Accountability Integrity Reliability

U.S. Government Accountability Office

Serving The Congress And The Nation

Summary of 

GAO’s Performance 

and 

Financial Information 

Fiscal Year 2009 
Source: See Image Sources.

SERVING THE CONGRESS AND THE NATION

Accountability

We help the Congress oversee federal programs and operations 

to ensure accountability to the American people. GAO’s analysts, 

auditors, lawyers, economists, information technology specialists, 

investigators, and other multidisciplinary professionals seek to enhance 

the economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and credibility of the federal 

government both in fact and in the eyes of the American people.

I n t e g r i t y 

We set high standards for ourselves in the conduct of GAO’s work. 

Our agency takes a professional, objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, 

nonideological, fair, and balanced approach to all activities. Integrity 

is the foundation of our reputation, and the GAO approach to work 

ensures it. 

R e l i a b i l i t y 

We at GAO want our work to be viewed by the Congress and the 

American public as reliable. We produce high-quality reports, 

testimonies, briefings, legal opinions, and other products and services 

that are timely, accurate, useful, clear, and candid. 

S c o p e o f w o r k 

GAO performs a range of oversight-, insight-, and 

foresight-related engagements, a vast majority of 

which are conducted in response to congressional 

mandates or requests. GAO’s engagements include 

evaluations of federal programs and performance, 

financial and management audits, policy analyses, 

legal opinions, bid protest adjudications, and 

investigations.
GAO-10-235SP 1

Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information  Fiscal Year 2009

Budget, Performance, and Financial Snapshot 

Who We Are

Mission: The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation, and 

investigative arm of the Congress, exists to support the Congress in meeting 

its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and 

accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO examines 

the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides 

analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help the Congress make 

informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. 

Organization and Strategic Focus: To fulfill its mission, GAO organizes and 

manages its resources to support four broad strategic goals. These include helping 

to address challenges to the well-being and economic security of the American 

people, U.S. national and homeland security efforts, and modernizing government to 

meet current and emerging issues. Strategic goal 4 is an internal goal that focuses 

on enhancing GAO’s business and administrative processes through investments in 

human capital, financial management, information technology, and various processes 

and systems needed to support the agency and the Congress. 

Human Capital: We maintain a workforce of highly trained professionals across 

a breadth of academic and scientific disciplines. About three-quarters of our 

approximately 3,100 employees are based at our headquarters in Washington, D.C.; 

the rest are deployed in 11 field offices across the country. 

Budget and Financial Snapshot (dollars in millions)

GAO’s Budgetary Resources 

Source: GAO.

0

200

400

600 $580.6

$519.0 $493.8 $497.2 $498.9

Fiscal year

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Fiscal Year 2009

Clean opinion on financial statements Yes

Timely financial reporting Yes

Material weaknesses None

Total assets $135.7

Total liabilities $111.3

Net cost of operationsa $558.8 a

This includes nonbudgetary items, such as imputed pension and 

depreciation costs, which are not included in the figures for total 

budgetary resources.

Performance Snapshot

Accomplishments: In fiscal year 2009, GAO met or exceeded all of its performance 

targets by, for example, identifying $43 billion in financial benefits—a return of $80 

for every dollar GAO spent—and over 1,300 improvements in laws and government 

programs and operations. The rate at which GAO’s recommendations were 

implemented by federal agencies or the Congress was 80 percent, and over twothirds of the products issued contained recommendations. GAO testified at over 200 

hearings before the Congress on a variety of topics, including nonprime home loans, 

efforts to stimulate the national economy, and federal programs and areas considered 

at high risk for fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. Also, results from our 

employee feedback survey—the source for several of our people measures, such as 

staff development and organizational climate—were the highest in the last 5 years. 

(See table 1 on page 9 for information on all of GAO’s performance measures.)

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFF CI E

UNITED STATES

UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

Budget, Performance, and Financial Snapshot 

Fiscal Year 2009
2 GAO-10-235SP

Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information  Fiscal Year 2009

Challenges: In fiscal year 2009, GAO continued to address three management 

challenges—physical security, information security, and human capital. For example, 

to help address its human capital challenge, GAO implemented several initiatives 

aimed at promoting a fair and unbiased work environment where opportunity and 

inclusiveness are valued.

Summary of Key GAO Performance Results and Targets for Fy 2005–2009

To help determine how well GAO is meeting the needs of the Congress and the 

nation and maximizing its value as a world-class organization, GAO assesses its 

performance annually using a balanced set of quantitative measures. Below are 9 of 

GAO’s 15 annual performance measures that highlight the agency’s performance in 

significant areas related to the implementation of GAO’s mission. 

To establish targets for all of its performance measures, GAO examines its past 

performance and the external factors that could influence its work and discusses 

with its senior executives what could be accomplished in the upcoming fiscal year. 

GAO may adjust these targets after they are initially published in our annual 

performance plan when our expected future work or level of funding provided 

warrants doing so. 

Performance measure 2005

actual

2006

actual

2007

actual

2008

actual

2009

target actual

Results

Financial benefits (dollars in billions) $39.6 $51.0 $45.9 $58.1 $42.0 $43.0 

Nonfinancial benefits 1,409 1,342 1,354 1,398 1,200 1,315

Past recommendations implemented 85% 82% 82% 83% 80% 80%

New products with recommendations 63% 65% 66% 66% 60% 68%

Client

Testimonies 179 240 276 298a 200 203

People

Staff developmentb,c 76% 76% 77% 76% 79%

72%

Staff utilizationb,d 75% 75% 73% 75% 75% 78%

Effective leadership by supervisorsb,e 80% 79% 79% 81% 80% 83%

Organizational climateb 76% 73% 74% 77% 75% 79%

Source: GAO.

Note: Information explaining all of the measures included in this table appears in the Data Quality and Program Evaluations section in part 

II of our full fiscal year 2009 performance and accountability report. 

a

In fiscal year 2008, we inadvertently reported six additional hearings. This entry reflects the correct total.

b

This measure is derived from our annual agencywide employee feedback survey. From the staff who expressed an opinion, we calculated 

the percentage of those who selected favorable responses to the related survey questions. Responses of “no basis to judge/not applicable” 

or “no answer” were excluded from the calculation. While including these responses in the calculation would result in a different percentage, 

our method of calculation is an acceptable survey practice, and we believe it produces a better and more valid measure because it 

represents only those employees who have an opinion on the questions.

c

Beginning in fiscal year 2006 we changed the way that the staff development people measure was calculated. Specifically, we dropped 

one question regarding computer-based training because we felt such training was a significant part of (and therefore included in) the 

other questions the survey asked regarding training. We also modified a question on internal training and changed the scale of possible 

responses to that question. We show the fiscal year 2005 data on a separate line to indicate that those data are not comparable to the data 

beginning in fiscal year 2006. 

d

Our employee feedback survey asks staff how often the following occurred in the last 12 months: (1) my job made good use of my skills, 

(2) GAO provided me with opportunities to do challenging work, and (3) in general, I was utilized effectively.

e

In fiscal year 2009 we changed the name of this measure from “Leadership” to its current nomenclature to clarify that the measure reflects 

employee satisfaction with their immediate supervisor’s leadership.

