Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: U.S. Ministry Capacity Development Efforts Need an Overall Integrated Strategy to Guide Efforts and Manage Risk (open access)

Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: U.S. Ministry Capacity Development Efforts Need an Overall Integrated Strategy to Guide Efforts and Manage Risk

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Iraq's ministries were decimated following years of neglect and centralized control under the former regime. Developing competent and loyal Iraqi ministries is critical to stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq. The President received $140 million in fiscal year 2007 funds and requested an additional $255 million in fiscal year 2008 to develop the capacity of the Iraq's ministries. This report assesses (1) the nature and extent of U.S. efforts to develop the capacity of the Iraqi ministries, (2) the key challenges to these efforts, and (3) the extent to which the U.S. government has an overall integrated strategy for these efforts. For this effort, GAO reviewed U.S. project contracts and reports and interviewed officials from the Departments of State (State), Defense (DOD), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Baghdad and Washington, D.C."
Date: October 1, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Management: FFMIA Implementation Critical for Federal Accountability (open access)

Financial Management: FFMIA Implementation Critical for Federal Accountability

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Effective management of the government's day-to-day operations has been hampered by a lack of necessary data. The Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 calls for the modernization of federal financial management systems, including the systematic measurement of performance; the development of cost information; and the integration of program, budget, and financial information. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) encourages agencies to have systems that generate timely, accurate, and useful information with which to make informed decisions and to ensure accountability on an ongoing basis. Auditors for 19 of the 24 CFO Act agencies reported that their agencies' financial management systems did not comply substantially with FFMIA requirements, compared to 21 agencies reported as not being substantially compliant for 1999. The auditors for five CFO Act agencies reported no instances in which the agencies' systems did not substantially comply with FFMIA. These auditors, however, did not definitively state whether the agencies' financial management systems substantially complied with FFMIA. FFMIA requires agencies to prepare remediation plans to overcome financial management systems problems. These plans have improved over the fiscal year 1998 plans; however, further …
Date: October 1, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Y2K Computing Challenge: Day One Planning and Operations Guide (open access)

Y2K Computing Challenge: Day One Planning and Operations Guide

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO published a guide to help federal agencies develop a Day One strategy to be executed during the last days of 1999 and the first days of 2000. The guide addresses four phases supported by executive oversight: (1) initiation; (2) rollover risk assessment, planning, and preparation; (3) rehearsal; and (4) execution, monitoring, responding, and reporting."
Date: October 1, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Information on Federal Contractors That Are Incorporated Offshore (open access)

Information on Federal Contractors That Are Incorporated Offshore

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Some U.S.-based multinational companies have found that the effective tax rate on income earned from foreign sources can be reduced if they are incorporated in countries that either do not tax corporate income at all or tax the income at a lower rate than the U.S. corporate tax rate. Consequently, some U.S.-based companies incorporate from the outset in these so-called "tax haven" countries. In addition, some companies that were incorporated in the United States have reincorporated in tax haven countries through "corporate inversion transactions." According to the Department of the Treasury, the term "inversion" is used to describe a transaction through which a U.S.-based multinational company restructures its corporate group so that after the transaction the ultimate parent of the corporate group is a foreign corporation. After an inversion transaction, shareholders of the former U.S. parent company hold stock of the newly formed foreign parent, and the operations of the company are unchanged. Treasury also noted that there has been a marked increase recently in the frequency, size, and profile of inversion transactions. Four of the top 100 federal contractors that are publicly traded corporations are incorporated in …
Date: October 1, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Iraq and Afghanistan: DOD, State, and USAID Face Continued Challenges in Tracking Contracts, Assistance Instruments, and Associated Personnel (open access)

Iraq and Afghanistan: DOD, State, and USAID Face Continued Challenges in Tracking Contracts, Assistance Instruments, and Associated Personnel

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Departments of Defense (DOD) and State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have relied extensively on contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements for a wide range of services in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, as GAO previously reported, the agencies have faced challenges in obtaining sufficient information to manage these contracts and assistance instruments. As part of our third review under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, as amended, GAO assessed the implementation of the Synchronized Predeployment and Operational Tracker (SPOT) and data reported by the three agencies for Afghanistan and Iraq for FY 2009 and the first half of FY 2010 on the (1) number of contractor and assistance personnel, including those providing security; (2) number of personnel killed or wounded; and (3) number and value of contracts and assistance instruments and extent of competition for new awards. GAO compared agency data to other available sources to assess reliability."
Date: October 1, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Audit Manual: Volume 1, Exposure Draft, October 2007 (Superseded by GAO-08-585G) (open access)

Financial Audit Manual: Volume 1, Exposure Draft, October 2007 (Superseded by GAO-08-585G)

