Financial Audit: Senate Photographic Studio Revolving Fund Financial
Statements for the Periods Ended 9/30/93 and 3/31/93 (Letter Report,
08/15/95, GAO/AIMD-95-175).
GAO audited the financial statements of the Senate Photographic Studio
Revolving Fund for the six months ended September 30, 1993, and for the
fiscal year ended March 31, 1993. GAO found that the financial
statements were reliable in all material respects; that internal
controls effectively safeguarded assets from material loss, ensuring
material 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-95-175
TITLE: Financial Audit: Senate Photographic Studio Revolving Fund
Financial Statements for the Periods Ended 9/30/93
and 3/31/93
DATE: 08/15/95
SUBJECT: Revolving funds
Funds management
Financial records
Internal controls
Accountability
Fund audits
Compliance
Financial statement audits
IDENTIFIER: Senate Recording and Photographic Studios Revolving Fund
**************************************************************************
* This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a GAO *
* report. Delineations within the text indicating chapter titles, *
* headings, and bullets are preserved. Major divisions and subdivisions *
* of the text, such as Chapters, Sections, and Appendixes, are *
* identified by double and single lines. The numbers on the right end *
* of these lines indicate the position of each of the subsections in the *
* document outline. These numbers do NOT correspond with the page *
* numbers of the printed product. *
* *
* No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although figure *
* captions are reproduced. Tables are included, but may not resemble *
* those in the printed version. *
* *
* A printed copy of this report may be obtained from the GAO Document *
* Distribution Facility by calling (202) 512-6000, by faxing your *
* request to (301) 258-4066, or by writing to P.O. Box 6015, *
* Gaithersburg, MD 20884-6015. We are unable to accept electronic orders *
* for printed documents at this time. *
**************************************************************************
Cover
================================================================ COVER
Report to the Sergeant at Arms, U.S. Senate
August 1995
FINANCIAL AUDIT - SENATE
PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO REVOLVING FUND
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE
PERIODS ENDED 9/30/93 AND 3/31/93
GAO/AIMD-95-175
Senate Photographic Studio
Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV
Letter
=============================================================== LETTER
B-260272
August 15, 1995
The Honorable Howard O. Greene, Jr.
Sergeant at Arms
United States Senate
Dear Mr. Greene:
This report presents our opinion on the financial statements of the
Senate Photographic Studio Revolving Fund for the 6 months ended
September 30, 1993 and the fiscal year ended March 31, 1993, as well
as our opinion on management's assertions regarding the effectiveness
of its system of internal controls as of September 30, 1993 and March
31, 1993. This report also discusses our evaluation of the Studio's
compliance with laws and regulations for the periods ended September
30, 1993 and March 31, 1993.
We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional
committees and other interested parties. Copies will be made
available to others on request.
Sincerely yours,
Charles A. Bowsher
Comptroller General
of the United States
Letter
=============================================================== LETTER
B-260272
The Honorable Howard O. Greene, Jr.
Sergeant at Arms
United States Senate
Dear Mr. Greene:
As your predecessor requested, we audited the accompanying balance
sheets of the Senate Photographic Studio Revolving Fund as of
September 30, 1993, and March 31, 1993, and the related statements of
operations and cash flows for the periods then ended. We found
the financial statements were reliable in all material respects;
management fairly stated that internal controls in place on
September 30, 1993, and on March 31, 1993, 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 for
the periods ended September 30, 1993 and March 31, 1993.
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 Fund's
assets, liabilities, and government equity;
revenues and expenses; and
cash flows.
As discussed in note 3, the financial statements present the results
of activities financed through the Senate Photographic Studio
Revolving Fund, and are not intended to represent the financial
position and results of operations of the Senate Photographic Studio
as a whole. Other readily identifiable costs, such as employee
salaries and benefits, amounting to nearly $370,000 in the 6 months
ended September 30, 1993 and to nearly $755,000 in the fiscal year
ended March 31, 1993, which are financed by other appropriated funds,
are not included in the financial statements. These costs are
disclosed in note 3. Also, the statements do not include such costs
as space and utilities, which are not readily identifiable.
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.
The Studio's management fairly stated that those controls in place on
September 30, 1993, and on March 31, 1993, provided reasonable
assurance that losses, noncompliance, or misstatements material to
the financial statements would be prevented or detected in a timely
manner. 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
Studio 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 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 on 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; and
tested compliance with selected provisions of 2 U.S.C. 123b and
123b-1 and the Department of the Treasury's regulations on cash.
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 6, 1995
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.)