Suppose you wanted to spend a lot of money, very quickly, with complete transparency and accountability.

You'd probably lean on the General Services Administration's Financial and Business Solutions federal supply schedule, or FABS. Through FABS, federal managers can procure auditing and budgeting services, financial training, asset management and diverse related support mechanisms.

"If I were launching a stimulus program right now, I would be looking to this schedule," said Ira Goldstein, national director of federal services at Deloitte, which supplies program management services and a host of other tools through Schedule 520.

In fact, many are heeding Goldstein's advice.

More than 400 vendors are on the FABS schedule, according to Lisa Maguire, director of the Center for Services Acquisitions within GSA's Federal Acquisition Service.

Schedule sales grew from $591 million in fiscal 2004 to $1.1 billion in fiscal 2008, with $1.2 billion anticipated in fiscal 2009, Maguire said.

GSA has always touted speed as the primary virtue of its schedules. By sidestepping lengthy research efforts and full-blown bid procedures, federal managers often are able to contract for goods and services more efficiently through GSA schedules.

That's a real concern, Maguire said, when the stimulus clock is ticking.

Some aspects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act call for agencies to take action within 120 days. Under such pressures, agencies want to engage needed vendors "as quickly as possible," Maguire said.

At the same time, there is a countervailing pressure that could act to slow implementation. Specifically, the law demands new levels of fiduciary responsibility, a high degree of transparency and accountability. To achieve those ends without slamming on the brakes, agencies are turning to the FABS for its offerings in such areas as accounting, budgeting, financial management and risk assessment.

Goldstein points for example to the officials involved in Indian trust fund accounting, who have used the federal supply schedule to examine records and reconcile various funding sources in order to keep trust funds at appropriate levels.

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