United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2005-12-06 monographic deposited born digital 15 p. GA 1.13:GAO-06-70R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-70R P0b002ee180372b2e f:d0670r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-70R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-70R GAO-06-70R Accounting errors Accounting standards Auditing procedures Auditing standards Financial statement audits Financial statements Internal controls Reporting requirements Transparency Correspondence A42637 The Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to the President and Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work. An issue meriting concern and close scrutiny that emerged during our fiscal year 2004 CFS audit was the growing number of Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies that restated certain of their financial statements for fiscal year 2003 to correct errors. Errors in financial statements can result from mathematical mistakes, mistakes in the application of accounting principles, or oversight or misuse of facts that existed at the time the financial statements were prepared. Frequent restatements to correct errors can undermine public trust and confidence in both the entity and all responsible parties. Further, when restatements do occur, it is important that financial statements clearly communicate, and readers of the restated financial statements understand, that the financial statements originally issued by management in the previous year and the opinion thereon should no longer be relied on and instead the restated financial statements and related auditor's opinion should be used. Because of the varying nature and circumstances surrounding the restatements, we are issuing a number of separate reports on the matter. This report communicates our observations regarding GSA's fiscal year 2003 restatement. Going forward, we hope that the lessons learned from the fiscal year 2003 restatement, together with our recommendations, will help GSA and its auditor avoid the need for restatements to GSA's future financial statements. We reviewed four key areas with respect to the restatement of GSA's fiscal year 2003 financial statements: (1) the nature and cause of the errors that necessitated the restatement, including planned corrective actions by the agency and its auditors; (2) the timing of communicating the material misstatement to users of the financial statements; (3) the extent of transparency exhibited in disclosing the nature and impact of the material misstatement in the financial statements and the reissued auditor's report; and (4) audit issues that contributed to the failure to detect the errors that necessitated the restatement during the audit of the agency's fiscal year 2003 financial statements. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-70R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-70R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-70R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-70R.pdf GAO-06-70R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-70R Correspondence GAO-06-70R; Financial Audit: Restatement to the General Services Administration's Fiscal Year 2003 Financial Statements; Accounting errors Accounting standards Auditing procedures Auditing standards Financial statement audits Financial statements Internal controls Reporting requirements Transparency Volume 118 Page 1275 118 Stat. 1275 Public Law 108-330