Budget, Performance, and Financial Snapshot 
GAO-10-235SP 3

January 2010

Reflecting on the past fiscal year, I am especially proud of our work in support 

of the Congress and the American people, which we convey in this summary of 

GAO’s fiscal year 2009 performance and accountability report (http://www.gao.

gov/products/GAO-10-234SP). I am confident that the performance and financial 

information in our full report and this summary is complete and reliable and meets 

our high standards for accuracy and transparency. 

Fiscal year 2009 ushered in a period of change and challenge for the nation and 

GAO, and our people worked together creatively and tirelessly to support the 

Congress and the nation throughout the year. The election of a new U.S. President 

in November 2008 marked the first wartime presidential transition in 40 years and 

the first administration change since 9/11. To ensure that the government carried 

out its essential missions as efficiently and effectively as possible during this time of 

change, we did our part to help effect a seamless transition by outreaching to key 

members of the new administration and the Congress in person and through our 

transition Web site made available 2 days after the national election. We highlighted 

for these policymakers and their staffs a number of pressing issues that demand 

urgent attention and continuing oversight to ensure the nation’s security and wellbeing. We also identified management challenges facing the government as well 

as several cost-saving opportunities. Many of the urgent issues discussed on the 

site—such as financial markets regulation; Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan; and the 

2010 Census—received attention in the early months of the new administration and 

the Congress and will continue to do so during the current fiscal year. 

Also during fiscal year 2009 the Congress, through mandates in the Emergency 

Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Stabilization Act) and the American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), solicited our assistance with its 

efforts to address the nation’s financial and economic crisis. We assembled an 

interdisciplinary team of financial market experts, accountants, lawyers, and 

economists to produce bimonthly reports on the accountability, transparency, and 

integrity of efforts carried out under the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program 

(TARP) created by the Stabilization Act. We also leveraged our internal resources, 

hired new staff, and coordinated with the accountability community to fulfill our 

Recovery Act mandates, which include bimonthly reporting on how selected states 

and localities are using Recovery Act funding over the next several years. Our 

longitudinal study of 16 states and certain localities within those jurisdictions as 

well as the District of Columbia covers about two-thirds of the Recovery Act funds 

administered by states and localities. 

In concert with these additional expectations, we successfully carried out our 

fiduciary functions—which included two new funding streams provided by TARP 

and the Recovery Act—our new mandates, and our basic legislative responsibilities. 

For example, we again received from independent auditors an unqualified or “clean” 

From the

Acting Comptroller General

Source: See Image Sources.
4 GAO-10-235SP

opinion on our financial statements for fiscal year 2009 and met or exceeded all 15 of 

our annual performance measures. 

This level of performance could not have been achieved without the extraordinary 

efforts and support of our highly professional, diverse, and multidisciplinary staff. 

Their hard work and dedication throughout the past fiscal year made it possible for 

us to meet our legislative deadlines, both anticipated and unforeseen. Our people 

measures for fiscal year 2009 indicate that we are doing many of the right things to 

ensure that our staff have the training, work experiences, tools, and services they 

need to be productive in this very demanding environment. Also, we rated second on 

the 2009 list of best places to work in the federal government among large federal 

agencies, according to rankings released in fiscal year 2009 by the Partnership for 

Public Service and the Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation at 

American University. 

But our work is not done. Like the nation, we must continue to address our internal 

management challenges—physical security, information security, and human 

capital—as they evolve. For example, in fiscal year 2009, we continued to focus on 

developing a more inclusive and diverse workplace by implementing and updating 

our 2008 Workforce Diversity Plan. We also reassessed our recruiting and hiring 

practices and began briefing managers on the Americans with Disabilities Act 

provisions and GAO’s new reasonable accommodation process. In addition, we 

examined our performance appraisal process, surveyed all agency staff concerning 

their views of and experiences with the process, and implemented a standardized 

appraisal review process to ensure that all staff receive a fair and equitable 

assessment of their performance during annual performance reviews. These 

human capital issues and others constitute the primary focus of our agencywide 

management improvement efforts that we began in fiscal year 2009. Streamlining 

our processes and products is also another important part of our management 

improvement effort and should result in shorter testimony statements and reports in 

the coming months. 

We continued to maintain a good working relationship with the employees’ union, 

GAO Employees Organization, International Federation of Professional and 

Technical Engineers, Local 1921. GAO management meets regularly with union 

officers and GAO Workforce Relations staff as well as with the Employee Advisory 

Council and the Diversity Advisory Council to discuss ongoing and emerging issues. 

In summary, fiscal year 2009 was a very fast-paced and demanding time for us, yet 

we succeeded at performing our mission and mandates and accomplishing the goals 

we set. We are committed to continuing our efforts to support the Congress and the 

taxpayers as the nation confronts the challenges ahead. 

Gene L. Dodaro

Acting Comptroller General 

of the United States

Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009
GAO-10-235SP 5

GAO is an independent, nonpartisan professional services agency in the legislative 

branch of the federal government. Commonly known as the audit and investigative 

arm of the Congress or the “congressional watchdog,” we examine how taxpayer 

dollars are spent and advise lawmakers and agency heads on ways to make 

government work better. As a legislative branch agency, we are exempt from 

many laws that apply to the executive branch agencies. However, we generally 

hold ourselves to the spirit of many of these laws, including 31 U.S.C. 3512 (c), (d) 

the Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act, the Government Performance and 

Results Act of 1993, and the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act 

of 1996 (FFMIA). Accordingly, our full performance and accountability report 

for fiscal year 2009 provides what we consider to be information that is at least 

equivalent to that supplied by executive branch agencies in their annual performance 

and accountability reports (see http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-234SP).

We accomplish our mission by providing objective and reliable information and 

informed analysis to the Congress, to federal agencies, and to the public, and we 

recommend improvements, when appropriate, on a wide variety of issues. Three 

core values—accountability, integrity, and reliability—form the basis for all of our 

work, regardless of its origin. These are described on the inside front cover of this 

summary.

To accomplish our mission, we use a strategic planning and management process 

that is based on a hierarchy of four elements—strategic goals, strategic objectives, 

performance goals, and key efforts. Our strategic plan framework, shown in figure 1, 

outlines our four strategic goals and 21 strategic objectives that guided our work 

in fiscal year 2009. Our 

mission work is primarily 

aligned under the first 

three strategic goals, 

which span issues that 

are both domestic and 

international, affect the 

lives of all Americans, 

and influence the extent 

to which the federal 

government serves the 

nation’s current and future interests. (See fig. 2.) The fourth goal is our only internal 

one and is aimed at maximizing our productivity through investing in information 

technology (IT); ensuring the safety and security of our people, information, and 

assets; pursuing human capital transformation; and leveraging our knowledge and 

experience. For more information about the work we do in support of each strategic 

goal and our strategic planning and management process, see our strategic plan for 

GAO’s History

The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 required the President 

to issue an annual federal budget and established GAO as an 

independent agency to investigate how federal dollars are spent. 

