Federal Reports

The Office of Inspector General examined the completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of NASA’s financial and award data as required under the DATA Act.

Our objective was to determine whether the U.S. Postal Service made purchase card transactions that were potentially illegal, improper, or erroneous. We performed this audit in conjunction with a government-wide audit initiated by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, Information Technology Committee, to determine risks associated with government purchase card transactions. The OIG performed this audit with 22 other Inspectors General, generally using the same audit objective, scope, and methodology.

The OIG used data analytics to identify locations with lost or stolen stamp stock shipments. We identified expenses related to lost or stolen stamp stock shipments for the San Juan Stamp Office (SJSO); Fernandez Juncos Station; and Amelia, Bayamon, and Condado Contract Postal Units (CPU) between May 1, 2016, and April 30, 2017. Our objective was to determine whether internal controls over stamp stock shipments were in place and effective at the SJSO; Fernandez Juncos Station; and Amelia, Bayamon, and Condado CPUs.

The objectives of this performance audit were to assess the completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of Fiscal Year 2017, Second Quarter financial and award data submitted for publication on USAspending.gov in accordance with the DATA Act and to assess the Peace Corps’ implementation and use of the Government-wide financial data standards established by the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of the Treasury. While the Peace Corps took steps to implement and use the Government-wide data standards, problems with completeness and accuracy hinder the Peace Corps’ ability to provide reliable data, achieve full transparency to the public, and comply with Federal accountability requirements.

These challenges illustrate the most significant areas the Office of Inspector General (OIG) believes need improvement for the Peace Corps to effectively manage its resources and minimize the potential for fraud, waste, and abuse occurring in its operations. Addressing the issues related to these challenge areas will enable the agency to increase operational efficiencies and improve mission effectiveness.

We found that the Department generally met the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act) reporting requirements for the FY 2017 second quarter. Specifically, we found that the Department had adequate controls over its DATA Act source systems and submission processes to reasonably assure that reported data was accurate, timely, of quality, and complete. We found that the Department’s FY 2017 second quarter summary and award-level data submitted as part of required DATA Act reporting was timely, and generally accurate, of quality, and complete, and that the Department reported the data in accordance with established Government-wide financial data standards. However, we found that the Department’s validation and reconciliation processes did not initially ensure that award-level transactions that should not be included in the submitted and certified data were appropriately excluded. Further, we found that linkages between award-level data in the Department’s systems and the data extracted from external award systems by the Treasury DATA Act Broker were not always complete, and that selected reported data elements were not always consistent with the data contained in the authoritative source system.

This report should not be distributed without the accompanying financial statements on which it is based. To request a copy of the financial statements and report, please contact:Robert J. Moss, Jr., Chief, Trust Fund and Revenue Cycle Management, Defense Health Agency, robert.j.moss.civ@mail.mil