Management Letter

Improvements Needed in IRS' Accounting Procedures and Internal Controls Gao ID: GAO-01-880R July 30, 2001

In March 2001, GAO issued a report (GAO-01-394) on the results of its audit of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) financial statements and on the effectiveness of its internal controls for fiscal year 2000. This report reviews additional matters identified during GAO's fiscal year 2000 audit regarding accounting procedures and internal controls that could be improved. GAO found that IRS had immaterial internal control issues that affected reporting. IRS (1) was unable to determine if its costs for reimbursable activities were accurate and whether it was recouping the costs of the goods or services it provided, (2) lacked procedures to properly record its working capital fund prepaid expenses, (3) accepted information from its contractors for inclusion in its year-end financial reporting without sufficient oversight or review, and (4) did not always follow standard procedures with respect to the transfer of funds between appropriations.

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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