In the early years, we mainly audited vouchers, but after World War 

II we started to perform more comprehensive financial audits that 

examined the economy and efficiency of government operations. 

By the 1960s, GAO had begun to perform the type of work we are 

noted for today—program evaluation—which examines whether 

government programs are meeting their objectives. 

About GAO

Source: See Image Sources.
6 GAO-10-235SP

Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

Serving the Congress and the Nation 

GAO’s Strategic Plan Framework

Mission

GAO exists to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional

responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of 

the federal government for the benefit of the American people.

Themes Goals & Objectives

Provide Timely, Quality Service to the Congress and the 

Federal Government to . . .

. . . Address Current and Emerging Challenges to the Well-being

and Financial Security of the American People related to . . .

. . . Respond to Changing Security Threats and the Challenges of 

Global Interdependence involving . . .

Help Transform the Federal Government’s Role and How It Does 

Business to Meet 21st Century Challenges by assessing . . .

Maximize the Value of GAO by Being a Model Federal Agency and 

a World-Class Professional Services Organization in the areas of . . .

Accountability Integrity Reliability

Core Values

Changing

Security Threats

Sustainability

Concerns

Economic

Growth &

Competitiveness

Global

Interdependency

Societal Change

Quality of Life

Science &

Technology •	 Client and customer satisfaction

•	 Strategic leadership

•	 Institutional knowledge and experience

•	 Process improvement

•	 Employer of choice

•	 Health care needs

•	 Lifelong learning

•	 Work benefits and protections

•	 Financial security

•	 Effective system of justice

•	 Viable communities

•	 Natural resources use and 

environmental protection

•	 Physical infrastructure

•	 Homeland security

•	 Military capabilities and readiness

•	 Advancement of U.S. interests

•	 Global market forces

•	 Roles in achieving federal 

objectives

•	 Government transformation

•	 Key management challenges 

and program risks

•	 Fiscal position and financing of the 

government

Source: GAO.

Figure 1: GAO’s Strategic Plan Framework

GAO Strategic Plan 2007-2012
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

GAO-10-235SP 7

Strategic

Goal 1

Provide timely, 

quality service to the 

Congress and the 

federal government 

to address current and 

emerging challenges 

to the well-being and 

financial security of 

the American people

 Highlighted weaknesses in the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight 

of medical devices

 Helped to improve the health care provided to wounded soldiers returning home

 Investigated the death and abuse of children at public and private schools

 Recommended additional oversight and controls of voluntary workplace safety and health programs administered by some companies

 Helped to enhance management at the Pension Benefit Guaranty 

Corporation

 Helped to improve federal efforts to combat drug trafficking

 Identified ways the Department of Housing and Urban Development could 

promote energy efficiency and green building in federal public housing 

programs

 Informed the debate on hardrock mining reform

 Reported on the Environmental Protection Agency’s reforms of its toxic 

chemical assessment process

 Informed the Congress about the U.S. Postal Service’s deteriorating 

financial situation

Strategic 

Goal 2

Provide timely, 

quality service to the 

Congress and the 

federal government to 

respond to changing 

security threats and the 

challenges of global 

interdependence

 Recommended actions to improve the Department of Defense’s (DOD) 

management of contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan 

 Helped the Congress assess DOD’s ability to provide trained and ready 

forces for military operations

 Recommended that the State Department develop outcome measures for 

its capacity-building program in Iraq

 Helped to improve DOD’s accounting of weapons provided to Afghan 

security forces 

 Helped to strengthen aviation security through improved passenger watchlist matching

 Developed a framework to help the Congress evaluate proposals for revamping the U.S. financial regulatory system

 Helped to assess the implementation of TARP

 Informed the Congress about weaknesses in lender data that limit 

regulators’ ability to identify financial institutions at higher risk of 

discriminatory lending practices

Strategic 

Goal 3

Help transform the 

federal government’s 

role and how it does 

business to meet 21st 

century challenges

 Helped to track how states and localities are using Recovery Act funds

 Strengthened federal planning and preparedness efforts for the influenza 

pandemic

 Helped DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs better share 

electronic health records

 Identified shortcomings in the Department of Homeland Security’s 

management of major acquisitions

 Tested the adequacy of the complaint intake process at the Department of 

Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

 Helped to reduce governmentwide improper payments

 Recommended ways to reduce tax noncompliance

Strategic 

Goal 4

Maximize the value 

of GAO by being a 

model federal agency 

and a world-class 

professional services 

organization

 Mobilized staff quickly to conduct mandated oversight work and ensure 

accountability of the federal assistance available through the Recovery Act 

 Contributed to enhancing the ability of the domestic accountability community to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse of federal funds

 Helped enhance international accountability organizations’ capacity to 

implement strong professional standards by sponsoring training and 

participating in international forums

How GAO Assisted the Nation • Fiscal Year 2009

Figure 2:

Source: GAO.
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

8 GAO-10-235SP

fiscal years 2007 through 2012, which is available on our Web site at http://www.

gao.gov/about/strategic.html. 

Throughout GAO, we maintain a workforce of highly trained professionals with 

degrees in many academic disciplines, including accounting, law, engineering, public 

and business administration, economics, and the social and physical sciences. About 

three-quarters of our approximately 3,100 employees are based at our headquarters 

in Washington, D.C.; the rest are deployed in 11 field offices across the country (see 

fig. 3). Staff in these field offices are aligned with our research, audit, investigative, 

and evaluation teams and perform work in tandem with our headquarters staff in 

support of our external strategic goals.

Source: See Image Sources.

Figure 3: GAO’s Office Locations

Chicago

Dayton

Los Angeles

San Francisco

Huntsville

Seattle

Norfolk

Dallas

Denver

Boston

Atlanta

Washington, D.C.

