MEMORANDUM
Committee on House Administration
Committee on House Administration
FROM: Steven A. McNamara
Inspector General
DATE: September 8, 2000
SUBJECT: Final Report - Audit Of The Financial Statements For The Year Ended
December 31, 1999 (Report No. 00-HOC-05)
Attached is our final report on the audit of the House of Representatives' (House) consolidating financial statements for the year ended December 31, 1999. The report includes the House's Financial Statements, Notes to the Financial Statements, Supplemental Schedules, Management Report on Internal Controls, and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Response to the 1999 Financial Statement Audit Report. Also included is the Report of Independent Accountants encompassing PricewaterhouseCoopers' opinions on the Financial Statements, Report of Independent Accountants on Compliance with Laws and Regulations, and Report of Independent Accountants on Management’s Assertions About Internal Controls.
In accordance with applicable auditing standards, PricewaterhouseCoopers took into consideration in this report any events, which would have required an adjustment to the House’s Financial Statements, Notes to the Financial Statement, or Supplemental Schedules, up to the issuance date of this report. In addition, the report discloses problems associated with the House's financial management activities and includes recommendations to improve those activities.
Objectives And Scope Of Audit
The objectives of this audit were to assess whether the House's consolidating financial statements present fairly, as of December 31, 1999, the overall financial position, results of operations, and cash flows in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. This report also presents opinions on the House's compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and the fairness of management's assertion on whether the House's internal control structure provides reasonable assurance of achieving generally accepted control objectives. As part of this audit, we followed up on the status of the House’s efforts to implement prior audit recommendations reported for the year ended December 31, 1998.
This audit was part of our 2000 Annual Audit Plan that was approved by the Committee on House Administration on March 8, 2000. We approved the scope of the audit work, monitored its progress at key points, and performed other procedures we deemed necessary. These procedures included the payroll audit work, which was conducted by Office of Inspector General staff, in conjunction with the financial statement audit effort. The audit was conducted in accordance with Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States.
Results Of Audit
The House continued to make progress during the past year in improving its financial management and operations. For the first time, the House was able to use the automated features of the accounting system to successfully “close” its books. The trial balance that was produced as part of this closure served as the foundation for the House to compile its consolidating financial statements. For the second year, PricewaterhouseCoopers expressed an “unqualified opinion” on the House’s financial statements. In addition, this year’s Report of Independent Accountants on Compliance with Laws and Regulations identifies no instances of noncompliance.
The follow-up work performed on the 16 prior recommendations related to six previously issued audit reports. A brief description of each of these reports is provided below. The status of the remaining nine open recommendations is addressed in the Report of Independent Accountants on Management’s Assertions About Internal Controls.
· House Computer Systems Were Vulnerable To Unauthorized Access, Modification, And Destruction (Report No. 95-CAO-18, dated July 18, 1995) identified internal control weaknesses related to the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information and systems. No recommendations remain open.
Recommendations
The Report of Independent Accountants on Management’s Assertions About Internal Controls contains the three remaining internal control weaknesses and the nine remaining open prior recommendations, for which corrective actions are in varying stages of implementation.
Management Response
Office of Inspector General Comments
The actions taken and planned by the CAO are responsive to the issues identified and, when fully implemented, should satisfy the intent of the recommendations. Further, the milestone dates provided for completing actions on the open recommendations appear reasonable.
Attachments
cc: Speaker of the House
Minority Leader of the House
Transmittal Memorandum
Officers and Legislative Offices................................................................................ 33
Chief Administrative Officer..................................................................................... 41
Report of Independent Accountants on Management’s Assertion
About Internal Control............................................................................................... 57
Management Report on Internal Controls
CAO Response to the 1999 Financial Statement Audit Report
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