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-08-585G, Financial Audit Manual: Volume 1, July 2008. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) maintain the GAO/PCIE Financial Audit Manual (FAM). The FAM provides guidance for performing financial statement audits of federal entities. The FAM is a key tool for enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources."
Date: October 1, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan and Iraq (open access)

Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan and Iraq

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S.-led Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) are designed to help improve stability in Afghanistan and Iraq by increasing the host nation's capacity to govern; enhancing economic viability; and strengthening local governments' ability to deliver public services, such as security and health care. PRTs are a means of coordinating interagency diplomatic, economic, reconstruction, and counterinsurgency efforts among various U.S. agencies in Afghanistan and Iraq. PRTs are intended to be interim structures; after a PRT has achieved its goal of improving stability, it may be dismantled to allow traditional development efforts to occur. In Afghanistan, the first PRTs were created in 2002 with the mission of facilitating security and reconstruction by helping the central government extend its authority to the provinces. Since then, PRTs have expanded their purpose to include strengthening local governance and community development. In Iraq, PRTs were initiated in 2005 with the mission to increase the capacity of provincial and local governments to govern effectively and, for newer embedded PRTs (ePRT), to support moderates and assist in the military's counterinsurgency efforts. To accomplish their missions, PRTs engage in and fund a variety of activities, such as developing the …
Date: October 1, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ambulance Providers: Costs and Medicare Margins Varied Widely; Transports of Beneficiaries Have Increased (open access)

Ambulance Providers: Costs and Medicare Margins Varied Widely; Transports of Beneficiaries Have Increased

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Ground ambulance providers' costs per transport for 2010 varied widely. The median cost per transport for the providers in GAO's sample was $429, ranging from $224 to $2,204 per transport. Provider characteristics that affected cost per transport were volume of transports (including both Medicare and non-Medicare transports), intensity of transports (the proportion of Medicare transports that were nonemergency), and the extent to which providers received government subsidies. Higher volume of transports, higher proportions of nonemergency transports, and lower government subsidies were associated with lower costs per transport. Providers reported that personnel cost was the largest cost component in their 2010 total costs and the biggest contributor to increases in their total costs from 2009 to 2010."
Date: October 1, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Strategies to Manage Improper Payments: Learning From Public and Private Sector Organizations (Supersedes GAO-01-703G) (open access)

Strategies to Manage Improper Payments: Learning From Public and Private Sector Organizations (Supersedes GAO-01-703G)

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-01-703G, Strategies to Manage Improper Payments: Learning From Public and Private Sector Organizations (Exposure Draft), May 2001. Improper payments are a significant problem in both government and the private sector. In the private sector, improper payments are generally an internal problem that threatens profitability. In the public sector, improper payments can result in wasteful spending, a higher tax burden, and fewer people receiving services. Despite increased scrutiny, most improper payments associated with federal programs still go undetected. Improper payments are more likely in programs with complex criteria for computing payments, a high volume of transactions, or an emphasis on speedy payments. This report highlights strategic actions taken by study participants to reduce improper payments."
Date: October 1, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Seized Property and Forfeited Assets Systems Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems Under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (Supersedes AIMD-21.2.5) (open access)

Seized Property and Forfeited Assets Systems Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems Under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (Supersedes AIMD-21.2.5)

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes AIMD-21.2.5, Seized Property and Forfeited Assets System Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems Under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (Exposure Draft), April 2000. GAO published a guide to help agencies and internal auditors maintain their financial management systems in compliance with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996. This checklist is intended to assist: (1) agencies in implementing and monitoring their seized property and forfeited systems, and (2) managers and auditors in reviewing agency seized property and forfeited systems to determine if they substantially comply with the act."
Date: October 1, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Management: Improved Financial Systems Are Key to FFMIA Compliance (open access)

Financial Management: Improved Financial Systems Are Key to FFMIA Compliance

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The ability to produce the data needed to efficiently and effectively manage the day-to-day operations of the federal government and provide accountability to taxpayers has been a long-standing challenge to most federal agencies. To help address this challenge, the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) requires the 23 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies to implement and maintain financial management systems that comply substantially with (1) federal financial management systems requirements, (2) applicable federal accounting standards, and (3) the U.S. Government Standard General Ledger (SGL) at the transaction level. FFMIA also requires GAO to report annually on the implementation of the act."
Date: October 1, 2004
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Audit Manual: Checklist for Reports Prepared Under the CFO Act--Revised 2003 Exposure Draft (open access)

Financial Audit Manual: Checklist for Reports Prepared Under the CFO Act--Revised 2003 Exposure Draft