GAO’s Performance 

In fiscal year 2009, we monitored how well we performed our work and supported 

our staff using 15 agencywide annual performance measures. The results of 

our efforts are reflected in our solid performance in fiscal year 2009—we met 

or exceeded all of the agencywide performance targets we set for each of these 

measures (see table 1). We exceeded our financial benefits target of $42 billion for the 

fiscal year by $1 billion. This represents a $80 return on every dollar the Congress 

invested in us. In addition, we exceeded our target of 1,200 nonfinancial benefits 

by more than 100 benefits. We also met our target for past recommendations 

implemented and exceeded the target for new products with recommendations by 8 

percentage points. We slightly exceeded our target of 200 hearings at which we were 

asked to testify and met the target for delivering our products and testimonies to our 

clients in a timely manner. We also exceeded our annual targets for all seven of our 

people measures—our highest performance on these measures over the last 5 fiscal 

years. 
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

GAO-10-235SP 9

Table 1: Agencywide Summary of Annual Measures and Targets

Performance 

measure

2005

actual

2006

actual

2007

actual

2008

actual

2009

target actual

Met/

not met

2010

target

Results

Financial benefits

(dollars in billions) $39.6 $51.0 $45.9 $58.1 $42.0 $43.0 Met $42.0 

Nonfinancial benefits 1,409 1,342 1,354 1,398 1,200 1,315 Met 1,200

Past recommendations 

implemented 85% 82% 82% 83% 80% 80% Met 80%

New products with 

recommendations 63% 65% 66% 66% 60% 68% Met 60%

Client

Testimonies 179 240 276 298a 200 203 Met 220

Timelinessb 92% 93% 95% 95% 95% 95% Met 95%

People

New hire rate 94% 94% 96% 96% 95% 99% Met 95%

Retention rate

With retirements 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 94% Met 90%

Without 

retirements 94% 94% 94% 93% 94% 96% Met 94%

Staff developmentc,d 76% 76% 77% 76% 79% Met 76%

72%

Staff utilizationc,e 75% 75% 73% 75% 75% 78% Met 75%

Effective leadership 

by supervisorsc,f 80% 79% 79% 81% 80% 83% Met 80%

Organizational 

climatec 76% 73% 74% 77% 75% 79% Met 75%

Internal operationsg

Help get job done 4.1 4.1 4.05 4.0 4.0 N/A N/A 4.0

Quality of work life 3.98 4.0 3.98 4.01 4.0 N/A N/A 4.0

Source: GAO.

Note: Information explaining all of the measures included in this table appears in the Data Quality and Program Evaluations section in part 

II of our full fiscal year 2009 performance and accountability report. 

a

In fiscal year 2008, we inadvertently reported six additional hearings. This entry reflects the correct total.

b

The timeliness measure is based on one question on a form sent out to selected clients. The response rate for the form in fiscal year 2009 

is 28 percent, and 96 percent of the clients who responded answered this question. The percentage shown in the table represents the 

percentage of respondents who answered favorably to this question on the form.

c

This measure is derived from our annual agencywide employee feedback survey. From the staff who expressed an opinion, we calculated 

the percentage of those who selected favorable responses to the related survey questions. Responses of “no basis to judge/not applicable” 
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

10 GAO-10-235SP

or “no answer” were excluded from the calculation. While including these responses in the calculation would result in a different percentage, 

our method of calculation is an acceptable survey practice, and we believe it produces a better and more valid measure because it 

represents only those employees who have an opinion on the questions. 

d

Beginning in fiscal year 2006 we changed the way that the staff development people measure was calculated. Specifically, we dropped 

one question regarding computer-based training because we felt such training was a significant part of (and therefore included in) the 

other questions the survey asked regarding training. We also modified a question on internal training and changed the scale of possible 

responses to that question. We show the fiscal year 2005 data on a separate line to indicate that those data are not comparable to the data 

beginning in fiscal year 2006.

e

Our employee feedback survey asks staff how often the following occurred in the last 12 months: (1) my job made good use of my skills, 

(2) GAO provided me with opportunities to do challenging work, and (3) in general, I was utilized effectively.

f

In fiscal year 2009 we changed the name of this measure from “Leadership” to its current nomenclature to clarify that the measure reflects 

employee satisfaction with their immediate supervisor’s leadership.

g

For our internal operations measures, we will report actual data for fiscal year 2009 once data from our November 2009 internal customer 

satisfaction survey have been analyzed. N/A indicates that the data are not available yet.

Concerning our two internal operations measures, we will assess our performance 

related to how well our internal administrative services (e.g., computer support, 

mail service, and Internet service) help employees get their jobs done or improve 

employees’ quality of work life once data from our November 2009 annual 

customer satisfaction survey have been analyzed. The survey asked staff to rank the 

importance of each service to them and indicate their satisfaction with it on a scale 

from 1 to 5. These measures are directly related to our goal 4 strategic objectives 

of continuously enhancing our business and management processes and becoming 

a professional services employer of choice. There will always be a lag in reporting 

on these measures because our customer feedback survey is distributed after we 

issue our full performance and accountability report. In fiscal year 2008, we met 

our target of 4.0 (a composite score based on employees’ responses from an internal 

survey) for our measure help get the job done and exceeded our target for our quality 

of work life measure. These scores indicate that our employees were satisfied with 

the internal administrative services they used during their workday. 

Results Measures

Focusing on outcomes and the efficiency of the processes needed to achieve them 

is fundamental to accomplishing our mission. The following four annual measures 

indicate that we have fulfilled our mission and delivered results that benefit the 

nation.

Financial Benefits and Nonfinancial Benefits

We describe many of the results produced by our work as either financial or 

nonfinancial benefits. Both types of benefits result from our efforts to provide 

information to the Congress that helped to (1) change laws and regulations, 

(2) improve services to the public, and (3) promote sound agency and 

governmentwide management. In many cases, the benefits we claimed in fiscal year 

2009 are based on work we did in past years because it often takes the Congress and 

agencies time to implement our recommendations or to act on our findings.

Financial Benefits 

Our findings and recommendations produce measurable financial benefits for the 

federal government after the Congress acts on or agencies implement them and the 
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

GAO-10-235SP 11

funds are made available to reduce government expenditures or are reallocated to 

other areas. The monetary effect realized can be the result of 

■ changes in business operations and activities;

■ the restructuring of federal programs; or

■ modifications to entitlements, taxes, or user fees.

Financial benefits result if, for example, the Congress reduces the annual cost of 

operating a federal program, lessens the cost of a multiyear program or entitlement, 

or reallocates funds to other areas. Financial benefits could also result from actions 

agencies take in response to our recommendations that improve federal services to 

the public or government processes or management.

Financial benefits included in our performance measures are net benefits—that 

is, estimates of financial benefits that have been reduced by the estimated costs 

associated with taking the action that we recommended. We convert all estimates 

involving past and future years to their net present value and use actual dollars to 

represent estimates involving only the current year.

To document financial benefits, our staff complete reports documenting 

accomplishments that are linked to specific recommendations or actions. Each 

accomplishment report for financial benefits is documented and reviewed by (1) a 

GAO staff member not involved in the work and (2) a senior executive in charge of 

the work. During the past fiscal year, the GAO Inspector General (IG) performed an 

independent review of all financial accomplishments over $1 billion. 

In fiscal year 2009, our work generated 

about $43 billion in financial benefits 

(see table 1). We slightly exceeded 

our target by 2 percent due to several 

accomplishments with multiyear effects. 

