THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL ANALYTICS IN ENHANCING PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE U.S

In the U.S. public sector, accountability has traditionally consisted of statutory reporting, audits and control mechanisms yet these have been exposed to a growing burden of fiscal complexity as well as demand for accountability and transparency. The rise of financial analytics that refer to the utilization of big data, predictive modeling, and visualization has furnished additional means of enhancing accountability, prevention of fraud, and performance measurement. This paper attempts to analyze the role that financial analytics can play in improving accountability within the U.S., using case studies of best and failed practices at the federal, state, and municipal levels. The experience of the Treasury of the United States with the introduction of the DATA Act is an example of a successful analytics-based transparency program, and the failure of the Department of Defense to finance its modernization has shown the pitfalls in large-scale adoption. At the state level, California is doing the best practice with its reporting system based on eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), but the case of fragmented analytics efforts in Mississippi demonstrates the challenges of limited resources and gaps in governance. On the municipal level, the Checkbook NYC platform of New York City exemplifies innovation in citizen engagement, and smaller jurisdictions like Flint, Michigan, demonstrate failure because of lack of IT investment and quality of data constraints. Results suggest financial analytics improve fraud detection, transparency and evidence-based governance, and issues of interoperability, ethical protection and institutional capacity are challenged. Research gaps consist of non-uniform adoption in different jurisdictions, ethical principles in algorithmic accountability, and sustainability of analytics programs. Policy harmonization, cross-level cooperation, and putting resources to the broadening of workforce capacity as a way of institutionalizing financial analytics as a driver of sustainable accountability in U.S. governance address these gaps. Keywords: Financial Analytics, Public Sector Accountability, Transparency, Sustainability, Citizen Trust, Governance Efficiency, Fraud Prevention.