Fiscal 2003 financial management Performance and Accountability
Reports contain only limited information about improper
payments that the government has made, even for those programs
previously singled out in the Office of Management and
Budget’s Circular A-11, the General Accounting Office has
said.
To address what it called a “government wide improper payment
problem,” it called for stepping up implementation of the
Improper Payment Information Act of 2002, which requires
agencies to review their programs and determine where improper
payments might be made.
The 2003 PARs contained improper payment estimates for 31 of
the 46 programs listed in OMB’s Circular A-11. They contain
information on attempts to prevent improper payments for 22
programs, as well as difficulties in doing so in 11 programs,
said GAO.
However, it said in certain cases, agencies had decided that
they were not in danger of making improper payments, even
though auditor’s reports in their PARs identified control
weaknesses that could lead to errors, fraud, or noncompliance,
and eventually, financial misstatements or erroneous payments
that could go undetected.
