Financial Audit: Congressional Award Foundation's Financial Statements
for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 1994 (Letter Report, 08/11/95,
GAO/AIMD-95-172).

GAO audited the Congressional Award Foundation's financial statements
for the fiscal year ended September 30, 1995, and the related statements
of revenues and expenses and changes in fund balance, and cash flows.
The Foundation was established to promote initiative, achieve, and
excellence among youth in the areas of public service, personal
development, and physical fitness.  GAO found that the financial
statements were reliable in all material respects; that internal control
effectively safeguarded assets from material loss, ensuring compliance
with laws and regulations and ensuring that there were no material
misstatements in the financial statements; and that there was no
reportable noncompliance with laws and regulations.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  AIMD-95-172
     TITLE:  Financial Audit: Congressional Award Foundation's Financial 
             Statements for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30,
             1994
      DATE:  08/11/95
   SUBJECT:  Financial statement audits
             Internal controls
             Compliance
             Financial management
             Financial records
             Budget receipts
             Records management
             Accounting procedures
             Reporting requirements
IDENTIFIER:  Congressional Awards Program
             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Report to the Congress

August 1995

FINANCIAL AUDIT - CONGRESSIONAL
AWARD FOUNDATION'S FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 1994

GAO/AIMD-95-172

Congressional Award Foundation


Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV


Letter
=============================================================== LETTER


B-260964

August 11, 1995

To the President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives

This report presents our opinion on the financial statements of the
Congressional Award Foundation for fiscal year 1994 as well as our
opinion on management's assertions regarding the effectiveness of its
system of internal controls as of September 30, 1994.  This report
also discusses our evaluation of the Foundation's compliance with
laws and regulations for the period ended September 30, 1994.  This
review was required by Public Law 101-525. 

We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional
committees and other interested parties.  Copies will be made
available to others on request. 

Charles A.  Bowsher
Comptroller General
of the United States


Letter
=============================================================== LETTER


B-260964


To the President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives

As required by Public Law 101-525, we audited the Congressional Award
Foundation's statement of financial position as of September 30,
1994, and the related statements of revenues and expenses and changes
in fund balance, and cash flows for the period then ended.  We found

  the financial statements were reliable in all material respects;

  management fairly stated that internal controls in place on
     September 30, 1994, were effective in safeguarding assets from
     material loss, assuring material compliance with laws and
     regulations, and assuring that there were no material
     misstatements in the financial statements; and

  no reportable 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 present fairly, in
conformity with generally accepted accounting principles, the
Foundation's

  assets, liabilities, and fund balance;

  revenues, expenses, and changes in fund balance; and

  cash flows. 


   OPINION ON MANAGEMENT'S
   ASSERTION ABOUT THE
   EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNAL
   CONTROLS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2

We evaluated management's assertion about the effectiveness of its
internal controls 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 to maintain
     accountability for assets. 

Management of the Congressional Award Foundation fairly stated that
those controls in place on September 30, 1994, provided reasonable
assurance that losses, noncompliance, or misstatements material to
the financial statements would be prevented or detected on a timely
basis.  Management made this assertion based on criteria provided in
GAO's Standards for Internal Controls in the Federal Government. 


   COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND
   REGULATIONS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3

Our audit tests for compliance with selected provisions of laws and
regulations disclosed no instances of noncompliance that would be
reportable under generally accepted government auditing standards. 
We do not express an opinion on overall compliance with such
provisions. 


   OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND
   METHODOLOGY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4

Management is responsible for

  preparing annual financial statements in conformity with generally
     accepted accounting principles;

  establishing, maintaining, and assessing the internal control
     structure 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) management's assertion about
the effectiveness of internal controls is fairly stated in all
material respects based upon criteria mentioned above.  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;

  obtained an understanding of the internal control structure related
     to safeguarding assets, compliance with laws and regulations,
     and financial reporting;

  tested relevant internal controls over safeguarding, compliance,
     and financial reporting and evaluated management's assertion
     about the effectiveness of internal controls;

  tested compliance with Public Law 102-457 which requires that the
     Director of the Foundation, in consultation with the Board,
     ensure that appropriate procedures for fiscal control and fund
     accounting are established for the financial operations of the
     Congressional Award Program, and that such operations are
     administered by personnel with expertise in accounting and
     financial management; and

  tested compliance with selected provisions of Public Law 96-114, as
     amended, and federal and state regulations on employee
     withholding and filing requirements for tax-exempt entities. 

We limited our internal control testing to accounting and other
controls necessary to achieve the objectives outlined in our opinion
on management's assertion about the effectiveness of internal
controls.  Because of inherent limitations in any internal control
structure, 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. 

Sincerely yours,

Charles A.  Bowsher
Comptroller General
of the United States

June 16, 1995


FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
=========================================================== Appendix 0

   Statement of Financial Position

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

   Statement of Revenues,
   Expenses, and Changes in Fund
   Balance

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

   Statement of Cash Flows

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

   Notes to the Financial
   Statements

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)



   (See figure in printed
   edition.)



   (See figure in printed
   edition.)



   (See figure in printed
   edition.)