b'InsightsModernizing Financial Management Systems: Insights from Stacy Marcott, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security By Michael J. KeeganToday, the nation faces a rangelessons learned and best practices in financial modernization, of diverse threats and challenges.and hiring opportunities within her office. Underlying our The U.S. Department of Homelandconversation was the impact of COVID-19 on DHS operations. Security (DHS) continues to play aThe following is an edited excerpt of our discussion, leading role in battling the pandemic,complemented with updated and additional research.securing the border, implementing our immigration laws, strengthening theWhat is the mission of your office and how does it nations cybersecurity, building greatersupport the overall mission of DHS? resilience and preparedness, and so much more. First, our mission is to safeguard the American people, our The third largest department in the U.S. federal government,homeland, and our values. Its critical we secure and protect DHS meets its mission with the dedication of more thanresources that allow Homeland Security to perform its mission 240,000 employees and an annual budget of $90 billion. efficiently and effectively. Therefore, we are fundamentally One of its most important duties is to be good stewards ofmission enablers. We support the departments frontline taxpayer dollars. To do that, the department continues tooperators. This means getting the money to the right people, modernize its financial management systems. The objectiveat the right time, who are in the right places. is always to improve access to financial data across the enterprise and leverage that data to inform decision-makingDHS is a diverse organization composed of eight frontline and resource allocation. componentsCybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Our financial management strategy has four core goals,U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Federal describes Stacy Marcott, senior official performing the dutiesEmergency Management Agency (FEMA), Transportation of the chief financial officer (CFO) at DHS. First, be aSecurity Administration (TSA), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. workplace of choice for highly skilled and talented peopleSecret Service (USSS), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration delivering financial excellence. Second, revolutionize CFOServices (USCIS). About 94 percent of our budget goes to the business practices and systems to enable proactive decisionbig eight components. support. Third, resource DHS based on mission requirements, priorities, and availability. Last but not least, provide evidenceWe are the second largest revenue collector in the federal to DHS partners, Congress, and the public that we are goodgovernment after IRS. With such an expansive mission, the stewards of taxpayer money.department also has a diverse set of financial systems totaling twelve separate systems, some with outdated technology.Stacy joined me on The Business of Government Hour toSome 240,000 people, including 43,000 active military discuss DHS financial management strategy and progress onpersonnel, are dedicated to executing the mission of DHS.its financial systems modernization (FSM) journey. We alsoThis is done throughout the U.S. in 12,386 buildings and addressed the U.S. Coast Guards implementation of FSMS,across fifty-nine countries.56 www.businessofgovernment.org The Business of Government'