Financial Audit: Capitol Preservation Fund's Fiscal Years 1997 and 1996
Financial Statements (Letter Report, 08/31/98, GAO/AIMD-98-263).
Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO audited the Capitol
Preservation Fund's financial statements for fiscal years ended
September 30, 1997 and 1996, focusing on the effectiveness of the Fund's
internal control.
GAO noted that: (1) the financial statements were reliable in all
material respects; (2) there were no material weaknesses in the internal
controls GAO tested; and (3) there was no reportable noncompliance with
selected provisions of laws and regulations GAO tested for the fiscal
year ended September 30, 1997.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: AIMD-98-263
TITLE: Financial Audit: Capitol Preservation Fund's Fiscal Years
1997 and 1996 Financial Statements
DATE: 08/31/98
SUBJECT: Fund audits
Accounting procedures
Legislative bodies
Financial statement audits
Reporting requirements
Internal controls
Funds management
Auditing standards
IDENTIFIER: Capitol Preservation Fund
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Cover
================================================================ COVER
Report to the Congress
August 1998
FINANCIAL AUDIT - CAPITOL
PRESERVATION FUND'S FISCAL YEARS
1997 AND 1996 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
GAO/AIMD-98-263
Capitol Preservation Fund
(917741)
Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV
Letter
=============================================================== LETTER
B-279145
August 31, 1998
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
Capitol Preservation Fund for the fiscal years ended September 30,
1997 and 1996. It also discusses our (1) consideration of internal
controls in conducting our audit and (2) evaluation of compliance
with laws and regulations, noncompliance with which might have had a
material effect on the financial statements during fiscal year 1997.
We conducted our audit pursuant to 40 U.S.C. 188a-3 and in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
We are sending copies of this report to all members of the Capitol
Preservation Commission, the Architect of the Capitol, the Librarian
of Congress, and other interested parties. Copies will be made
available to others upon request. This report was prepared under the
direction of Robert W. Gramling, Director, Corporate Audits and
Standards, who may be reached at (202) 512-9406 if you or your staffs
have any questions.
James F. Hinchman
Acting Comptroller General
of the United States
Letter
=============================================================== LETTER
B-279145
To the President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives
We have audited the statements of financial position of the Capitol
Preservation Fund as of September 30, 1997 and 1996, and the related
statements of activities and statements of cash flows for the fiscal
years then ended. We found
-- the financial statements were reliable in all material respects,
-- no material weaknesses in the internal controls we tested, and
-- no reportable noncompliance with selected provisions of laws and
regulations we tested for the fiscal year ended September 30,
1997.
The following sections provide additional detail concerning our
conclusions and the scope of our audit.
OPINION ON FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1
The financial statements and accompanying notes present fairly, in
all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles, the Capitol Preservation Fund's financial
position as of September 30, 1997 and 1996, and the results of its
activities and its cash flows for the fiscal years then ended.
CONSIDERATION OF INTERNAL
CONTROLS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2
We gained an understanding of internal controls designed to
-- safeguard assets against loss from unauthorized acquisition,
use, or disposition;
-- assure the execution of transactions in accordance with
management's authority and with laws and regulations that could
have a direct and material effect on the financial statements;
and
-- properly record, process, and summarize transactions to permit
the preparation of reliable financial statements and to maintain
accountability over assets.
The objective of our internal control work was to determine
procedures for auditing the financial statements, not to express an
opinion on internal controls. Accordingly, we do not express such an
opinion. However, for the controls we tested, we found no material
weaknesses in internal control and its operations for the fiscal year
ended September 30, 1997. A material weakness is a reportable
condition\1 in which the design or operation of the internal controls
does not reduce to a relatively low level the risk that losses,
noncompliance, or misstatements in amounts that would be material in
relation to the financial statements may occur and not be detected
promptly by employees in the normal course of their assigned duties.
Our internal control work would not necessarily disclose all material
weaknesses.
--------------------
\1 Reportable conditions involve matters coming to the auditor's
attention relating to significant deficiencies in the design or
operation of internal controls that, in the auditor's judgment, could
adversely affect an entity's ability to (1) safeguard assets against
loss from unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition, (2) ensure
the execution of transactions in accordance with management's
authority and with laws and regulations, and (3) properly record,
process, and summarize transactions to permit the preparation of
financial statements and to maintain accountability for assets.
COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND
REGULATIONS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3
Our 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.
However, the objective of our audit was not to provide an opinion on
overall compliance with laws and regulations. Accordingly, we do not
express such an opinion.
OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND
METHODOLOGY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4
The Fund's management is responsible for
-- preparing the Fund's annual financial statements in conformity
with generally accepted accounting principles,
-- establishing and maintaining the Fund's 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
the financial statements are free of material misstatements and
presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with
generally accepted accounting principles. Also, we are responsible
for obtaining a sufficient understanding of internal controls to plan
the audit and for testing compliance with selected provisions of laws
and regulations.
In order to fulfill these responsibilities, we
-- examined evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the
financial statements and notes;
-- assessed the accounting principles used by management;
-- evaluated the overall presentation of the financial statements;
-- obtained an understanding of the internal controls related to
safeguarding assets, compliance with laws and regulations, and
financial reporting; and
-- tested compliance with selected provisions of laws and
regulations.
We conducted our audit from May 6, 1998, through August 6, 1998, in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COMMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :5
We provided a draft of our report to the Director of Financial
Services for the Library of Congress for review and comment. The
Library of Congress provides financial management services for the
Capitol Preservation Fund including preparing the Fund's financial
statements. The Director agreed with the contents of our report.
Robert W. Gramling
Director, Corporate Audits
and Standards
August 6, 1998
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
=========================================================== Appendix 0
Statements of Financial
Position
(See figure in printed
edition.)
Statements of Activities
(See figure in printed
edition.)
Statements 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.)
*** End of document. ***