Accounting

Use of benchmarks to demonstrate accountability for the use of taxpayers dollars

The government sources for funds from the citizens through taxation. As a result, most of the revenue and capital expenditure by the government originates from taxes. As a result, it is imperative for the government to channel the funds to the most viable products through setting goals for achievement of development goals from use of taxes. Through laying down policies that foster accountability and conflict resolution, the government is able to reduce the bureaucracy that surrounds use of public funds as outlined by Rabin (2003).

Feedback structures that resemble the best performances enable the government to monitor usage of funds and ensure that funds are applied for the designated purposes. Similarly, strategic budgeting and accurate tacking of expenditure by channeling a large percentage of taxes to funding of capital good is  a good way of setting high goals which ensure that returns achieved from the expenditure(investment) are beneficial to the future generations.Establishment of GAAP for the federal government

The federal government is engaged in ensuring that the current and future generations engage in activities that foster accountability. Thus, the institutions monitor the changing environment in order to set out new rules governing best practices for accounting for federal expenditure. As a rule, any recognized ways of improving efficiency are translated into law after careful lobbying and debate.

Most of principles are based on the already existing Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, which was signed into law by G. H. Bush. The federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) came up with the Act after summing up the propositions of the federal institutions that deal with accounting matters. Such changes are necessitated by implications of integrity and performance in the accounting fraternity.Performance Budgeting

Performance-based budgeting focuses on the objectives and mission of the entity of a government to explain the rationale behind the allocation of funds. It focuses on the result, the strategy and the activity itself.  Hay (2008) suggested that by use of performance-based budgeting, each functions of the government entities are clearly defined. By so doing, one is able to reduce duplication of duties and resources, thus improving efficiency. As outlined by Meyers (1996), performance targets and indicators are also explicated at an early stage.

With clear goals and performance measures, each department is able to remain motivated since rewards are appended to performance. Similarly, the process of setting out the budget enables sufficient information is sourced relating to the departments involved. Such information is crucial for planning for resource allocation. Such information relates to the human resources and functions of each department among others.

However, this type of budgeting is costly in preparation since the information required takes time to collect and analyze (Hay, 2008). Similarly, the departments require an intricate monitoring process that necessitates availability of resources. As a result, performance-based budgeting is a costly affair to institute and maintain.
Tax exemptions and lobbying
Bonnie (1999) outlined that the exemption from taxes of some organization is necessitated by the nature of the services they provide to the nation. These organizations are mostly engaged in activities that contribute to provision of vital services to the public with a motive other than profit making. However, the activities for which tax-exemption occurs are restricted to specific engagements. In spite of their mandate, if these organizations devote a huge part of their time for lobbying activities, they risk losing the privilege of exemption from taxes.

One of the most prominent criteria for tax exemption of an organization is that it should not participate in or intervene in political campaigns on behalf of any entity. For the organization to retain their privilege as tax-exempt, Hopkins (2007) postulates that, the charitable organization may not participate or intervene in activities relating to political campaign the activity must constitute a political campaignwith respect toa candidate.for a public office, p 678.

However, those organizations wishing to gain a hand in the electioneering process without losing the benefits of tax exemption can be instituted under the Internal revenue Code (IRC Sec 527). As asserted by  Corrado (2005), the organizations will be exempt from taxations concerning income from investments. Most of the organizations that fall into this category are political parties and committees.