Reliability of Federal Procurement Data
GAO-04-295R
Published: Dec 30, 2003. Publicly Released: Dec 30, 2003.
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Highlights
Reliable information is critical to informed decision making and to oversight of the procurement system. The Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) has been the federal government's central database of information on federal procurement actions since 1978. Congress and executive branch agencies rely on FPDS to assess the impact that governmentwide acquisition policies and processes are having on the system generally, as well as with respect to specific geographical areas, markets, and socio-economic goals. Yet despite the importance of the data, we continue to find that FPDS data are inaccurate and incomplete. Although we have not fully assessed the extent of reporting errors, we have found sufficient problems to warrant concern about the current reliability of FPDS information.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Management and Budget | The Director of the Office of Mangement and Budget (OMB) should ensure that agencies allocate the resources necessary to implement contract writing systems capable of electronic transfer of information to FPDS-NG. | The Office of Management and Budget issued a memo on August 25, 2004, which directed agencies to identify and allocate the necessary funds to ensure that their contract writing systems were capable of electronic transfer of information directly to the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG) by the end of FY 2005. The memo also required agencies that had not yet moved to an automated contract writing system to submit a plan outlining the necessary steps to move to such a system and to identify those existing systems that needed to be modified to become interoperable with FPDS-NG. According to the FPDS-NG Program Director, procurement data can be transferred... electronically to FPDS-NG in one of two ways: through a contract writing system or web services. The FPDS-NG Program Director submitted a list in July 2008 of agencies that had contract writing systems in place that were capable of electronic transfer of data directly to FPDS-NG. This list included 22 out of the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies. The remaining two CFO Act agencies, General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management, utilize web services to electronically transfer data to FPDS-NG. CFO Act agencies accounted for 99.7 percent of all government obligations in FY 2007.
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| Office of Management and Budget | The Director of OMB should require agencies that have not yet implemented electronic contract writing systems to report regularly to OMB on their plans to ensure reliability of the information reported to FPDS-NG. | Given my recent work reviewing the status of FPDS-NG implementation, I (Shannon Simpson) was asked to follow-up on these recommendations with OMB. On August 25, 2004, OMB issued a memo to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies and the President's Management Council entitled "Timely and Accurate Procurement Data." This memo directed departments and agencies to take several steps to ensure their full participation in FPDS-NG, including all three of the recommendations made in GAO-04-295R. On June 15, 2005, I contacted Julie Basile to follow-up on the 60-day letter, which we did not receive, as well as to inquire about any additional (update) guidance or support to support closing...
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| Office of Management and Budget | The Director of OMB should request that major agencies, in consultation with GSA, conduct regular reviews of their procedures for collecting and reporting information to FPDSNG. Agencies should conduct such reviews annually until a satisfactory level of reliability is achieved, and periodically thereafter. | Given my recent work reviewing the status of FPDS-NG implementation, I (Shannon Simpson) was asked to follow-up on these recommendations with OMB. On August 25, 2004, OMB issued a memo to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies and the President's Management Council entitled "Timely and Accurate Procurement Data." This memo directed departments and agencies to take several steps to ensure their full participation in FPDS-NG, including all three of the recommendations made in GAO-04-295R. On June 15, 2005, I contacted Julie Basile to follow-up on the 60-day letter, which we did not receive, as well as to inquire about any additional (update) guidance or support to support closing...
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Topics
Data collectionData entryData integrityDatabasesFederal procurementManagement information systemsProcurement policyProcurement recordsReporting requirementsData errors