More Stringent Revenue Sharing Act Requirements are Upgrading State and Local Governments' Audits

摘要

The amended Revenue Sharing Act and the Office of Revenue Sharing's quality control efforts are benefiting State and local governments by requiring State audit agencies and public accounting firms to upgrade their auditing standards. Some governments will receive their first independent audits while others are taking steps to improve their financial accounting systems. Due to the time required to revamp their audit operations, some State agencies with substandard audit practices will not be able to complete acceptable audits in a timely manner. GAO therefore recommends that the Congress amend the Revenue Sharing Act to provide waivers to governments audited by these State audit agencies. GAO also recommends that the Secretary of the Treasury take steps to improve the Office of Revenue Sharing's statistical control system for the 11,000 audits required by the Act.