Figure 4 briefly describes the types of 

financial benefits we documented in 

fiscal year 2009. Table 2 lists several of 

our major financial benefits for fiscal 

year 2009.

Figure 4: Types of Financial Benefits 

Recorded in Fiscal Year 2009 from Our 

Work

Agencies acted on GAO information to improve services 

to the public

Information GAO provided to the Congress resulted in 

statutory or regulatory changes 

Core business processes improved at agencies and 

governmentwide management reforms advanced by 

GAO’s work

Categories

Source: GAO.

Financial Benefits

Total $43 billion

$16.6 billion

(39%)

$8.2 billion

(19%)

$18.2 billion

(42%)

Source: GAO.
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

12 GAO-10-235SP

Table 2: GAO’s Selected Major Financial Benefits Reported in Fiscal Year 2009

Description

Amount

(dollars in 

billions)

In February 2005, we reported that the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Multiple Award Schedules program, designed to take 

advantage of the federal government’s significant aggregate buying 

power and to provide a simplified method for procuring commonly 

used goods and services, had decreased dramatically in pre-award 

audits. The report highlighted the importance of pre-award audits 

to ensure that contractors were offering their best price. As a result 

of our work, GSA and its Inspector General hired additional staff 

to improve and increase the use of pre-award audits resulting in a 

cost avoidance of $3.66 billion or about $3.97 billion in net present 

value. 

$3.97

We recommended that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) 

take a number of steps to mitigate the risks associated with sellerfunded down payment assistance and noted that such loans contributed to FHA’s deteriorating financial performance because of 

their substantially higher delinquency rate. On October 1, 2008, the 

Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 became effective and 

prohibited seller-funded down payment assistance. The estimated 

financial benefit associated with this provision is about $2.89 billion.

$2.89

We recommended that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) target its oversight resources of Medicaid financial 

management to areas most vulnerable to improper payments and 

increase oversight of high-risk areas. In response, CMS determined 

that almost $1.3 billion in inappropriate claims for federal Medicaid 

payments was avoided in fiscal year 2008 as a result of the funding 

specialists’ proactive work with states to identify and resolve potential issues before states filed potentially problematic claims. 

$1.27

In several reports on the Department of State’s (State) overseas real 

estate, we identified millions of dollars in unneeded overseas real 

estate, inaccuracies in its inventory database, and failures to sell 

several of the properties. State agreed to improve the accuracy of its 

property inventory and make greater efforts to expedite the sale of 

unneeded property and reported that it sold 34 properties from the 

second quarter of fiscal year 2006 through the third quarter of fiscal 

year 2007. 

$0.56

Source: GAO.
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

GAO-10-235SP 13

Nonfinancial Benefits

Many of the benefits that result 

from our work cannot be measured 

in dollar terms. During fiscal year 

2009, we recorded a total of 1,315 

nonfinancial benefits (see table 1). 

We exceeded our target by almost 10 

percent largely because of a number 

of accomplishments we documented 

that related to the nation’s homeland 

security efforts, such as border security 

and immigration enforcement, and 

weapon systems acquisition programs. 

Figure 5 briefly describes the types of 

nonfinancial benefits we documented in 

fiscal year 2009. Table 3 provides some 

examples of the nonfinancial benefits 

we claimed as accomplishments in fiscal 

year 2009.

Table 3: Selected GAO Nonfinancial Benefits Reported in Fiscal Year 2009

...that helped to change laws

Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-23

• Enhanced oversight of major weapon systems development and cost 

estimates.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-5

• Improved access to benefits for workers who lose their jobs. 

William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 

2008, Pub. L. No. 110-457

• Strengthened the process for investigating alleged household worker abuse 

by foreign diplomats. 

Broadband Data Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 110-385

• Improved data about Internet services on tribal lands.

...that helped to improve services to the public

• Strengthened the integrity of the employment verification process used by millions of employers.

• Improved DOD’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program.

• Enhanced federal efforts to combat drug trafficking.

...that helped to promote sound agency and governmentwide management

• Strengthened planning and preparedness for an influenza pandemic.

• Improved governmentwide sharing of contractor past performance information.

• Identified federal employees involved in transit benefit fraud.

Source: GAO.

Figure 5: Types of Nonfinancial Benefits 

Documented in Fiscal Year 2009 from Our 

Work

Agencies acted on GAO information to improve services 

to the public

Information GAO provided to the Congress resulted in 

statutory or regulatory changes 

Core business processes improved at agencies and 

governmentwide management reforms advanced by 

GAO’s work

Categories

Source: GAO.

Nonfinancial Benefits

Total 1,315

620

(47%) 626

(48%)

69

(5%)

Source: GAO.
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

14 GAO-10-235SP

Past Recommendations Implemented

One way we measure our effect on improving the government’s accountability, 

operations, and services is by tracking the percentage of recommendations that we 

made 4 years ago that have since been implemented by executive branch agencies 

and the Congress. At the end of fiscal year 2009, 80 percent of the recommendations 

we made in fiscal year 2005 had been implemented (see table 1). Putting these 

recommendations into practice generates tangible benefits for the nation.

New Products Containing Recommendations

In fiscal year 2009, about 68 percent of the 576 written products we issued 

(excluding testimonies) contained recommendations (see table 1). We track the 

percentage of new products with recommendations because we want to encourage 

staff to develop recommendations that when implemented, produce financial and 

nonfinancial benefits for the nation. Our target is 60 percent because we recognize 

that the Congress and federal agencies often find our informational reports just 

as useful as those that contain recommendations. Our informational reports have 

the same analytical rigor and meet the same quality standards as those with 

recommendations and, similarly, can help to bring about significant financial and 

nonfinancial benefits. Hence, this measure allows us ample leeway to respond to 

requests that result in reports without recommendations.

Client Measures

To fulfill the Congress’s information needs, we strive to deliver the results of our 

work orally as well as in writing at a time agreed upon with our client. 

Testimonies

Our clients often invite us to testify on our current and past work when it addresses 

issues that congressional committees are examining through the hearing process. 

During fiscal year 2009, experts from our staff testified at 203 congressional 

hearings (see table 1) covering a wide range of complex issues, slightly exceeding our 

target of 200 hearings. (See fig. 17 in our full report for a selected list of issues we 

testified on in fiscal year 2009 by strategic goal.) About 70 of the hearings at which 

our senior executives testified were related to high-risk areas and programs, which 

we discuss on page 16. The Congress asked our executives to testify in fiscal year 

2009 more than 15 times on homeland security issues; more than 10 times each on 

climate change and Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan; and 8 times on military and 

veterans’ health care and disability benefits. 

