Financial Audit: House Office of the Sergeant at Arms--Periods Ended
December 31, 1992 and June 30, 1992 (Letter Report, 05/03/94,
GAO/AIMD-94-81).
GAO audited the balance sheets of the appropriated funds administered by
the House Office of the Sergeant at Arms for the periods ended December
31, 1992, and June 30, 1992, and the related statements of operations
and cash flows. The Sergeant at Arms is responsible for three
appropriated funds used for Members' salaries and benefits;
reimbursements to Members for mileage to and from each session of
Congress; and payments to widows, widowers, and heirs of deceased
Members. GAO found that the financial statements were reliable in all
material respects; internal controls reasonably ensured that losses,
noncompliance with law and regulations, and misstatements material to
the financial statements would be prevented or detected; and that there
was not material noncompliance with laws and regulations.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: AIMD-94-81
TITLE: Financial Audit: House Office of the Sergeant at
Arms--Periods Ended December 31, 1992 and June 30, 1992
DATE: 05/03/94
SUBJECT: Auditing standards
Accounting procedures
Financial records
Check disbursement or control
Congressional privileges
Compliance
Financial management systems
Internal controls
Financial statement audits
Civil audits
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Cover
================================================================ COVER
Report to the Speaker and the Sergeant at Arms of the House of
Representatives
May 1994
FINANCIAL AUDIT - HOUSE OFFICE OF
THE SERGEANT AT ARMS--
PERIODS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1992
AND JUNE 30, 1992
GAO/AIMD-94-81
House Sergeant at Arms
Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV
Letter
=============================================================== LETTER
B-114854
May 3, 1994
To the Speaker and the Sergeant at Arms
of the House of Representatives
In accordance with the act of July 26, 1949 (2 U.S.C. 81a), we
audited the balance sheets of the appropriated funds administered by
the Office of the Sergeant at Arms, House of Representatives, as of
December 31, 1992 and June 30, 1992, and the related statements of
operations and cash flows for each of the 6-month periods then ended.
We found
the financial statements were reliable in all material respects;
internal controls in effect on December 31, 1992 and June 30, 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 audit.
OPINION ON FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1
The financial statements and accompanying notes for the appropriated
funds administered by the House Office of Sergeant at Arms present
fairly, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles,
the funds'
assets, liabilities, and government equity;
funding sources and expenditures; and
cash flows.
The financial statements present the result of activities financed
from the appropriated funds administered by the House Office of the
Sergeant at Arms--principally, salaries and benefits of Members of
the House of Representatives. As discussed in note 3, salaries and
expenses of the Office of the Sergeant at Arms and operating
expenses, such as the costs of space, utilities, and equipment are
not included in the financial statements.
Also, as discussed in our prior audit report (GAO/AFMD-93-56, May 26,
1993), the House bank was closed during December 1991. As a result,
the banking activities previously reported as a part of the Sergeant
at Arms operations have ceased and accordingly, are no longer
included in the financial statements.
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 (1) permit
the preparation of financial statements in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles and (2) maintain
accountability for assets.
Those controls in effect on December 31, 1992 and June 30, 1992,
provided reasonable assurance that losses, noncompliance, or
misstatements material to the financial statements would be prevented
or detected.
COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND
REGULATIONS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3
Our 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.
OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND
METHODOLOGY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4
Management is responsible for
preparing semiannual 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 by management;
evaluated the overall presentation of the financial statements;
evaluated and tested relevant internal controls in the following
areas: payroll, cash receipts, cash payments, and financial
reporting; and
tested compliance with selected provisions of
2 U.S.C. 31, 38a, 40, 43, and 43b-1 through 3, which relate to the
amount and disposition of House Members' salaries and travel
reimbursement;
2 U.S.C. 78, 80, 80a, 81b, and 81c, which relate to disbursing
appropriated or trust funds;
Office of Personnel Management regulations on employee benefits and
employer costs; and
Internal Revenue Service regulations on income 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
December 15, 1993.
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.)