Catalogue of GAO and Inspectors General Reports on Contracting	 
Issues for Fiscal Years 1997 through 2002 (31-MAR-03,		 
GAO-03-504SP).							 
                                                                 
The federal government spent more than $230 billion through	 
contracts with private industry in fiscal year 2001. Ten	 
Executive Branch agencies account for almost 95 percent of this  
spending. Past reviews by Executive Branch agency inspectors	 
general, military-department audit agencies, and the General	 
Accounting Office (GAO) have created an extensive body of reports
on the procedures and practices that federal agencies use to	 
plan, award, and administer contracts. These reviews identified  
weaknesses in the contracting processes of individual agencies	 
and contracting challenges these agencies have in common.	 
Consequently, to facilitate literate searches of the reports	 
concerning federal contracting matters, we compiled a catalogue  
of information from reports and testimonies by the 10 agencies'  
inspectors general, military department audit agencies, and GAO. 
Such a catalogue could be useful to the oversight community and  
others in determing (1) common contracting issues identified	 
across multiple agencies and (2) the potential contracting-risk  
areas and gaps in contracting oversight across these agencies.	 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-03-504SP					        
    ACCNO:   A07555						        
  TITLE:     Catalogue of GAO and Inspectors General Reports on       
Contracting Issues for Fiscal Years 1997 through 2002		 
     DATE:   03/31/2003 
  SUBJECT:   Contract administration				 
	     Contract terms					 
	     Federal agencies					 
	     Inspectors general 				 
	     Federal procurement				 

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GAO-03-504SP

GAO- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports United
States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548

March 31, 2003 Subject: Catalogue of GAO and Inspectors General Reports on
Contracting Issues for Fiscal Years 1997 through 2002

Dear User: The federal government spent more than $230 billion through
contracts with private industry in fiscal year 2001. Ten Executive Branch
agencies 1 account for almost 95 percent of this spending. Past reviews by
Executive Branch agency inspectors general, military- department audit
agencies, 2 and the General Accounting Office (GAO) have created an
extensive body of reports on the procedures and practices that federal
agencies use to plan, award, and administer contracts. These reviews
identified weaknesses in the contracting processes of individual agencies
3 and contracting challenges faced by these agencies. To our knowledge,

however, there is no comprehensive listing of these reviews that can be
used to identify the contracting weaknesses and challenges these agencies
have in common. Consequently, to facilitate literature searches of the
reports concerning federal contracting matters, we compiled a catalogue of
information from reports and testimonies by the 10 agencies* inspectors
general, military department audit agencies, and GAO. Such a catalogue
could be useful to the oversight community and others in determining (1)
common contracting issues identified across multiple agencies and (2) the
potential contracting- risk areas and gaps in contracting oversight across
these agencies.

This catalogue contains information about contracting matters identified
in reports and testimonies issued during fiscal years 1997 through 2002.
Each catalogue record includes the agency that conducted the audit or
review; the audited agency; audit report number, title, and date issued; a
summary of the reported contracting issues; and the contracting processes
or functions identified as weaknesses. Users of the catalogue can conduct
a search by any of these items. The catalogue includes a brief summary of
each report*s findings. In most

1 The Executive Branch agencies include the Departments of Agriculture,
Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Justice, Transportation,
Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; the General Services Administration; and
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 2 These are the Army
and Air Force Audit Agencies and the Naval Audit Service.

3 Contracting is the purchasing, renting, leasing, or otherwise obtaining
supplies or services from nonfederal sources. The contracting process
includes planning the contracting action; describing the required supplies
and services; identifying, soliciting and selecting sources of supplies
and services; preparing and awarding contracts; all phases of contract
administration; and closing out the contract.

GA0- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 2

cases, an electronic copy of the full report or testimony can be obtained
from the reporting agency*s Web site, or a hard copy document can be
obtained from the reporting agency. This catalogue is intended to
facilitate searches of reports. Users of the catalogue should follow up
with the agencies to determine what actions they took to address the
findings and recommendations.

