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Agencies Should Disclose Consultant's Roles in Preparing Congressionally Mandated Reports

FPCD-80-76 Published: Aug 19, 1980. Publicly Released: Aug 19, 1980.
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Highlights

In a GAO study of seven agencies, outside consulting services were used to meet over 40 percent of the agencies' congressionally mandated reporting requirements. Costs for consulting services represented about 66 percent of the total costs incurred in preparing the reports. Agencies generally based their justification for using consulting services on (1) the lack of in-house expertise, and (2) limited in-house resources and related time constraints. Two agencies used consulting services on a continuing basis to help prepare recurring reports. This action appears contrary to policy prescribed by the Office of Management and Budget. Most of the reports GAO reviewed did not adequately disclose consultants' assistance. In two earlier reports on consulting services, GAO found that agencies were having considerable difficulty in using the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) definition of consulting services. In some cases officials lacked an awareness of the definition; in others, they adopted a more narrow definition.

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CompensationConsultantsContract costsPersonnel managementProgram managementConsulting servicesReporting requirementsService contractsFederal agenciesProcurement