Annual
Audits Released Today: Five Major Agencies Show
Improved Results; Two Deteriorate
Washington,
DC -- As part of its pursuit of the President’s Management Agenda,
the Office of Management and Budget this morning reported fiscal year
2001 financial audit results for Cabinet departments and major agencies.
OMB received audits at the close of business on the 27th.
"There may
be some progress, but we can take only limited satisfaction from the results.
Clean audits are only a means to the end of real financial control; the
massive task of stopping improper payments and controlling unnecessary
costs still lies ahead," said OMB Director Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr.
For fiscal
year 2001, the Departments of Justice and Transportation joined 16 other
departments and major agencies receiving "clean" audit opinions on their
financial statements. The Departments of Agriculture and Education, along
with the Agency for International Development, also showed substantial
improvement over previous years.
Of the 24
agencies reporting results under the Chief Financial Officers Act, 18
received clean opinions. NASA and FEMA, however, showed slippage from
2000.
"The overall
results represent a modest, but real improvement," said Mark W. Everson,
Controller of the government’s Office of Federal Financial Management.
"Audits are only a part of the work people across the government are doing
to improve financial management. We are making progress, but there is
a long way to go."
The Administration
is taking a number of steps to improve the accuracy and time-liness of
government financial information. These include accelerating the delivery
of audited statements; the implementation of quarterly versus yearly reporting;
displaying financial information from the current year with the previous
year’s; improving financial management systems; and requiring the
integration of accountability reports with performance reports produced
under the Government Performance and Results Act.
The standard-setting
process also is being strengthened through the appointment of a private
sector majority to the entity that develops accounting rules for the government.
"We expect to announce additional steps in the coming months to provide
for more independent, private sector review of federal financial management,"
Everson noted.