Functional Statements > Federal Student Aid

## B. Office of Principal Deputy to the Chief Operating Officer: B2. Finance Directorate

The Finance Directorate leads and promotes sound FSA financial management and decision-making to support FSA strategic objectives and ensure compliance with Federal financial requirements. The Finance Directorate is comprised of the following three groups:

- Financial Management Group
- Budget Group
- Financial Management Systems Group

In addition to functional responsibilities, each group provides support for implementation initiatives.

### Financial Management Group (FMG)

The FMG leads FSA accounting and financial operations. The FMG manages the accounting lifecycle; oversees FSA payment processing, including tracking of receivables and payables; manages FSA financial statement audit activities, including development and tracking of corrective action plans to close audit findings; oversees the internal control and improper payment programs; develops FSA accounting policy; and produces reliable financial reporting, including the Annual Report.

The FMG is comprised of the following five divisions:

- Financial Reporting and Analysis Division
- Internal Controls Division
- Audit Coordination and Validation Division
- Accounting Operations Division
- Accounting Policy Division

#### Financial Reporting and Analysis Division (FRAD)

The FRAD provides financial information in a timely and effective manner to support FSA internal and external financial reporting. The FRAD ensures accurate financial data are presented in the FSA Annual Report, including the audited financial statements and accompanying footnotes. The Reconciliation Team manages reconciliation activities, including reconciliations related to FSA operating partners and loan servicers.

#### Internal Controls Division (ICD)

The ICD manages the FSA internal controls and improper payments programs. The ICD assesses the FSA internal control framework and develops guidance to ensure compliance with statutory requirements and OMB guidance. The ICD leads the annual internal control review and testing that result in the annual management assurance statement on the effectiveness of FSA internal controls.  The ICD also reviews and monitors corrective actions to remediate identified issues. The ICD also manages the improper payment program, including producing the annual improper payment estimates and meeting the statutory reporting requirements.

#### Audit Coordination and Validation Division (ACVD)

The ACVD manages FSA financial statement audit activities and provides timely and accurate data and information to the independent auditor of the FSA financial statements, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and FSA management. The ACVD also manages the corrective action plan (CAP) process to ensure effective CAPs are developed, implemented, and closed.

#### Accounting Operations Division (AOD)

The AOD manages FSA accounting operations and implementation of operational policies and procedures for the delivery of Title IV program funds; the control, recovery, and accountability of funds; and the processing of operating partner financial transactions.

#### Accounting Policy Division (APD)

The APD develops and manages FSA accounting policy, guidance, requirements and analysis that provide accurate, complete, and timely reporting of FSA program financial information.

### Budget Group (BG)

The BG formulates and executes the FSA administrative budget; produces financial analysis; processes travel, reimbursements, invoices, and administrative payments; and produces budget reports and forecasts.

The BG is comprised of the following three divisions:

- Budget Formulation Division
- Budget Execution Division
- Budget Operations Division

#### Budget Formulation Division (BFD)

The BFD manages development of the FSA budget request in collaboration with the Departmental and OMB budget processes. The BFD provides budget guidance and assists operational and mission support business unit development of budget initiatives. The BFD serves as the budget liaison with the Department and OMB to coordinate the submission of the annual FSA budget request to Congress.

#### Budget Execution Division (BED)

The BED oversees execution of the FSA administrative budget and supports operational and mission support business units in management of FSA administrative funds for current year operations. The BED manages funds management and control, budget plan management, current year funds tracking, and year-end closeout. The BED maintains FSA-wide activity-based costing models and procedures, reporting cost information and developing and maintaining forecasting models used to project obligations for subsequent fiscal years.

#### Budget Operations Division (BOD)

The Budget Operations Division (BOD) manages the FSA travel program, including certification of travel reimbursements, processing invoices, reconciling interagency agreements, managing FSA purchase card program, receiving and processing overpayment checks, and providing IT asset management.

### Financial Management Systems Group (FMSG)

The FMSG manages the Financial Management System (FMS) and oversees the operation, maintenance, development, testing, and security of FMS.  FMSG manages system interface activities for the FSA general ledger, accounts payable, and accounts receivable transactions between FSA, the Department, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. FMSG performs configuration management, audit support, and integration between the Finance Directorate and other FSA offices.  FMSG has a dedicated security team to ensure compliance with U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) system security control standards and to manage FMS user access.

FMSG is comprised of the following two divisions:

- IT Operations & Development Division
- IT Security Division

#### IT Operations & Development Division

The FMSG IT Operations and Development Division supports business activities including daily/weekly/monthly financial transaction processing, monthly and annual closing, and financial reporting. The division also supports development from requirements through production deployment through a comprehensive system development lifecycle (SDLC). The work is administered through capacity planning, enforcement of performance-based Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Technical work includes Database Administration (DBA) management and data center coordination, application development, intersystem testing, system evergreening, and help desk administration.

#### IT Security Division

The FMSG IT Security Division manages the security of FMS, including physical security, personnel security, incident handling, security awareness, and training. The division manages the FMS cybersecurity scorecard and addresses security issues as they arise to ensure FMS protection. The division establishes, maintains, monitors, documents, and improves system security controls. The division approves and maintains system access for users, reviews system audit logs, and maintains system security documentation. The IT Security Division reviews changes as part of the configuration management process to ensure security and privacy concerns are addressed as part of the system development lifecycle.