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 pråss, 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.