Financial Audit: House Stationery Revolving Fund for Year Ended 09/30/93
and 3 Months Ended 09/30/92 (Letter Report, 03/30/95, GAO/AIMD-95-32).
GAO audited the House Stationery Revolving Fund for fiscal year 1993 and
for the three months ended September 30, 1992, and the related
statements of operations and cash flows. The House Stationery Revolving
Fund finances the Office Supply Service, which furnishes House Members
and committees with stationery and office supplies. GAO found that the
financial statements were reliable in all material respects; that
internal controls reasonably ensured that losses, noncompliance with
laws and regulations, and misstatements affecting the financial
statements would be prevented or detected; and that there was no
material noncompliance with laws and regulations.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: AIMD-95-32
TITLE: Financial Audit: House Stationery Revolving Fund for Year
Ended 09/30/93 and 3 Months Ended 09/30/92
DATE: 03/30/95
SUBJECT: Financial statement audits
Internal controls
Revolving funds
Legislative bodies
Financial management
Accountability
Accounting procedures
Auditing standards
Financial records
IDENTIFIER: House Stationery Revolving Fund
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Cover
================================================================ COVER
Report to the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of
Representatives
March 1995
FINANCIAL AUDIT - HOUSE STATIONERY
REVOLVING FUND FOR YEAR ENDED
9/30/93 AND 3 MONTHS ENDED 9/30/92
GAO/AIMD-95-32
House Stationery Revolving Fund
(918711)
Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV
Letter
=============================================================== LETTER
B-259567
March 30, 1995
Mr. Scot M. Faulkner
Chief Administrative Officer
House of Representatives
Dear Mr. Faulkner:
As requested by the Acting Director of the former Office of
Non-Legislative and Financial Services, we audited the House of
Representatives Stationery Revolving Fund statements of financial
position for the year ended September 30, 1993, and for the 3 months
ended September 30, 1992, 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;
-- internal controls in effect on September 30, 1993, 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 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 Stationery Revolving Fund and are
not intended to present the financial position and results of
operations of the entire Office Supply Service, which administers the
Revolving Fund. Certain significant identifiable costs, which are
financed by funds appropriated to the Clerk of the House and the
Architect of the Capitol, primarily salaries and employee benefits,
are not included in the financial statements, but are disclosed in
note 3. Also, the statements do not include such costs as space
occupancy and utilities, which are not readily identifiable.
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 to maintain
accountability for assets.
Those controls in effect on September 30, 1993, provided reasonable
assurance that losses, noncompliance, or misstatements material in
relation to the financial statements would be prevented or
detected.\1
--------------------
\1 Our reports on the Fund's internal control structure and
compliance with laws and regulations for 1992 are presented in
GAO/AIMD-94-20, dated November 26, 1993.
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 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 which
encompassed the following areas: treasury, revenues,
expenditures, property (equipment), inventory, and financial
reporting; and
-- tested compliance with selected provisions of 2 U.S.C. 46b-1,
106-110 and with regulations contained in the House of
Representatives edition of the Congressional Handbook, which
required that (1) service charges be properly levied and
recorded on sales identified by Members as being for personal
use and (2) all official purchases be accompanied by
certification.
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
January 4, 1995.
As adopted in the Rules of the House of Representatives for the 104th
Congress, the Office of Inspector General was directed to coordinate
and contract with an independent accounting firm, or firms, for a
series of audits that will result in a consolidated report of the
financial operations of the House, including the House Office Supply
Service. Such a consolidated report should provide valuable
information on the overall results of operations and current
financial position of the U.S. House of Representatives. We
continue to strongly encourage all federal entities to prepare and
have audited comprehensive financial statements as an integral facet
of their financial management program.
Sincerely yours,
Charles A. Bowsher
Comptroller General
of the United States
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
=========================================================== Appendix 0
Statements of Financial
Position
(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.)
*** End of document. ***