Forest Service's Accounting System for Accounts Receivable

Gao ID: FGMSD-77-42 July 11, 1977

The Forest Service's Region 6 system of accounting for accounts receivable, including related billing and collection procedures, was reviewed.

Accounting, billing, and collecting for accounts receivable at Region 6 were, for the most part, effective and accorded with the system approved by the Comptroller General in 1970. However, procedures designed to encourage timely payment by contractors were not followed by all Forest offices in Region 6. Only one of four national forests reviewed followed established procedures and kept late payments to a minimum. The large amount of accounts receivable--$119.7 million in September 1976--illustrates the potential for reducing Government borrowing if bills can be collected more expeditiously.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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