As NASA sets course for the moon and Mars, the space
agency's finances are in disarray, with significant errors in its last
financial statements and inadequate documentation for $565 billion
posted to its accounts, its former auditor reported.
[...]
"The documentation NASA provided in support of its September 30, 2003,
financial statements was not adequate to support $565 billion in
adjustments to various financial statement accounts," the auditor wrote
in a Jan. 20 report to Cobb, NASA's inspector general. It also noted
"significant errors" in financial statements provided by NASA. That big
number -- $565 billion, with a "B" -- was the result of posting
problems, new software and a "massive cleanup" of 12 years of NASA's
financial records, said Patrick Ciganer, NASA's chief for integrated
financial management.