This program equips emerging federal financial professionals with essential competencies for success and helps build a strong foundation in federal financial management. It develops the core knowledge and skills needed by effective Financial Manager practitioners across government agencies.
This is the recommended order, but some courses may be taken in a different order.
Unit 1 3 Days
Learn the key concepts, laws, and procedures that underpin effective financial management in the federal government. This course covers budgeting, accounting, and internal controls to help you align financial systems with performance goals.
Unit 2 3 Days
Learn the principles and concepts of federal budgeting, from preparation to execution, in this introductory course. Participants will explore key elements such as budget formulation, justification, and compliance to effectively manage federal funds.
Unit 3 3 Days
Learn the principles of federal accounting, including accrual concepts, journal entries, and financial statement preparation. This course provides hands-on training to help you manage accounts, maintain ledgers, and ensure compliance with federal standards.
Unit 4 2 Days
Learn how to structure and conduct compliance assessments under the Federal Manager's Financial Integrity Act and OMB Circular A-123. This course covers internal control standards, evaluation techniques, and reporting requirements for identifying and addressing deficiencies.
Unit 5 4 Days
Gain a comprehensive understanding of federal appropriations law and its application to government spending. This course uses the GAO Principles of Federal Appropriations Law (Red Book) to teach participants how to determine the availability of appropriations and avoid Antideficiency Act violations.
Receive instruction from subject‑matter experts who bring proven government experience.
Courses that are regularly updated based on feedback and industry developments, ensuring versions are mapped to federal competencies.
The instructor was wonderful and so knowledgeable. The course materials were extremely relevant to what my job is. I feel like I can be better because of this class.
— 2025 student
Directly addressing the day-to-day challenges of federal employees.
Your trusted training partner, equipping public service professionals with the skills and knowledge to excel in their roles and drive meaningful impact.
Attend this certificate program in-person in Washington, DC or live online. Engage with expert instructors, ask questions, and get feedback on your exercises and projects.
Get face-to-face interaction with an instructor and other students when you learn at our DC campus. Courses are hands-on with a computer and software provided.
Get the same interactivity and access to the instructor as in-person students. There are no extra fees and we’ll work with you to ensure your remote setup is perfect.
We want you to succeed in your career goals. In addition to 16 days of hands-on, interactive training, you’ll also receive ten 1-on-1 mentoring sessions where you can:
We offer a single free retake of any module or the whole program within a year.
Since 1921, Graduate School USA has partnered with over 125 federal agencies and trained more than one million federal employees. Led by instructors with deep, real-world knowledge of federal regulations, policies, and practices, our private group programs are practical, mission-driven, and tailored to your agency’s objectives. We offer expertise across key federal domains—including human resources, financial management, acquisition and contracting, leadership, and more—to deliver training where and how your team needs it.
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