(b) The Secretary of the Department of Administration, the Secretary of the Department of Revenue, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources, the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, the State Treasurer and the Auditor of the state shall conduct a study of the centralized accounting system for the purposes specified in subsection (a) of this section and for such other related purposes as they may agree are advisable. The study shall include the examination of the centralized accounting system by an independent consultant agreed upon by the Secretary of the Department of Administration and the Secretary of the Department of Revenue after consultation with the remainder of the public officials designated in this section to conduct the study. A report of the study and any resulting recommendations made by the public officials designated by this section to conduct the study shall be submitted to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance on or before the first day of December, two thousand five, and shall include the written report and any recommendations of the independent consultant.