AmeriCorps submits quarterly grant and procurement award data for publication on USASpending.gov as required by the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Department of Treasury (Treasury) established standards for Federal agencies to use 59 data elements in reporting its financial and award information. Periodically, the AmeriCorps Office Inspector General (OIG) audits the agency’s spending data to assess its completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and quality, as well as its adherence to the government-wide data standards. AmeriCorps’ grant and procurement spending data for the first quarter of FY 2021 ranks at the lower end of the moderate level for quality, scoring 72.63 out of a possible 100 points based on metrics established by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. The moderate score stems from the fact that the data submissions were not entirely complete, accurate, or timely. Also, AmeriCorps did not consistently use the prescribed financial data standards. These deficiencies occurred due material deficiencies in AmeriCorps’ internal control over the design, implementation, and operating effectiveness of DATA Act reporting. In addition, issues arose from AmeriCorps’ transition to a shared services provider for its financial management and reporting services. AmeriCorps is still working to resolve them. We recommended that AmeriCorps develop a plan to correct outstanding accounting and processing issues related to the transition to shared services and update its DATA Act Business Process Guide to ensure that the agency uses standardized data elements across its business processes, systems, and applications. In addition, we recommended that AmeriCorps maintain adequate documentation to support its contracts and grants awards; implement controls to require vendors to register upon receiving an award on SAM.gov; and implement effective internal control over the financial reporting process for DATA Act submissions. AmeriCorps’ management did not respond to the individual findings and recommendations but stated that management plans to review them and issue a formal management decision as to each.
Open Recommendations
| Recommendation Number | Significant Recommendation | Recommended Questioned Costs | Recommended Funds for Better Use | Additional Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Develop and implement a plan of corrective actions to promptly address outstanding accounting and processing issues related to the transition to ARC. These issues include capturing all Federal Award Identification Numbers from Momentum in Oracle to ensure completeness of all data transferred; correcting invalid object class and program activity codes; and reconciling and validating balances between the old accounting system and the new accounting system | |||||
| 2 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Update the DATA Act Business Process Guide to include documenting the data inventory/mapping for Files A, B, C, D1 and D2 to ensure that standardized data elements and OMB and Treasury definitions per the DATA Act Information Model Schema (DAIMS) are used across AmeriCorps business processes, systems, and applications; identify the appropriate source systems where the data resides; and identify gaps. | |||||
| 3 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Work with ARC to ensure correct and complete Object Class and Program Activity codes are programmed in the source systems in accordance with OMB A-11, Section 83. | |||||
| 4 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Establish and implement processes to reconcile and maintain adequate documentation of the reconciliation of the data file linkages. In addition, the processes should include performing monthly completeness, accuracy, and timeliness tests of the data elements using the Inspector General Guide as an internal control monitoring system. | |||||
| 5 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Establish and comply with a timeliness standard for resolving DATA Broker warnings addressing data quality issues. Detailed corrective actions with milestones, deadlines, and responsible staff should be established. | |||||
| 6 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Establish and implement effective internal control to ensure that adequate documentation is maintained and is readily available to support procurement contracts and financial assistance awards (grants). | |||||
| 7 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Establish and implement controls to require that awardees (financial and procurement) register in SAM at the time of award. | |||||
| 8 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
| Develop, document, and implement a process to ensure that de-obligations of grants with canceled funds are reported to Financial Assistance Broker System (FABS), when they occur and not when they are administratively closed-out. | |||||
