PMIWDC

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is responsible for, among other things, assisting Congress in its oversight of the federal government, including agencies’ stewardship of public funds. Legislators, government officials, and the public want to know whether government programs are achieving their goals and what their costs are. The capability to generate reliable program cost estimates is a critical function necessary to effectively use public funds and to support the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) capital programming process. Without it, agencies are at risk of experiencing cost overruns, missed deadlines, and performance shortfalls—all of which are recurring problems that our program assessments too often reveal.  

Our Cost Assessment Guide was developed in order to establish a consistent methodology based on best practices to be used across the federal government for the development and management of its program cost estimates. In particular, it provides a detailed link between cost estimating and earned value management (EVM)—which is especially critical for setting realistic program baselines and managing risk. By design, managers and auditors alike should find this Guide to be a useful manual as they assess (1) the credibility of a program’s cost estimate for budget and decision-making purposes, and (2) the program’s status using EVM.  In this presentation, we will discuss the content of the Guide and highlight case studies from previous audits which illustrate the best practices being discussed. In addition, we will provide examples of recent GAO audits where the Guide was piloted as an audit tool.

Karen Richey is a senior cost analyst in GAO’s Center for Technology and Engineering, where she is involved in performing cost analyses and technology audits on a wide range of systems. In the past few years, Karen has been responsible for championing the use of earned value management as an auditing tool at GAO. Certified by the National Defense University as a Chief Information Officer (CIO), Karen is also Level-III certified in the field of cost estimating and financial management. She has 17 years experience in the fields of cost estimating and technology auditing.

Before joining the GAO, Karen was a cost analyst for the Department of the Navy where she performed earned value management and developed independent cost estimates for major weapon and automated information systems. Karen holds a degree in Statistics and Mathematics from the University of South Carolina.  She led the development of the GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide which provides auditors with best practice criteria for determining the reliability of cost estimates.  In addition to auditing, Karen also provides training classes for auditors on cost estimating, schedule analysis, and EVM.   

Upcoming Speakers

• November 20, 2008:  DCMA DAES Tripwires

About Skyline Luncheons

• All Skyline luncheons are held on the 3rd Thursday of each month. They begin at 11:30am with a 30 minute unstructured networking session. At Noon, after a short introduction and after we’ve dealt with some administrative matters, the presentation begins. The luncheons end promptly at 1pm.
• Join our Yahoo Group by sending an email with your name, and organization to: SkylineLuncheonPMIWDC-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. On our list we provide copies of past presentations, directions to our lunch location in Baileys Crossroads, and two email reminders per month.
• Our Yahoo Group SkylineLuncheonPMIWDC@yahoogroups.com is an announcement-only type list not used for general email. So you will only receive a limited amount of email and only from the moderators, who are the co-Chairs of the Skyline Baileys Crossroads Lunch meeting, Mark Buchholz and William Bigler.
• For more information about the Skyline Lunch meeting send an email with your question to SkylineLuncheonPMIWDC-owner@yahoogroups.com

Directions and Map Link

NOTE: Virginia Route 7 is Leesburg Pike (in Falls Church and Fairfax County) and is also King Street (in Alexandria) at different stretches.

Directions to 5109 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041-3215

From Tyson's Corner:

1. Take Route 7, Leesburg Pike, for about 7 miles and turn right onto South George Mason Drive (just after the entrance to the Target parking lot).
2. Make a right at the second intersection, or parking lot entrance, and drive up a ramp alongside the building. Turn right at the 4-way Stop sign. Pay visitor parking is on the other side of the building at that intersection.
3. Walk across the courtyard to the left end of the set of offices (building 5109, also known as Skyline 6). Take the elevator to the 8th floor.

From Washington DC or National Airport:

1. Take I-395 South towards Richmond.
2. After the Glebe Road and Quaker Lane exits, take Exit 5 for Route 7, King Street, West. You will go through 10 traffic lights that are very close together.
3. Turn left onto South George Mason Drive. Skyline Tower is the 26-story light blue glass building.
4. Make a right at the second intersection, or parking lot entrance, and drive up a ramp alongside the building. Turn right at the 4-way Stop sign. Pay visitor parking is on the other side of the building at that intersection.
5. Walk across the courtyard to the left end of the set of offices (building 5109, also known as Skyline 6). Take the elevator to the 8th floor.

From Dulles Airport:

1. Take the Washington Dulles Access Road towards Washington.
   Take 495 South towards Richmond
2. After passing exits for Tyson’s Corner, I-66, Route 50, Braddock Road and I-95 South, take I-395 North (left exit) towards Washington.
3. Take Exit 5, King Street, West. You will go through 10 traffic lights that are very close together.
4. Turn left onto South George Mason Drive. Skyline Tower is the 26-story light blue glass building.
5. Make a right at the second intersection, or parking lot entrance, and drive up a ramp alongside the building. Turn right at the 4-way Stop sign.
6. Pay visitor parking is on the other side of the building at that intersection.
   Walk across the courtyard to the left end of the set of offices (building 5109, also known as Skyline 6). Take the elevator to the 8th floor.