Survey of Accounting Controls of Both the Employment and Training Administration and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management

A survey was made of the accounting controls over revenue and expenditure transactions at accounting stations in the 10 regions of the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management of the Department of Labor.

Potential weaknesses were discovered in the accounting systems of both organizations. In many instances, control procedures which were specified by GAO, and which were included in the systems design approved by the Comptroller General in 1972, were not in use. Weaknesses found at one or more of the regional offices visited were related to controls over collections, accounts receivable, government transportation requests, travel advances, imprest funds, disbursements, and obligations. Three problems adversely affected the controls of the regional offices' financial management activities and required action by the headquarters office: (1) ETA had not implemented procedures to systematically record receivables resulting from audit exceptions; (2) most ETA accounting stations had not been audited within the past 3 years; and (3) Labor had not adequately updated its Fianacial Management Manual, particularly the section on internal controls. Although no formal recommendations were made, it was suggested that the Secretary of Labor take prompt action to correct the deficiencies identified by the survey.