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In July 2001, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) issued the GAO/PCIE Financial Audit Manual (FAM). In April 2003, we issued an update to the FAM. The FAM provides guidance for performing financial statement audits of federal entities. The FAM is a key tool for enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources. GAO and the PCIE are committed to keeping the FAM current. With this goal in mind,we are now requesting comments on an exposure draft that will revise the Checklist for Reports Prepared Under the CFO Act (CFO Checklist). This update will replace the current CFO Checklist in the FAM Volume II, Section 1004. Once finalized,the updated CFO Checklist will be designated in the FAM Volume II at section 1050."
Date: October 1, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Communications Commission: Review of the Commission's Regulations Governing Attribution Ownership Rule (open access)

Federal Communications Commission: Review of the Commission's Regulations Governing Attribution Ownership Rule

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) new rule on FCC's regulations governing attribution ownership rule. GAO noted that: (1) the rule would amend FCC's broadcast, broadcast cable cross-ownership, and cable/Multipoint Distribution Service cross-ownership attribution rules; (2) according to FCC, the final rule improves the precision of the attribution rules, avoids disruption in the flow of capital to broadcasting, affords clarity and certainty to regulatees and markets, and facilitates application processing; and (3) FCC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."
Date: October 1, 1999
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Audit Manual: Volume Two, Exposure Draft--October 2007 (Superseded by GAO-08-586G) (open access)

Financial Audit Manual: Volume Two, Exposure Draft--October 2007 (Superseded by GAO-08-586G)

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-08-586G, Financial Audit Manual: Volume 2, July 2008. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) maintain the GAO/PCIE Financial Audit Manual (FAM). The FAM provides guidance for performing financial statement audits of federal entities. The FAM is a key tool for enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources."
Date: October 1, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Physical Infrastructure: Crosscutting Issues Planning Conference Report (open access)

Physical Infrastructure: Crosscutting Issues Planning Conference Report

A staff study issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's physical infrastructure consists of a broad array of systems and facilities, including transportation networks, such as roads, airports, rail, and mass transit; housing; federal buildings including postal facilities; and telecommunications services. In the 21st century, the following trends are likely to influence the nation's need for interconnected infrastructure systems and services: (1) the total population of the United States is expected to increase by nearly 50 million people, or about 17 percent; (2) the number of Americans aged 55 and over is expected to increase by about 60 percent; and (3) the suburbanization of population and employment will continue. The steps that the nation takes to anticipate these trends in infrastructure policy and investments will have a direct effect on America's economy and quality of life. To better understand these connections, GAO sponsored a conference in June 2001 to consider infrastructure issues from a crosscutting perspective. This report discusses the findings and conclusions of that conference."
Date: October 1, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Contingency Contracting: DOD, State, and USAID Contracts and Contractor Personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan (open access)

Contingency Contracting: DOD, State, and USAID Contracts and Contractor Personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Departments of Defense (DOD) and State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have relied extensively on contractors to carry out a range of services in Iraq and Afghanistan. While recognizing the benefits of using contractors, GAO and others have noted the challenges and risks associated with an increased reliance on contractors and the ability of agencies to manage their growing number of contractors. As directed by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, GAO analyzed DOD, State, and USAID data on contracting activities in Iraq and Afghanistan for fiscal year 2007 and the first half of fiscal year 2008 including (1) the number and value of contracts and the extent they were awarded competitively; (2) the number of contractor personnel, including those performing security functions; and (3) the number of contractor personnel who were killed or wounded. GAO also reviewed the status of the three agencies' memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to maintaining data on contracts and contractor personnel. GAO reviewed selected contract files and compared personnel data to other available sources to assess the reliability of the data reported …
Date: October 1, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Benefit System Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (Supersedes GAO-02-762G) (open access)

Benefit System Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (Supersedes GAO-02-762G)

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-02-762G, Benefit System Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act, September 2002. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) requires, among other things, that agencies implement and maintain financial management systems that substantially comply with federal financial management system requirements. These requirements are detailed in the Federal Financial Management System Requirements series issued by the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP) and in the guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): Circular A-127, Financial Management Systems, and the January 4, 2001, Revised Implementation Guidance for the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA) of 1996. JFMIP intends for the requirements to promote understanding of key financial management systems concepts and requirements, to provide a framework for establishing integrated financial management systems to support program and financial managers, and to describe specific requirements of financial management systems. We are issuing this checklist, which reflects JFMIP's Benefit System (JFMIP-SR-01-01, September 2001), to assist (1) agencies in implementing and monitoring their benefit systems and (2) managers and auditors in reviewing their benefit systems to determine if they substantially comply …
Date: October 1, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessing the Reliability of Computer-Processed Data (Superseded by GAO-09-680G) (open access)

Assessing the Reliability of Computer-Processed Data (Superseded by GAO-09-680G)

