First-Year Implementation of the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act in the Department of Labor

GAO reviewed the Department of Labor's efforts to implement and comply with the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act which establishes a framework for improving the effectiveness of financial managment in federal agencies.

GAO found that Labor has made progress in complying with the requirements of the act. However, some aspects of its internal control and accounting systems evaluation process could be improved. GAO found that Labor's process for developing a Department-wide inventory of assessable units does not ensure coverage of all activities in the vulnerability assessment process because explicit guidelines are not provided on how to develop such an inventory. Furthermore, Labor's Internal Control Policy Board has no mechanism for ensuring that all assessable units are covered, fails to provide adequate guidance, and fails to adequately monitor compliance with their approved plans for conducting assessments. GAO also found that organizational units are not required to follow the department-wide guidelines in performing internal control reviews and fail to follow Office of Management and Budget guidelines. In addition, GAO found that Labor's approach did not result in a comprehensive, structured evaluation of accounting systems compliance. However, the accounting systems generally complied with the principles, standards, and related requirements of the Comptroller General with some variations. GAO made specific proposals to correct these deficiencies, and Labor has indicated that it is taking actions to address the GAO concerns.