Fundamental Changes Needed To Achieve Shared Support Services for Federal Agencies Overseas

The State Department offers support services, such as security, housing, and motor pools to most Federal agencies overseas on a reimbursable basis. At some posts, service organizations are jointly staffed by the State Department and other agencies. In 1976, the State Department established the Foreign Affairs Administrative Support System (FAAS) which provides for charging other agencies only for the incremental support costs incurred because of their presence overseas.

While the State Department provided some services on a reimbursable basis at the posts GAO visited, many agencies had developed extensive duplicate capabilities. Requiring all agencies to combine administrative capabilities could reduce duplication. However, no requirement exists for agencies to consolidate and, as a result, sharing remains largely voluntary and varies from post to post. The lack of independence of the administrative support function is perceived as a problem by the agencies because the State Department both provides and uses these services. The most commonly duplicated services are motor pools and personnel management systems. At posts located within reasonable proximity of Department of Defense (DOD) activities, GAO found potential for some consolidation of similar administrative functions. The State Department's approach to establishing charges to agencies for administrative support is unacceptable, because it bases charges on estimated rather than actual costs. The problems identified should be considered in the Department's current redesign of its accounting system. The FAAS is complicated and not adequately documented, allocation principles are applied inconsistently from post to post.

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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