Timeliness

To be useful to the Congress, our products must be available when our clients need 

them. We outreach directly to our clients through several means, including the 

use of an electronic feedback form. We use the results of our client feedback form 

as a primary source and barometer for whether we are getting our products to our 

congressional clients when they need the information. In fiscal year 2009, of the 

forms returned to us, 96 percent of the congressional staff responding answered 

the question on timeliness. In fiscal year 2009, we met our timeliness target of 95 

percent (see table 1). 
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

GAO-10-235SP 15

People Measures 

Our highly professional, multidisciplinary, and diverse staff were critical to the level 

of performance we demonstrated in fiscal year 2009. Our ability to hire, develop, 

retain, and lead staff is a key factor to fulfilling our mission of serving the Congress 

and the American people.

In fiscal year 2009, we exceeded all seven of our people measures. These measures 

are directly linked to our goal 4 strategic objective of becoming a professional 

services employer of choice. 

New Hire Rate

Our new hire rate is the ratio of the number of people hired to the number we 

planned to hire. Annually, we develop a workforce plan that takes into account 

strategic goals; projected workload changes; and other changes, such as retirements, 

other attrition, promotions, and skill gaps. The workforce plan for the upcoming 

year specifies the number of planned hires. In fiscal year 2009, our adjusted plan was 

to hire 345 staff. We were able to bring on board 340 staff by year-end, achieving 

a 99 percent new hire rate (see table 1) as a result of an aggressive and structured 

recruitment strategy focused on meeting our current workload demands.

Retention Rate

We continuously strive to make GAO a place where people want to work. Once we 

have made an investment in hiring and training people, we would like them to stay 

with us. This measure is one indicator of whether we are attaining this objective. We 

calculate this measure by taking 100 percent minus the attrition rate, where attrition 

rate is defined as the number of separations divided by the average onboard strength. 

We calculate this measure with and without retirements. We exceeded the 90 

percent target rate for overall retention (with retirements) by 4 percentage points in 

fiscal year 2009. Similarly, for retention without retirements, we exceeded the target 

of 94 percent in fiscal year 2009 by 2 percentage points (see table 1). 

Staff Development and Utilization, Effective Leadership by 

Supervisors, and Organizational Climate

One way that we measure how well we are supporting our staff and providing 

an environment for professional growth and improvement is through our annual 

employee feedback survey. Through the survey, we encourage our staff to indicate 

what they think about our overall operations, work environment, and organizational 

culture and how they rate their immediate supervisors on key aspects of their 

leadership styles. 

In fiscal year 2009 about 74 percent of our employees completed the survey, and we 

exceeded all four targets. The organizational climate measure showed the greatest 

increase among these four measures, exceeding our fiscal year 2009 target by 

4 percentage points and our actual performance last fiscal year by 2 percentage 

points. In fact, our fiscal year 2009 performance on all of these measures was the 

highest since fiscal year 2005 (see table 1).
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

16 GAO-10-235SP

Internal Operations Measures

Our mission and people are supported by our internal administrative services, 

including information management, facility management, knowledge services, 

human capital, financial management, and other services. To assess our performance 

related to how well our internal administrative services help employees get their 

jobs done or improve employees’ quality of work life, we use information from our 

annual customer satisfaction survey to set targets and assess our performance for 

both of these measures. Our internal operations measures are directly related to our 

goal 4 strategic objectives of continuously enhancing our business and management 

processes and becoming a professional services employer of choice. We will report 

the results from our November 2009 survey once the data have been analyzed.

GAO’s High-Risk Program 

Since 1990, our high-risk program has highlighted long-standing challenges facing 

the federal government. Increasingly, the program has focused on those major 

programs and operations that are in urgent need of broad-based transformation 

and congressional as well as executive branch action to ensure that our national 

government functions in the most economical, efficient, and effective manner 

possible. Our latest regular update, released in January 2009, highlights 30 troubled 

areas across government. In July 2009, we added the U.S. Postal Service’s financial 

condition to the list because the service urgently needs to restructure to address 

its current and long-term financial viability. This year we also determined that 

sufficient progress was made to merit removing the high-risk designation from one 

area—the Federal Aviation 

Administration’s air traffic 

control modernization. 

Issued to coincide with 

the start of each new 

Congress, our high-risk 

updates have helped sustain 

attention from members of 

the Congress who are responsible for oversight and from executive branch officials 

who are accountable for performance. Our focus on high-risk problems contributed 

to the Congress enacting a series of governmentwide reforms to address critical 

human capital challenges, strengthen financial management, improve IT practices, 

and instill a more results-oriented government. Overall, our high-risk program 

has served to identify and help resolve serious weaknesses in areas that involve 

substantial resources and provide critical services to the public. 

To learn more about our work on the high-risk areas or to download our January 2009 

high-risk update in full, go to http://www.gao.gov/highrisk/risks/index.php.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program

On October 3, 2008, the Congress assigned GAO important responsibilities in the 

Stabilization Act related to TARP, the $700 billion program designed to help the 

nation deal with its serious financial and economic problems. Our work monitoring 

Our high-risk list work in fiscal year 2009:

 150 reports

 71 testimonies

 $25.7 billion in financial benefits
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

GAO-10-235SP 17

TARP involved examining (1) TARP’s performance in meeting the purposes of the 

act; (2) the program’s financial condition and internal controls; (3) the characteristics 

of both asset purchases and the disposition of assets acquired; (4) the program’s 

efficiency in using the funds appropriated; (5) TARP’s compliance with applicable 

laws and regulations; (6) efforts to prevent, identify, and minimize conflicts of 

interest of those involved in TARP’s operations; and (7) the efficacy of contracting 

procedures. 

We are responsible for submitting reports to the Congress at least every 60 

days regarding findings in these areas, and by the end of fiscal year 2009 we 

had issued over 15 products related to TARP, including 7 60-day reports, 

with over 30 recommendations. We were also given responsibility for auditing 

the annual financial statements of the entity within the Department of the 

Treasury that implements TARP (see http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/featured/

financialmarketsandhousing.html).

The American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009

The $787 billion Recovery Act is intended to address the nation’s most serious 

economic crisis since the Great Depression. The law, passed in February 2009, 

contains 12 mandates for GAO, including requirements to conduct bimonthly 

reviews of how selected states and localities are using Recovery Act funds and to 

issue subsequent reports based on these reviews. We are also required to report 

quarterly on recipient reports on job creation and retention under the act. 

These bimonthly reports are based on our longitudinal study of 16 states and certain 

localities within those jurisdictions as well as the District of Columbia that covers 

about two-thirds of the Recovery Act funds administered by states and localities. 

In these reviews, we made a number of recommendations, primarily to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). In response, OMB has already issued guidance to 

federal agencies and state and local governments on how to track and report on the 

use and impact of Recovery Act funds. By the close of fiscal year 2009, we had issued 

three bimonthly reports and a number of other products.

Because of the high level of public interest in the Recovery Act, we established 

a separate page on our external Web site devoted to our work on Recovery Act 

mandates. For more information on our Recovery Act work, go to http://www.

gao.gov/recovery. Our FraudNet also put out a special call for the public to report 

allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in the use of Recovery Act 

funds (see http://www.gao.gov/press/fraudnet2009mar30.pdf). 

