Open Recommendations

We recommend that the Peace Corps Office of Management ensures the new processes developed to identify and record leases are adequately communicated to impacted personnel, both in writing and through trainings.

We recommend that the Peace Corps implements the provided FISMA recommendations from the Peace Corps OIG Report on FISMA (IG-25-01-SR) to mature and improve its information security program.

We recommend that the Peace Corps Office of Management establishes a process and procedure for all Peace Corps offices to record property on tracking spreadsheets and provide those spreadsheets to the Office of Management on a monthly basis, until Maximo is fully operational. Follow-up with any offices that are not adequately submitting the information.

We recommend that the Peace Corps Office of Management establishes a plan with milestones and timelines to fully implement Maximo as soon as possible and work with OCFO and the offices to ensure all applicable property data is transferred into the system.

We recommend that the Peace Corps OCFO perform monthly reconciliations of information entered on the property tracking spreadsheets with payable data in Odyssey and research any discrepancies to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the property tracking spreadsheets.

We recommend that the Peace Corps OCFO, once Maximo is operational, perform monthly reconciliations between Maximo and Odyssey and investigate any differences. Coordinate with the Compliance and Risk Office to review the initial reconciliations to ensure it is designed and operating effectively.

Agricultural Research Service Midwest Area Facility Condition and Security

USDA OIG has determined that this recommendation contains sensitive information and will not be publicly released due to privacy concerns.

USDA OIG has determined that this recommendation contains sensitive information and will not be publicly released due to privacy concerns.

USDA OIG has determined that this recommendation contains sensitive information and will not be publicly released due to privacy concerns.

USDA OIG has determined that this recommendation contains sensitive information and will not be publicly released due to privacy concerns.

USDA OIG has determined that this recommendation contains sensitive information and will not be publicly released due to privacy concerns.

Perform an assessment of employee resources in the Office of Financial Management, Planning, and Evaluation, and other relevant financial process areas to ensure an appropriate complement of resources are in place to manage accounting and reporting matters as they arise and through their normal course of business.

Provide training and supervision for personnel on financial management matters that affect the financial statements, including adhering to accounting policies and procedures, as appropriate, performing key internal control functions in support of financial reporting.

Develop desktop manuals to assist personnel in meeting their assigned responsibilities.

Improve the risk assessment process at the financial statement assertion and process level to ensure that CPSC management is appropriately capturing significant changes in the control environment and subsequently responding to those risks.

Implement key monitoring controls over the financial reporting process and develop robust policies and procedures to increase oversight, review, and accountability of accounting events at the process level to ensure the successful implementation of an effective internal control environment.

Improve the communication process between offices within the CPSC to ensure relevant and necessary financial reporting information requirements are communicated timely to achieve financial reporting requirements.

Enhance design, policies, and procedures related to monitoring and oversight of internal controls related to journal entries.

Review the existing roles for both journal entries and the compensating control of journal entry log recordation, and update as appropriate to ensure segregation of duties.

Provide training on the importance of internal control and segregation of duties based on updated policies and procedures.

Document their understanding of the acquisition process and determination of the appropriate recognition date of PP&E in order to update and enhance policies and procedures to align with the requirements of the applicable financial reporting standards.

Design and implement processes and controls in accordance with those updated policies and procedures to ensure PP&E balances are completely and accurately recorded in the general ledger.

Establish recurring communication with the appropriate stakeholders to ensure necessary information is available for analysis.

Design and implement processes and controls for accountable property to ensure accountable property is completely and accurately tracked.