Review of the Department of Labor's Accounting System for Recording and Reporting Accounts Receivable from the Public

Gao ID: FGMSD-77-31 August 17, 1977

The accounts receivable recorded in the accounting system approved by the Comptroller General in October 1972 for the Department of Labor were not accurate. As a result, the balance of accounts receivable from the public reported to the Department of the Treasury was inaccurate. Recorded and reported accounts receivable due from the public contained both overstatements and understatements.

As of September 30, 1976, the Department of Labor reported accounts receivable from the public of $3,663,717, which were primarily benefit payments due from employers and overpayments due from recipients. The accounts receivable were understated by a net of $1,729,146 as a result of omissions, errors, and misclassifications. The reported accounts receivable from the public were overstated by $2,161,632 and understated by $3,890,778. The lack of close supervision appeared to be one of the main contributing factors causing these errors.

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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