Managing Our Resources

Resources Used to Achieve Our Fiscal Year 2009 

Performance Goals

Our financial statements for fiscal year 2009 received an unqualified opinion from 

an independent auditor, Clifton Gunderson, LLP. The auditor found our internal 

controls to be effective—which means that no material weaknesses were identified—
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

18 GAO-10-235SP

and reported that we substantially complied with the requirements for financial 

systems in FFMIA. In addition, the auditor found no instances of noncompliance 

with the laws or regulations in the areas tested. Table 4 summarizes key data. (To 

see our financial statements and financial statement notes, see part III of our full 

performance and accountability report for fiscal year 2009.)

Table 4: GAO’s Financial Highlights: Resource Information (Dollars in millions)

Fiscal year 2009 Fiscal year 2008

Total budgetary resourcesa $580.6 $519.0

Total outlaysa $539.9 $500.4

Net cost of operations

Goal 1: Well-being and financial 

security of the American people $191.3 $201.2

Goal 2: Changing security threats 

and globalization challenges 168.4 161.1

Goal 3: Transforming the federal 

government’s role 177.1 150.6

Goal 4: Maximizing the value of 

GAO 27.7 22.6

Less reimbursable services not 

attributable to goals (5.7) (5.9)

Total net cost of operationsa $558.8 $529.6

Actual full-time equivalents (FTEs) 3,204 3,081

Source: GAO.

a

The net cost of operations figures include nonbudgetary items, such as imputed pension and depreciation costs, which are not included in 

the figures for total budgetary resources or total outlays.

We focus most of our financial activity on the execution of our congressionally 

approved budget with most of our resources devoted to the human capital needed 

for our mission. In fiscal year 2009, our budgetary resources included new 

appropriations of $556 million, which included $25 million available through 

September 2010, as provided by the Recovery Act. In fiscal year 2009, we hired 

74 re-employed annuitants and other staff under temporary appointments to 

supplement existing staff conducting the reviews and to meet the bimonthly 

reporting requirements under the Recovery Act at a cost of $4.2 million for 

staffing and related travel for the 6-month period ending September 30, 2009. 

Approximately $20.8 million remains available to continue these efforts in fiscal 

year 2010. 

Overall, our net costs of operations increased by $29 million in fiscal year 2009, 

primarily because of increases in salaries and benefits. Expenses for salaries and 

related benefits accounted for 79 and 78 percent of our net cost of operations in fiscal 

years 2009 and 2008, respectively. The increase in operating costs reflects, in part, a 

combination of new hires for TARP and Recovery Act work and a lower agencywide 
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

GAO-10-235SP 19

attrition rate in fiscal year 2009. 

Figure 6 shows how our fiscal 

year 2009 costs break down by 

category.

We report net cost of operations 

according to our four strategic 

goals, consistent with our 

strategic plan. All four of our 

strategic goals show sizable 

shifts in costs in fiscal year 2009. 

The change in costs for goals 1, 

2, and 3 can be explained largely 

by our efforts on both TARP and 

the Recovery Act efforts begun 

this fiscal year. As a result of 

these efforts, experienced personnel resources were diverted from our goal 1 (Wellbeing and financial security of the American people) efforts, which shows a net cost 

decrease, to assist in goal 2 (Changing security threats and globalization challenges) 

and goal 3 (Transforming the federal government’s role). These personnel, in 

addition to the new hires previously discussed, contributed to the increases seen in 

both goals 2 and 3, which include TARP and Recovery Act efforts. The increase in 

net costs of goal 4 (Maximizing the value of GAO) reflects new technology-related 

projects, including developing our enterprise architecture, improving engagement 

system support, and beginning the process of modernizing our human capital 

information systems.

Our total assets were $136 million, consisting mostly of property and equipment and 

funds with the U.S. Treasury. Total liabilities of $111 million were composed largely 

of employees’ accrued annual leave, amounts owed to other government agencies, 

workers’ compensation, and employees’ salaries and benefits. 

Financial Systems and Internal Controls

We recognize the importance of strong financial systems and internal controls to 

ensure our accountability, integrity, and reliability. To achieve a high level of quality, 

management maintains a quality control program and seeks advice and evaluation 

from both internal and external sources.

We complied with the spirit and intent of Appendix A, OMB Circular A-123, 

Management’s Responsibility for Internal Control, which provides guidance for agencies’ 

assessments of internal control over financial reporting. We performed this 

assessment by identifying, analyzing, and testing internal controls for key business 

processes. Based on the results of the assessment, we have reasonable assurance that 

internal control over financial reporting, as of September 30, 2009, was operating 

effectively and that no material control weaknesses exist in the design or operation of 

the internal controls over financial reporting. 

Figure 6: Use of Fiscal Year 2009 Funds by 

Category

Percentage of total net costs

Building and

hardware maintenance

services

Salaries

and benefits

12.3%

79.0%

Rent (space

and hardware) 2.1%

Depreciation

Other 4.6%

2.0%

Source: GAO.

Source: GAO.
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

20 GAO-10-235SP

GAO’s IG also conducts audits and investigations that are internally focused. The 

IG independently tested our compliance with procedures related to several of 

our performance measures—this is done on a rotating basis. (These actions are 

specifically identified in table 16 beginning on page 79 in our full performance and 

accountability report for fiscal year 2009.) The IG reported no material weaknesses. 

In addition, our Audit Advisory Committee assists the Comptroller General in 

overseeing the effectiveness of our financial reporting and audit processes, internal 

controls over financial operations, and processes that ensure compliance with laws 

and regulations relevant to our financial operations. The committee’s report appears 

in part III of our full performance and accountability report on page 97.

Planned Resources to Achieve Our Fiscal Year 2010 

Performance Goals

For fiscal year 2010, we received an appropriation of $556.8 million—an increase 

of 4.9 percent over fiscal year 2009—and authorization to use $15.2 million in 

offsetting collections, including new authority to seek and retain reimbursements for 

audits of the financial statements of the Internal Revenue Service and the Schedule of 

Federal Debt. 

Our fiscal year 2010 budget will be used to further strengthen our capacity to 

provide timely support to the Congress in confronting the difficult challenges facing 

the nation. We will also continue mandated work required by the Recovery Act and 

TARP. With the $21 million in unobligated balances available from the Recovery 

Act appropriation and $11.3 million in anticipated reimbursements for TARP, GAO’s 

total budget authority in fiscal year 2010 is $604.4 million. Table 5 provides an 

overview of our staffing FTE and monetary resources by strategic goal. 

