Financial Audit Manual Update To Part Iitools

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). The FAM provides guidance for financial audits conducted by the Inspector General community, GAO, and their contractors. The FAM is a key part in enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources. GAO and the PCIE are committed to keeping the FAM current and intend to prepare updates as needed. With this goal in mind, a GAO/PCIE task force prepared this update to volume II of the FAM, which provides tools to assist the auditor in complying with audit standards.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

The GAO & the Pres. Council on Integrity & Efficiency (PCIE) maintain the Financial Audit ManualÓ (FAM). The FAM provides guidance for performing financial statement audits of Federal entities & is a key tool for enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources. In Oct. 2003, the Checklist for Reports Prepared under the CFO ActÓ was revised, & comments were requested on an exposure draft of the checklist. One of the key changes in the final checklist is its title, which has been changed to Checklist for Federal Accounting, Reporting, & DisclosuresÓ to reflect the checklist's potential application to any Federal entity preparing annual audited financial statements in accordance with the OMBs form & content guidance.