Internal Controls for the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Purchase Card Program Need Improvement

We analyzed U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) transaction data for the first 6 months of fiscal year 2017 to determine whether (1) the DOI or its bureaus made transactions that were illegal, improper, or erroneous and (2) the existing internal controls detected and prevented illegal, improper, or erroneous transactions. We conducted this audit as part of a Governmentwide initiative by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to examine risks associated with U.S. Government purchase card transactions.During the timeframe audited, 20,293 DOI employees had a purchase card, and they made 488,504 transactions that totaled approximately $166 million. We reviewed a sample of 100 high-risk transactions (for example, those with third-party vendors, sales tax, or split purchases), totaling $41,557 and identified the following weaknesses in internal controls:• Required documentation and reviews/approvals were missing.• Separation of duties was not ensured.• There is no DOI policy for purchases made through third-party vendors.• Cardholder accounts had missing or incorrect purchase limits.• State and local tax exemptions were not enforced.While our assessment involved a small sample of the total universe of DOI purchase card transactions, our findings highlight issues that may be applicable across the DOI’s purchase card policies and practices.We made five recommendations to help the DOI and its bureaus improve the oversight of its purchase card program. Based on the Office of Acquisition and Property Management’s response to our draft report, we consider four recommendations unresolved and one recommendation resolved but not implemented.