Single Audit: Refinements Can Improve Usefulness (Chapter Report,
06/21/94, GAO/AIMD-94-133).

In 1984, to deal with concern about a lack of accountability in federal
financial aid provided to states and local entities, Congress passed the
Single Audit Act to promote uniform, entitywide audit coverage of
federal assistance. According to state and local government officials
interviewed by GAO, the single audit process has contributed to
improvements in financial management practices. State and local
officials have installed new accounting systems, begun having annual
comprehensive financial statement audits, adopted or accelerated the
adoption of generally accepted accounting principles, improved systems
for tracking federal funds, strengthened administrative controls, and
increased oversight. Despite these improvements, a number of issues have
created concerns and hinder the usefulness of single audit reports. GAO
recommends changing the criteria for selecting which entities and
programs should be subject to single audit; revising the form, content,
and publication of single audit reports; and improving access to results
of single audits by oversight officials and program managers.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  AIMD-94-133
     TITLE:  Single Audit: Refinements Can Improve Usefulness
      DATE:  06/21/94
   SUBJECT:  Auditing standards
             Financial management systems
             Local governments
             Internal controls
             Intergovernmental fiscal relations
             Federal aid to localities
             Auditing procedures
             Federal aid to states
             Reporting requirements
             State governments
IDENTIFIER:  Census Bureau Federal Audit Clearinghouse
             
************************************************************************

We regret that the full text of this item is presently unavailable.

See the GAO FAQ - Section 2.0 for printed copy ordering information.
The FAQ is automatically retrieved with all WAIS search results or 
can be obtained by sending e-mail to: [email protected]