Disappointing Progress in Improving Systems for Resolving Billions in Audit Findings

The Federal Government is losing billions of dollars in unresolved audit findings. A study was made to see if agencies have implemented effective audit resolution systems that meet the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) revised guidelines and GAO and House Committee on Government Operations recommendations.

Although agency systems for resolving audit findings have improved somewhat, the overall progress has been disappointing. An increase in the amount of unresolved findings indicates that the problem is worsening. Of the majority of audit findings examined, officials failed to act promptly or properly to correct problems or improve operations. The audit resolution systems of the agencies reviewed lacked provisions for: (1) maintaining accurate records of findings until final disposition; (2) establishing adequate accounting and collection controls over amounts determined to be due as a result of an audit; (3) elevating disagreements and delays to an independent arbiter; (4) providing complete and accurate reports to management; (5) applying OMB Circular A-73 to all audits; (6) deciding the disposition of audit findings within 6 months and establishing final resolution schedules; (7) ensuring that decisions to reject findings are consistent with laws and regulations; and (8) coordinating corrective action with other affected agencies.

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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