Author: United States. General Accounting Office

Publisher:

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 53

ISBN-13:

The inability to produce the data needed to efficiently and effectively manage the day-to-day operations of the federal government and provide accountability to taxpayers has been a long-standing weakness at many federal agencies. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 requires the 24 major departments and agencies to adhere to certain management and accounting standards. The act also requires auditors to indicate in their audit reports whether their financial management systems comply with the act's requirements. GAO is required to report annually on the implementation of the act. This, GAO's fourth annual report, discusses: (1) whether the financial systems of the 24 major agencies substantially comply with the act's requirements; (2) agencies' plans to bring their systems into compliance; and (3) other efforts to improve the government's financial management systems. For fiscal year 1999, auditors for 21 of the 24 major agencies reported that the agencies' financial systems did not comply substantially with the act's requirements. However, the number of agencies receiving "clean," or unqualified, audit opinions on their financial statements is increasing. Fifteen of the 24 CFO Act agencies received unqualified audit opinions in fiscal year 1999, up from 12 in fiscal year 1998 and 11 in fiscal year 1997. Agencies are slowly making progress in addressing the problems caused by financial management weaknesses. However, the continued widespread noncompliance with the act shows that there is still a long way to go to achieve systems, processes, and controls that routinely generate reliable, useful, and timely information for managers and other decisionmakers.