National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Leadership and Systems Needed to Effect Financial Management Improvements

Abstract

For the past 5 years NASA was one of the few agencies to be judged by its auditors as meeting all of the federal financial reporting requirements-an unqualified opinion on its financial statements, no material internal control weaknesses, and financial management systems that are in substantial compliance the requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA). This implied that NASA not only could generate reliable information once a year for external financial reporting purposes but also could provide accurate, reliable information for day-today decision-making. In contrast with the unqualified or "clean" audit opinions of its previous auditor, Arthur Andersen, for fiscal years 1996 through 2000, NASA's new independent auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, disclaimed an opinion on the agency's fiscal year 2001 financial statements because of significant internal control weaknesses. PricewaterhouseCoopers also concluded that NASA's financial management systems do not substantially comply with the requirements of FFMlA.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 20, 2002
Accession Number
ADA399782

Entities

People

  • Gregory D. Kutz

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accountability
  • Business Administration
  • Congress
  • Contracts
  • Control Systems
  • Cost Estimates
  • Costs
  • Executives
  • Financial Management
  • Management Personnel
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Procurement
  • Space Stations
  • Standards
  • Task Forces
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Business

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Theoretical Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Space