For almost 100 years, the transdisciplinary Arbeitsgemeinschaft für wirtschaftliche Verwaltung e.V. (AWV) has been helping the government and the economy to successfully cope with the demands of continuous changes in tasks and technology in the public sector. With the AWV working group "Public Finances and Sustainability", Michael Thöne discussed the options and problems of linking the German sustainability goals more visibly and authoritatively with the federal budget. In addition to institutional and compliance issues, the focus is on the growing shortage of skilled personnel, as better and more sustainable management of public expenditures must remain readily implementable even with fewer staff.