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Tag Archives: FMA
USAspending.gov Contains a Treasure Trove of Information, But How Reliable Is It?
August 14 is the deadline for agencies, including those that led the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to certify their spending data made available on USAspending.gov. Federal agencies are required to report spending information under the DATA Act, and … Continue reading
Posted in About GAO, Budget and Spending
Tagged DATA Act, federal management, financial audits, financial data, FMA, Paula Rascona, USASpending.gov
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Improper Payments on the Rise
Increasingly, the federal government is making payments it shouldn’t. Improper payments are when the federal government overpays, underpays, or makes payments to ineligible recipients. In FY 2019, federal agencies reported about $175 billion in estimated improper payments—up from $151 billion … Continue reading
The DATA Act: Checking in on Spending Transparency
Federal agencies spend over $4 trillion a year. But how that money is spent isn’t always easy to track. That’s one reason why Congress passed the DATA Act—requiring agencies not only to publicly report spending data on USAspending.gov, but also … Continue reading
Posted in Auditing and Financial Management, Budget and Spending, Government Operations
Tagged Budget data, Data elements, Data integrity, data quality, Defense procurement, Federal funding accountability, Federal procurement, federal spending, Federal spending transparency, Financial accountability, Financial Management and Assurance, FMA, Medicare spending, Michelle Sager, Office of Management and Budget, Paula Rascona, SI, strategic issues
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Did You Know the Government Gets Audited, Too?
Tax season has many people diligently filing their returns to avoid being audited. While the federal government is not a tax-paying entity, it actually undergoes an audit of its financial statements every year. How do we know? Because we perform … Continue reading
Posted in Auditing and Financial Management, Budget and Spending, Video
Tagged annual audit, consolidated financial statements, Dawn Simpson, Department of Defense, Department of the Treasury, financial audits, financial reports, fiscal outlook, FMA, improper payments, information security, loans receivable, Office of Management and Budget
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Updating Government Auditing Standards – The 2018 Yellow Book
Today we issued a new revision of the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, also known as the “Yellow Book,” which supersedes the 2011 revision of the standards. What kind of training and experience make a competent auditor? How is audit … Continue reading
Posted in Podcast
Tagged auditors, FMA, GAGAS, Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, James Dalkin, yellow book
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All Together Now!
At GAO, we all live in a grey, rectangular building. But today, we’re feeling far out about the 50th anniversary of the release of Yellow Submarine, a full-length, animated psychedelic trip with the Beatles. In it, the Fab Four sings and … Continue reading
Posted in Graphic
Tagged Beatles, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, CNSA, Columbia class submarine, DCM, F-35, FMA, green infrastructure, NRE, PI, stormwater, yellow book, Yellow Submarine
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The Nation’s Precarious Fiscal Future
The United States faces a highly challenging fiscal future. Absent change in policy, the federal fiscal path is unsustainable—debt is growing faster than the economy (GDP). This springs from the continuing gap between the amount of money the federal government … Continue reading
Posted in Budget and Spending, Fiscal Outlook and The Debt, Graphic, Podcast, Video
Tagged Dawn Simpson, federal debt, federal spending, fiscal future, fiscal health, FMA, GDP, Robert Dacey, SI, simulation, Susan Irving
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U.S. Government’s Financial Report
Did you know that there’s a single document that contains nearly all of the federal government’s yearly financial information? It’s called the 2017 Financial Report of the United States Government and the Department of the Treasury published it today. Treasury, … Continue reading
The DATA Act – Working Towards Federal Spending Transparency
The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 requires federal agencies to prepare and submit standardized, accurate information about the roughly $3.7 trillion they spend each year. The Office of Management and Budget and the Department of the Treasury are … Continue reading