following pages define the problem with the current approach and offer questions to help define a new path forward.
Local government is in a time of constrained resources, declining trust, and rapid change, which has prompted GFOA to launch a “rethinking” of several aspects of public finance.
In previous issues of GFR, we took a fresh look at how governments budget and raise revenue. These initiatives, known as Rethinking Budgeting and Rethinking Revenue, were inspired by forces like changing public attitudes about government, technological change, and the availability of new and better information about how people make decisions.1 Now, GFOA has launched a third initiative, “Rethinking Financial Reporting.”
- Publication date: August 2024