Financial and performance management

" To operate as effectively and efficiently as possible and to make difficult decisions to address the federal government's management and fiscal challenges, Congress, the administration, and federal managers must have ready access to reliable and complete financial and performance information-both for individual federal entities and programs and for government as a whole. GAO is required to annually audit the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government. In addition, GAO is required to periodically report on federal agencies' efforts to increase the use of performance information in government and to take a more crosscutting and integrated perspective on performance. This testimony presents the results of GAO's recent audits and reviews related to (1) the U.S. government's consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2012, and (2) executive branch implementation of key provisions of the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. "