Performance Audit of AmeriCorps' Charge Card Program for Fiscal Year 2021

In accordance with the Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act of 2012), AmeriCorps, a Federal grant-making agency, is responsible for establishing and maintaining safeguards and internal controls for its government card program. The government card program is composed of purchase cards used by AmeriCorps personnel to purchase commercial goods and services, and travel cards used for official government travel expenses. In FY 2021, AmeriCorps transitioned its financial operations to a shared service platform offered by the Administrative Resource Center (ARC) within the U.S. Treasury Department, which included changes in the internal controls and roles and responsibilities of AmeriCorps’ Government charge card program. Due to these changes, AmeriCorps Office of Inspector General (OIG) decided to initiate an audit and engaged CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA) to assess AmeriCorps’ government charge card program. Although AmeriCorps has established and maintained internal controls for purchase and travel card programs through its engagement with ARC, its key controls are not operating effectively. The auditors identified deficiencies in AmeriCorps’ ability to verify transaction approvals, allowability of expenses, and training for cardholders because the relevant documents were not appropriately retained. In addition, the auditors found that purchase and travel card accounts were not always closed after employees left AmeriCorps. Effective internal controls over government charge cards are important to mitigate the risk of fraudulent, improper, and illegal transactions. AmeriCorps concurred with 12 of our 15 recommendations to assist it in developing an effective charge card program and plans to incorporate corrective actions. Sections V and VI of the report contain a summary and our auditor’s evaluation of AmeriCorps’ response to our report.