Financial Audit: Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for Fiscal Years 1992
and 1991 (Letter Report, 04/08/94, GAO/AIMD-94-64).
GAO audited the balance sheets of the Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund
for fiscal years 1992 and 1991. The Fund operates restaurants for
Senators, Senate employees, and the public. GAO found that the
financial statements were reliable in all material respects; internal
controls reasonably ensured that losses, noncompliance with laws and
regulations, and misstatements affecting the financial statements would
be prevented or detected; and there was no material noncompliance with
laws and regulations.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: AIMD-94-64
TITLE: Financial Audit: Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund for
Fiscal Years 1992 and 1991
DATE: 04/08/94
SUBJECT: Internal controls
Compliance
Congressional privileges
Dining facilities
Financial records
Financial statement audits
Revolving funds
Auditing standards
Accounting procedures
Civil audits
IDENTIFIER: Senate Restaurant Revolving Fund
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Cover
================================================================ COVER
Report to the Architect of the Capitol
April 1994
FINANCIAL AUDIT - SENATE
RESTAURANTS REVOLVING FUND FOR
FISCAL YEARS 1992 AND 1991
GAO/AIMD-94-64
Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund
Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV
Letter
=============================================================== LETTER
B-114871
April 8, 1994
The Honorable George M. White
Architect of the Capitol
Dear Mr. White:
Pursuant to your request and section 5 of the act of July 6, 1961 (40
U.S.C. 174j-5), we audited the balance sheets of the United States
Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund (the Fund) as of October 3, 1992
and October 5, 1991, and the related statements of operations and
cash flows for the years then ended. We found
the financial statements were reliable in all material respects;
internal controls in effect on October 3, 1992, provided reasonable
assurance that losses, noncompliance with laws and regulations,
and misstatements material to the financial statements would be
prevented or detected; and
no material noncompliance with laws and regulations we tested.
The following sections outline each conclusion in more detail and
discuss the scope of our audits.
OPINION ON FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1
The financial statements and accompanying notes of the Senate
Restaurants Revolving Fund as of October 3, 1992 and October 5, 1991,
present fairly, in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles, the Fund's
assets, liabilities, and government equity;
results of operations; and
cash flows.
As discussed in note 3, the financial statements present the results
of activities financed through the Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund
and are not intended to present the financial position and results of
operations of the Senate Restaurants as a whole. For example, the
financial statements of the Revolving Fund do not include the
restaurants' costs of employing management personnel, which are paid
from funds appropriated to the Architect of the Capitol, nor do the
statements include certain other costs that are furnished without
charge to the Fund and that are not readily determinable, such as
space and utilities.
The Senate Restaurants Revolving Fund itself continued to incur
operating losses in fiscal year 1992. In our fiscal year 1991 audit
report, GAO/AIMD-93-9, dated July 22, 1993, we reported that the Fund
began incurring operating losses in 1987 and, since 1989, has relied
on supplemental funding from the Senate in the form of loans and
appropriated capital transfers to offset these losses and continue to
pay operating expenses. The supplemental funding is discussed
further in note 6. If current operating trends continue, the Fund
will continue to require supplemental funding to support future
operations.
OPINION ON INTERNAL CONTROLS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2
The internal controls we evaluated were those designed to
safeguard assets against loss from unauthorized use or disposition;
assure the execution of transactions in accordance with laws and
regulations; and
properly record, process, and summarize transactions to permit the
preparation of financial statements and maintain accountability
for assets.
Those controls in effect on October 3, 1992, provided reasonable
assurance that losses, noncompliance, or misstatements material to
the financial statements would be prevented or detected. Our report
on the Fund's internal control structure for fiscal year 1991 is
presented in GAO/AIMD-93-9, dated July 22, 1993.
COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND
REGULATIONS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3
Our current audit tests for compliance with selected provisions of
laws and regulations disclosed no material instances of
noncompliance. Also, nothing came to our attention in the course of
our other work to indicate that material noncompliance with such
provisions occurred. Our report on compliance with laws and
regulations for fiscal year 1991 is also presented in GAO/AIMD-93-9,
dated July 22, 1993.
OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND
METHODOLOGY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4
Management is responsible for
preparing annual financial statements in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles,
establishing and maintaining internal controls to provide
reasonable assurance that the internal control objectives
mentioned above are met, and
complying with applicable laws and regulations.
We are responsible for obtaining reasonable assurance about whether
(1) the financial statements are reliable (free of material
misstatement and presented fairly in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles) and (2) relevant internal controls
are in place and operating effectively. We are also responsible for
testing compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations.
In order to fulfill these responsibilities, we
examined, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements;
assessed the accounting principles used and significant estimates
made by management;
evaluated the overall presentation of the financial statements;
evaluated and tested relevant internal controls, including those
over revenues, expenditures (payroll and other), inventory,
treasury, and financial reporting; and
tested compliance with selected provisions of 40 U.S.C. 174j-1
through j-9, Department of Treasury regulations on cash, Office
of Personnel Management regulations on employee benefits and
employer costs, and Internal Revenue Service regulations on
federal income and social security tax withholdings.
We limited our work to accounting and other controls necessary to
achieve the objectives outlined in our opinion on internal controls.
Because of inherent limitations in any system of internal control,
losses, noncompliance, or misstatements may nevertheless occur and
not be detected. We also caution that projecting our evaluation to
future periods is subject to the risk that controls may become
inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the degree of
compliance with controls may deteriorate.
We performed our work in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards. We completed our audit work on
September 22, 1993.
Sincerely yours,
Charles A. Bowsher
Comptroller General
of the United States
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
=========================================================== Appendix 0
Balance Sheets
(See figure in printed
edition.)
Statements of Operations
(See figure in printed
edition.)
Statements of Cash Flows
(See figure in printed
edition.)
Notes to Financial Statements
(See figure in printed
edition.)
(See figure in printed
edition.)
(See figure in printed
edition.)
(See figure in printed
edition.)
(See figure in printed
edition.)