Combs said the PMA helped bring about the following:
* In fiscal 2006, 19 large agencies representing more than 75 percent of federal outlays, achieved a clean audit opinion.
* The number of auditor-reported material weaknesses dropped from 48 reported in fiscal 2005 to 41 in 2006, and for the second year in a row, all major agencies issued audited financial statements within 45 days of the close of the fiscal year.
* Since fiscal 2004 improper payments have dropped from $45 billion to $36.3 billion.
Over the next five years OMB will push for more reliable and transparent financial information with an emphasis that improvement activities must save more than they cost, Combs told the subcommittee.
To that end, the CFO Council and the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency are working to improve the cost-effectiveness of producing audited financial statements, Combs said, adding they would work with the larger financial community and Congress to determine whether the right information is being produced, if it’s timely, in the right form, and if there is enough audit scrutiny.