The catalogue is available in two formats: (1) an Access* database and (2)
a data extract text file. We also included (1) a list of agency Web sites
where users can obtain copies of complete reports identified in the
catalogue, (2) a glossary of contracting terms used to categorize the
contracting issues identified in the reports, and (3) a tip sheet on
conducting simple Access* searches of the catalogue.

Scope and Methodology To identify reports and testimonies concerning
contracting matters issued during fiscal years 1997 through 2002, we
identified, obtained, and reviewed reports and testimonies from the Web
sites of agency inspectors general, military department audit agencies,
and GAO as well as agency- provided lists. We did not include reports that
dealt with grants, cooperative agreements, or interagency agreements
because these are not considered contracts and the Federal Acquisition
Regulation does not govern these relationships. We also did not include
pre- award and post award reviews of individual contracts or other reports
with restricted distribution based on proprietary content. We also did not
include reports restricted because of national security reasons.

Information on these reports is contained in a table, or catalogue. For
each report, we captured key information (such as audited agency and
report number), summarized the report*s findings, and categorized the
report by various contracting terms or issues to facilitate catalogue
searches. A panel of GAO contracting- matter specialists compiled a list
of contracting terms used to categorize the reported contracting issues.
These terms were validated by inspector general and audit agency officials
and defined in a glossary. 4 Officials

from each inspector general*s office and audit agency reviewed our
catalogue entries to validate them for completeness, accuracy, and
appropriateness of the contracting terms we used to facilitate data
searches. We incorporated the changes they suggested.

We conducted our research between May 2002 and January 2003. Because this
effort was not an audit of government organizations or programs, this
effort was not required to be conducted in accordance with generally
accepted government auditing standards. We are sending electronic versions
of this catalogue to the inspectors general of the

Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services,
Justice, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; the General
Services Administration; and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration as well as the directors for the Army and Air Force Audit
Agencies, and the Naval Audit Service. This report will also be available
at no charge on GAO*s home page at http:// www. gao. gov/ special. pubs/
d03504sp/ . 4 The panel developed the glossary based on 1) the panel
members* knowledge and experience with contract related issues and (2)
definitions contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

GAO- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 3

Questions regarding this catalogue can be directed to me at (202) 512-
8214, or Hilary Sullivan at (214) 777- 5652. Major contributors to this
product were Frederick Day, Timothy DiNapoli, Jack Edwards, Michael Gorin,
Gordon Lusby, Gary Middleton, Monty Peters, Pauline Reaves, Sylvia Schatz,
Christina Sklarew, Tanisha Stewart, Bradley Terry, and Ralph White.

William T. Woods Director Acquisition and Sourcing Management

GA0- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 4

LIST OF AGENCY OR INSPECTOR GENERAL WEBSITES Agency Website Department of
Agriculture www. usda. gov/ oig Department of Defense www. dodig. osd. mil
Department of Energy www. ig. doe. gov Department of Health and Human
Services www. oig. hhs. gov Department of Justice www. usdoj. gov/ oig
Department of Transportation www. oig. dot. gov Department of Treasury
www. ustreas. gov/ offices/ inspector- general Department of Treasury for
Tax Administration www. treas. gov/ tigta Department of Veterans Affairs
www. va. gov/ oig General Services Administration 5 www. gsa. gov National
Aeronautics and Space Administration www. hq. nasa. gov Air Force Audit
Agency www. afaa. hq. af. mil Army Audit Agency www. hqda. army. mil/
aaaweb Naval Audit Service www. hq. navy. mil/ navalaudit General
Accounting Office www. gao. gov 5 GSA Inspector General reports generally
are not available on the website and must be ordered in hard copy.

GAO- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 5

GLOSSARY OF THE CONTRACTING TERMS USED IN THE CATALOGUE The purpose of
this glossary is to provide definitions of the terms we used to categorize
the contracting issues identified in reports included in the catalogue. We
used the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) as our source of choice
whenever possible to provide the definitions, but used other sources when
we could not find a term defined in the FAR. The definitions are not
intended to be all- inclusive or legally precise; they are intended to
provide a usable, general definition to assist users in searching the
catalogue. We have grouped these terms into various categories, for
example, contract planning, contract type, and contract administration.

