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GAO-06-30R 1 (2005-10-27)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptasiw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 



    A

          Aco untability * Integrity * Reliability
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, D.C. 20548



                                      October 27, 2005

                                      Mr. Jesse Funches
                                      Chief Financial Officer
                                      Nuclear Regulatory Commission

                                      The Honorable Hubert T. Bell
                                      Inspector General
                                      Nuclear Regulatory Commission

                                      Subject: Financial Audit: Restatements to the Nuclear Regulatory
                                              Commission's Fiscal Year 2003 Financial Statements

                                      As you know, the Secretary of Treasury, in coordination with the Director
                                      of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is required to annually
                                      prepare and submit audited financial statements of the U.S. government to
                                      the President and Congress. We are required to audit these consolidated
                                      financial statements (CFS) and report on the results of our work.' An issue
                                      meriting concern and close scrutiny that emerged during our fiscal year
                                      2004 CFS audit was the growing number of Chief Financial Officers (CFO)
                                      Act agencies that restated2 certain of their financial statements for fiscal
                                      year 2003 to correct errors.3 Errors in financial statements can result from
                                      mathematical mistakes, mistakes in the application of accounting
                                      principles, or oversight or misuse of facts that existed at the time the
                                      financial statements were prepared. Frequent restatements to correct
                                      errors can undermine public trust and confidence in both the entity and all
                                      responsible parties. Further, when restatements do occur, it is important
                                      that financial statements clearly communicate, and readers of the restated
                                      financial statements understand, that the financial statements originally
                                      issued by management in the previous year and the opinion thereon should


                                      1The Government Management Reform Act of 1994 has required such reporting, covering
                                      the executive branch of government, beginning with financial statements prepared for fiscal
                                      year 1997. 31 U.S.C. § 331 (e). The federal government has elected to include certain
                                      financial information on the legislative and judicial branches in the CFS as well.
                                      'A financial statement restatement occurs when an entity either voluntarily or prompted by
                                      its auditors or regulators revises public financial information that has previously been
                                      reported.
                                      3According to Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, Statement of Federal
                                      Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) No. 21, Reporting Corrections of Errors and
                                      Changes in Accounting Principles, prior period financial statements presented should be
                                      restated only to correct errors that caused such statements to be materially misstated.


GAO-06-30R NRC Fiscal Year 2003 Restatement


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