Fiscal Year 2010 U.S. Government Financial Statements: Federal Government Continues To Face Financial Management And Long-Term Fiscal Challenges

Abstract

Since the enactment of key financial management reforms in the 1990s, the federal government has made significant progress in improving financial management activities and practices. For fiscal year 2010, 20 of 24 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies were able to attain unqualified audit opinions on their accrual-based financial statements within an accelerated reporting timeframe, up from 6 CFO Act agencies for fiscal year 1996. Also, accounting and financial reporting standards have continued to evolve to provide greater transparency and accountability over the federal government's operations, financial condition, and fiscal outlook. Further, the preparation and audit of financial statements has identified numerous deficiencies, leading to actions to strengthen controls and systems. It is important for the individual federal departments and agencies to remain committed to maintain the progress that has been achieved in obtaining positive audit results and to build upon that progress to make needed improvements. Although this progress is commendable, the federal government was unable to demonstrate the reliability of significant portions of the U.S. government's accrual-based consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2010 and 2009, principally resulting from limitations related to certain material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and other limitations on the scope of our work. As a result, we were unable to provide an opinion on such statements.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 09, 2011
Accession Number
ADA538308

Entities

People

  • Eugene Louis Dodaro

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Cyber

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accounting
  • Business Administration
  • Commerce
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Electronic Mail
  • Financial Management
  • Governments
  • Homeland Security
  • Law
  • National Governments
  • Payment
  • Personnel Management
  • Public Administration
  • Security
  • United States Government

Fields of Study

  • Business

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Strategic Security Studies