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-09-680G, Assessing the Reliability of Computer-Processed Data, July 2009. GAO published a guide to assist its auditing staff in ensuring the reliability of computer-based data. The guidance provides a flexible, risk-based framework for data reliability assessments that can be geared to the specific circumstances of each engagement. The framework is built on (1) making use of all existing information about the data; (2) performing at least a minimal level of data testing; (3) doing only the amount of work necessary to determine whether the data are reliable enough for GAO's purposes; (4) maximizing professional judgment; and (5) bringing the appropriate people, including management, to the table at key decision points."
Date: October 1, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Contingency Contracting: DOD, State, and USAID Continue to Face Challenges in Tracking Contractor Personnel and Contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan (open access)

Contingency Contracting: DOD, State, and USAID Continue to Face Challenges in Tracking Contractor Personnel and Contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Departments of Defense (DOD) and State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have relied extensively on contractors to provide a range of services in Iraq and Afghanistan, but as GAO has previously reported, the agencies have faced challenges in obtaining sufficient information to plan and manage their use of contractors. As directed by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, GAO analyzed DOD, State, and USAID data for Iraq and Afghanistan for FY 2008 and the first half of FY 2009 on the (1) status of agency efforts to track information on contracts and contractor personnel; (2) number of contractor personnel; (3) number of killed and wounded contractors; and (4) number and value of contracts and extent to which they were awarded competitively. GAO reviewed selected contracts and compared personnel data to other available sources to assess the reliability of agency-reported data."
Date: October 1, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Property Management Systems Requirements (open access)

Property Management Systems Requirements

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO published a functional requirements document for property management systems. This document is intended for financial analysts, systems accountants, systems developers, property managers, program managers, and others who design, develop, implement, operate, and maintain or audit financial management systems."
Date: October 1, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fiscal Year 2007 Performance Plans (open access)

Fiscal Year 2007 Performance Plans

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the General Accounting Office's (GAO) Performance Plans for Fiscal Year 2007. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual plan informs the Congress and the American people about what we expect to accomplish on their behalf in the coming fiscal year. It sets forth our plan to make progress toward achieving our strategic goals for serving the Congress and the American people. This framework not only shows the relationship between our strategic goals and strategic objectives, but also show major themes that could potentially affect our work."
Date: October 1, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Real Property: Actions Needed to Address Long-standing and Complex Problems (open access)

Federal Real Property: Actions Needed to Address Long-standing and Complex Problems

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government faces longstanding problems with excess and underutilized real property, deteriorating facilities, unreliable real property data, and costly space. These problems have multibillion-dollar cost implications and can seriously jeopardize agencies' missions. In addition, federal agencies face many challenges securing real property due to the threat of terrorism. This testimony discusses long-standing, complex problems in the federal real property area and what actions are needed to address them."
Date: October 1, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Personnel Security Clearances: An Outcome-Focused Strategy and Comprehensive Reporting of Timeliness and Quality Would Provide Greater Visibility over the Clearance Process (open access)

Personnel Security Clearances: An Outcome-Focused Strategy and Comprehensive Reporting of Timeliness and Quality Would Provide Greater Visibility over the Clearance Process

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the key recommendations from the two reports we recently released, which include (1) the need for a fully developed strategic framework for the reform process that includes outcome-focused performance measures to show progress and (2) more transparency in annually reporting to Congress on the timeliness and quality of the clearance process. This testimony is based on our review of the Joint Reform Team's plans, as well as our work on DOD's security clearance process, which includes reviews of clearance-related files and interviews of senior officials at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), DOD, Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and OPM. In addition, this statement is based on key practices and implementation steps for mergers and organizational transformations. We conducted our work on both reports between March 2008 and May 2009 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings …
Date: October 1, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Grants Management: EPA Needs to Strengthen Oversight and Enhance Accountability to Address Persistent Challenges (open access)

Grants Management: EPA Needs to Strengthen Oversight and Enhance Accountability to Address Persistent Challenges

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has faced persistent challenges in managing its grants, which, at about $4 billion annually constitute over one-half of the agency's total budget. EPA awards grants to thousands of recipients to implement its programs to protect human health and the environment. Given the size and diversity of EPA's programs, its ability to efficiently and effectively accomplish its mission largely depends on how well it manages its grant resources and builds accountability into its efforts. In our comprehensive report on EPA's management of its grants, released last week, we found that EPA continues to face four key grants management challenges despite past efforts to address them--(1) selecting the most qualified grant applicants, (2) effectively overseeing grantees, (3) measuring the results of grants, and (4) effectively managing its grant staff and resources. The report also discusses EPA's latest competition and oversight policies and its new 5-year plan to improve the management of its grants. This testimony, based on our report, focuses on the extent to which EPA's latest policies and plan address (1) awarding grants competitively, (2) improving oversight of grantees, and (3) holding staff and …
Date: October 1, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library