Travel Expenses Reimbursed Within 50 Miles of Official Station

We audited the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) travel expenses reimbursed within 50 miles of an official station to determine if they complied with Federal Travel Regulation and TVA policies and procedures. Our audit scope included approximately $500,000 of travel expenses within 50 miles of a TVA employee's official duty station occurring from October 1, 2018, through March 26, 2020. We found that (1) TVA’s approval process did not ensure expenses for travel within 50 miles of an official station complied with TVA’s travel policy, (2) TVA does not have documented procedures to ensure flat-rate-travel reimbursements are being verified appropriately or reimbursed properly, (3) TVA’s human resources system had incorrect official stations shown for 25 of 74 employees included in our samples, and (4) TVA’s travel policy provides limited guidance addressing the assignment and review of official stations. We made four recommendations to TVA management to strengthen controls around travel expenses reimbursed within 50 miles of an official station. TVA management provided actions they plan to take to address each of our recommendations.