	Highlights of Major Issues Relating to the U.S. Government’s Consolidated Financial Statements for Fiscal Years 2001 and 2000

As I mentioned earlier, as has been the case for the past 4 fiscal years, a  significant number of material weaknesses related to financial systems,  fundamental recordkeeping and financial reporting, and incomplete  documentation continued to (1) hamper the government’s ability to  accurately report a significant portion of its assets, liabilities, and costs,  (2) affect the government’s ability to accurately measure the full cost and  financial performance of certain programs and effectively manage related  operations, and (3) significantly impair the government’s ability to  adequately safeguard significant assets and properly record various  transactions. Also, disclosure  of certain financial information was not presented in the consolidated  financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting  principles. Our reports have engendered major improvements in internal  control.
What GAO Found

As in the past four years, GAO was unable to express an opinion on the federal government's consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2000 and 2001 because of material weaknesses in internal control and accounting and reporting issues. These conditions prevented GAO from providing Congress and American citizens with an opinion as to whether the consolidated financial statements are fairly stated in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Until these problems are adequately addressed, the government will continue to have difficulty (1) reporting its assets, liabilities, and costs; (2) adequately measuring the full cost and financial performance of programs and effectively manage related operations; and (3) adequately safeguarding significant assets and and properly recording transactions.