Table 5: Fiscal Year 2010 Budgetary Resources by Strategic Goal

Strategic goal FTEs

Amount

(dollars in 

millions)

Goal 1: Well-being and financial 

security of the American people 1,103 $195.1

Goal 2: Changing security threats and 

globalization challenges 1,053 186.2

Goal 3: Transforming the federal 

government’s role 1,147 202.8

Goal 4: Maximizing the value of GAO 115 20.3

Total 3,418 $604.4

Source: GAO.

Our fiscal year 2010 budget supports our strategic goals—including work related to 

the nation’s financial and housing market crisis as well as other emerging issues—by 

allowing us to increase our staff capacity to meet congressional demands, address 

human capital challenges and components, and continue progress on planned IT 

improvements that will enhance the productivity and effectiveness of our staff. 
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

GAO-10-235SP 21

Internal Management Challenges and 

Mitigating External Factors That Could 

Affect Our Performance

At GAO, management challenges are identified by the Comptroller General, the 

Executive Committee, and the agency’s senior executives through the agency’s 

strategic planning, management, and budgeting processes. Each year, we ask our IG 

to examine management’s assessment of the challenges and the agency’s progress in 

addressing them. 

For fiscal year 2009, we continued to address three management challenges—

physical security, information security, and human capital. We anticipate that we 

will continue to need to address all three challenges in future years because they are 

evolving and will require us to continually identify ways to adapt and improve. 

Physical Security Challenge

To strengthen our ability to protect our people and our assets, we must constantly 

assess our physical security profile and continuity of operations programs vis-à-vis 

the domestic and international climate. During fiscal year 2009, we 

■ strengthened our continuity of operations program by documenting policy 

and program requirements, and further developed a number of new continuity 

components, including a command and control team, an evacuation/shelter in 

place team, and an IT contingency team to handle IT failures;

■ examined the effectiveness of recent improvements implemented to address 

vulnerabilities identified through an independent security assessment and 

developed recommendations for future enhancements;

■ strengthened our emergency readiness in headquarters through continuing 

training, exercises, and drills;

■ began upgrading electronic security systems in our field offices and conducted 

an assessment for integrating field office electronic security systems into 

headquarters’ system; and

■ initiated security reviews on employees whose investigations are over 15 years old 

to meet Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 requirements.

Information Security Challenge

Given the constantly evolving nature of threats to information and information 

system assets, information security will continue to be a management challenge 

for us and all government and private sector entities in the foreseeable future. 

Our overall goal is to ensure that information protection requirements extend 

across the life cycle of documentation from data collection, report production, data 

transmission, and storage to the eventual archiving and disposal of data. In fiscal 

year 2009, we 
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

22 GAO-10-235SP

■ conducted security inspections at headquarters and field offices to identify and 

address information security trends and weaknesses and inform our security 

education and awareness programs;

■ increased our change management and configuration management capabilities by 

automating the monitoring of systems for unauthorized internal changes;

■ upgraded our network monitoring capability to better detect unauthorized 

intrusions (i.e., external threats) and monitor changes in our information system 

assets; and 

■ deployed secure desktop configurations, including encryption, to protect data on 

our laptop computers and other mobile media, such as USB flash drives. 

Human Capital Challenge

We depend on a talented and diverse, high-performing, knowledge-based workforce 

to accomplish our work and carry out our mission in support of the Congress. At 

the same time, the federal government faces new and complex challenges in the 21st 

century. To enable us to meet these challenges, we continue to build on our previous 

human capital management efforts, identifying and implementing improvements and 

pursuing new initiatives to promote and maintain a work environment that is fair, 

unbiased, and inclusive, as well as one that offers opportunities for all employees to 

realize their full potential. 

During fiscal year 2009, we

■ completed or initiated most actions in our 2008 Workforce Diversity Plan, such 

as expanding our one-to-one mentoring program, issuing an Equal Employment 

Opportunity statement, establishing a Special Assistant for Diversity Issues to the 

Acting Comptroller General, providing sexual harassment workshops, briefing 

managers on our reasonable accommodations process, and holding facilitated 

discussions on race with a majority of our staff; 

■ performed a comprehensive evaluation of our performance appraisal system that 

included analysis of past feedback on the system, interviews, focus groups, an 

agencywide survey, and a review of findings from the 2008 African American 

Performance Assessment Study to address concerns identified by internal 

stakeholders and the Ivy Planning Group, and developed short- and long-term 

recommendations for improvements that are being vetted with stakeholders; 

■ enhanced our leadership training program to help supervisors provide feedback to 

their staff and receive feedback on themselves via a 360-degree feedback tool; and

■ completed an interim Human Capital Strategic Plan that establishes near-term 

areas of concentration, including recruiting a diverse workforce, enhancing 

employee engagement, and leveraging data and technology solutions to improve 

our human capital service delivery. 

For more information about all of our management challenges, see pages 55 to 60 in 

our full performance and accountability report for fiscal year 2009.
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

GAO-10-235SP 23

Mitigating External Factors

Several external factors could affect the achievement of our performance goals, 

including the amount of resources we receive, shifts in the content and volume of 

our work, and national and international developments. Limitations imposed on our 

work by other organizations or limitations on the ability of other federal agencies to 

make the improvements we recommend are additional factors that could affect the 

achievement of our goals.

As the Congress focuses on known challenges facing the nation and responds 

to unforeseen events, the mix of work we are asked to undertake may change, 

necessitating that we modify the resources allocated for some strategic objectives 

and performance goals. 

Congressional demand for our analysis and advice is strong. In fiscal year 2009, 

we received over 900 requests and mandates. The number of new congressional 

mandates, our highest-priority work, increased from 75 in fiscal year 2007 to 131 in 

fiscal year 2009. Moreover, in fiscal year 2009 we devoted almost one-third of our 

audit resources to mandates. 

Federal funding and budget constraints could also affect our ability to serve the 

Congress and meet our performance targets. As we stated previously, almost 80 

percent of our budget is composed of people-related costs, and any serious budget 

situation will have an impact on our staffing and human capital policies and 

practices. 

Another external factor that affects our ability to serve the Congress is the extent 

to which we can obtain access to agency information. This access to information 

plays an essential role in our ability to report in a timely manner on issues of 

importance to the Congress and the American people. While we generally receive 

very good cooperation in response to our requests for information, over time GAO 

has experienced some access issues at certain departments and agencies. We actively 

pursue access issues as they arise and are engaged in discussions and efforts across 

the executive branch to enhance our access to information. Legislation pending 

in the House—the Government Accountability Office Improvement Act of 2009, 

H.R. 2646—would confirm certain aspects of our access rights, refuting agency 

interpretations that restrict GAO’s access in particular circumstances. We appreciate 

the interest of the Congress in helping to ensure that we obtain access to information 

and the efforts by agencies to cooperate with our requests. (A more detailed 

discussion about this issue appears on pages 61 and 62 in our full performance and 

accountability report for fiscal year 2009.)
Summary of GAO’s Performance and Financial Information Fiscal Year 2009

24 GAO-10-235SP

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