New systems being planned include those at the Education and Agriculture departments and the Health Care Finance Administration. Sean O Keefe, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, said a clean opinion on a financial statement is the first step toward improving financial management and other management controls. There seems to be too much attention just on identifying the failures in financial management, he said. We re great at that. But we re not great at figuring out the solutions.
Financial statements point out material weaknesses which are serious accounting shortfalls.
They help you find where the weaknesses are, App said. Financial management will remain a priority on the administration s management reform agenda, said O Keefe, who served as comptroller of the Defense Department from 1989 to 1992. Until we have sound financial management across the board, we re just putting Band-Aids on problems. Commentary Copyright 2000 Federal Times.