Open Recommendations

The Railroad Retirement Board's Office of Administration should develop, implement, and document the necessary standard operating procedures to establish an effective control environment. along with the end-to-end business processes and quality assurance process to ensure these undelivered orders are supported with underlying source documentation with the intent to verify the agency is Antideficiency Act compliant.

The Railroad Retirement Board's Office of Administration should assess the training necessary to ensure established policy and procedures for records management are communicated and effectively implemented to comply with the Antideficiency Act.

Design and implement controls to ensure the population used in the review and follow-up of nonreporting loan status reports or loan status reports with errors is complete and accurate.

Determine enforceable actions and controls to hold lenders accountable for submitting loan status reports timely and correctly.

Assess the sufficiency of implemented controls to monitor incomplete or inaccurate PPP lender loan status reports on an ongoing basis, including the identification and resolution of the root causes of reporting noncompliance.

Design and implement an automated system control to accurately reduce the outstanding principal balance after the processing of all forgiveness payments.

Perform a thorough review of the outstanding PPP loan guarantees and determine the impact on the outstanding guarantee and eligibility for forgiveness of loans determined to not be in conformance with the related legislation and program’s terms.

Design, implement, and document an effective PPP forgiveness review process for loan guarantees that were forgiven that addresses both the eligibility and the accuracy of the loan approval and forgiveness amounts.

Design and implement an effective funds recovery plan to ensure PPP funds disbursed on behalf of ineligible recipients are recovered and reported accurately in a timely manner. The plan should include an effective process to provide the information necessary to the Office of Performance, Planning, and the Chief Financial Officer to record any required accounting adjustments.

Perform a thorough and complete analysis of all requirements communicated to lenders for the PPP program and determine how to evaluate whether lenders met the requirements prior to disbursing a PPP loan. The analysis should include evidence to support the adequacy of SBA’s review process when determining which purchase requests will require additional review.

Develop and implement an effective process to review purchase requests for outstanding PPP loan guarantees and for loans that have already been purchased that addresses whether the lender met their requirements in accordance with the program requirements.

Develop and implement an effective funds recovery plan to ensure funds related to PPP purchases disbursed to ineligible recipients are recovered and reported accurately in a timely manner. The plan should include an effective process to provide the information necessary to the Office of Performance, Planning, and the Chief Financial Officer to record any required accounting adjustments.

Perform and update the program’s internal control risk assessment to identify changes to risks that may require the design and implementation of effective monitoring controls over the review of the COVID-19 EIDLs portfolio.

Design and implement an effective funds recovery plan to ensure COVID-19 EIDLs funds disbursed to ineligible recipients are recovered and reported accurately and in a timely manner. The plan should include an effective process to provide the information necessary to the Office of Planning, Performance, and the Chief Financial Officer to record any required accounting adjustments.

Reevaluate the appropriateness and update SBA’s existing policies and procedures to ensure they are supported by quality information stemming from effective control activities. This includes assessing the recoverability of COVID-19 EIDLs prior to charge-off. Perform a regular review of implemented policies to ensure they are responding to relevant risks.

Perform and update the program’s internal control assessment to identify changes to risks that may require the design and implementation of effective monitoring controls and review processes of RRF awards to identify recipients that may not have been eligible to receive awards or that may have spent awards on ineligible expenses in accordance with the program’s terms.

Design and implement effective follow-up procedures for RRF award recipients that are not complying with the program’s terms and to ensure complete, accurate, and timely reporting for the use of the award.

Design and implement an effective funds recovery plan and controls to ensure RRF awards disbursed to ineligible recipients or spent on ineligible expenses are recovered and reported accurately and in a timely manner. In conjunction with the Office of Planning, Performance, and the Chief Financial Officer, design and implement an effective process to provide the information necessary to record any required accounting adjustments.

Perform and update the program’s internal control assessment to identify changes to risks that may require the design and implementation of effective monitoring controls and review processes of SVOG awards to identify recipients that may not have been eligible to receive awards or that may have spent awards on ineligible expenses in accordance with the program’s terms.

Design and implement effective follow-up procedures for SVOG award recipients that are not complying with the program’s terms and to ensure complete, accurate, and timely reporting for the use of the award.

Design and implement an effective funds recovery plan and controls to ensure SVOG awards disbursed to ineligible recipients or spent on ineligible expenses are recovered and reported accurately and in a timely manner. In conjunction with the Office of Planning, Performance, and the Chief Financial Officer, design and implement an effective process to provide the information necessary to record any required accounting adjustments.

Develop and document the policies and procedures for the recovery of funds, the accounts receivable, and the allowance for estimated uncollectible amounts related to the programs created or expanded by the CARES Act and related legislation.

Document the current state of accounting policies and procedures for the recovery of funds, including the respective accounting entries for all applicable scenarios (e.g., fraud related, ineligibility) for COVID-19 EIDLs and PPP loans that have been charged-off or forgiven.

Inquire with standard setting bodies to confirm the appropriate accounting treatment throughout each step of the recovery lifecycle for COVID-19 EIDLs and the PPP loans that have been charged-off or forgiven. Memorialize the response by updating management’s documented policies and procedures including the respective accounting entries under generally accepted accounting principles for all applicable scenarios.

Design and implement effective controls and communication processes to timely obtain the information necessary from program offices to record any required accounting adjustments for programs created or expanded by the CARES Act and related legislation.