The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) is a professional association dedicated to enhancing the public finance profession since 1906. It has over 21,000 active members. The GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program encourages local governments to prepare and issue budget documents of the highest standard for the benefit of the citizens and other parties with a vital interest in the budget process.

The GFOA established the Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program (Budget Awards Program) in 1984 to encourage and assist state and local governments to prepare budget documents of the very highest quality.

Documents submitted to the Budget Awards Program are reviewed by selected members of the GFOA professional staff and by outside reviewers with experience in public-sector budgeting. To earn the Budget Award, governments must conform to the Program’s demanding criteria, which incorporate the guidelines of the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting and the GFOA’s recommended practices of governmental budgeting.

The Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting. Its attainment represents a significant achievement by an organization.