Users can search the catalogue using the terms in this glossary that are
identified in bold (e. g.

requirements) and using the type of information contained in each
catalogue record, such as the name of the agency that was audited or the
audit report*s number or title. Each catalogue record includes the agency
that conducted the audit; the audited agency; audit report number,

title, and date issued; a summary of the reported contracting issues; and
the contracting processes or functions identified as weaknesses. In
addition, users can perform a word search of the audit report title and
the findings summary. The catalogue includes reports that address issues
related to contracting* the purchasing, renting, leasing, or otherwise
obtaining supplies or services from nonfederal sources. The contracting
functions include planning the contracting action; describing the required
supplies and services; identifying, soliciting, and selecting sources of
supplies and services; preparing and awarding contracts; all phases of
contract administration; and closing out the contract. Contracting does
not include awarding grants or cooperative agreements.

CONTRACT PLANNING Requirements are the agency*s identified needs for
personnel, equipment, facilities, other resources, or services, and of
definite or indefinite quantities, during specific periods of time or at a
specified time. In addition to specified performance requirements,
contract requirements include those defined in the statement of work;
specifications, standards, and related documents; the contract data
requirements list; or contract terms and conditions.

Socioeconomic programs are programs implemented through the procurement
process to foster the achievement of national social or economic goals.
The government uses its purchasing power as a means of promoting goals and
policies such as fostering small businesses or providing contracting
opportunities for those with disabilities.

Cost estimate is a judgment or opinion regarding the cost of a commodity
or service. A cost estimate is included in an offeror*s proposal and is
based on the offeror*s estimate of the cost for the work to be performed,
specifying the expected cost required to perform a stipulated task or to
produce an item. A cost estimate may consist of a single value or a range
of values.

GA0- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 6

Acquisition planning is the process of coordinating and integrating,
through development of a plan, all of the steps required for the
government to meet its needs in a timely fashion at a reasonable cost. The
plan must address all the technical, business, management, and other

significant considerations that control the acquisition.

Market research means collecting and analyzing information about
capabilities within the market to satisfy agency needs. It involves a
process for gathering data on products* characteristics as well as
suppliers* capabilities and business practices, including the analysis of
that data to make acquisition decisions. Market research has two phases:
market surveillance* all the activities that acquisition personnel perform
continuously to keep themselves abreast of technology and product
developments in their areas of expertise-- and market investigation* a
phase of market research conducted in response to a specific need.

CONTRACT TYPES Fixed- price contracts provide for a firm price set at the
time of award, although in appropriate cases, such prices may later be
subject to adjustment. Fixed- price contracts providing for an adjustable
price may include a ceiling price, a target price (including target cost),
or both. Unless otherwise specified in the contract, the ceiling price or
target price is

subject to adjustment only by operation of contract clauses providing for
equitable adjustment or other revision of the contract price under stated
circumstances. Types of fixed- price contracts include firm- fixed- price,
fixed- price with economic price adjustment, and fixed- price incentive
contracts.

Cost reimbursement is a type of contract where the government agrees to
reimburse the contractor its allowable incurred costs to the extent
permitted. This type of contract establishes an estimate of total cost for
the purpose of obligation of funds and establishes a

ceiling that the contract may not exceed (except at the contractor*s own
risk) without prior approval or subsequent ratification by the contracting
officer. Cost- reimbursement contracts are suitable for use when
uncertainties involved in contract performance do not permit costs to be
estimated with sufficient accuracy to use any type of fixed- price
contract. Types of cost reimbursement contracts include cost (no fee),
cost- sharing, and a variety of cost- plusfee

contracts.

Indefinite delivery contracts include three types: definite- quantity,
requirements, and indefinite- quantity contracts, any of which might be
appropriate when the exact times or quantities of deliveries are unknown
when the contract is awarded. A definite- quantity contract provides for
delivery of a definite quantity of specific supplies or services, with

deliveries to be scheduled upon order. A requirements contract provides
for filling all actual purchase requirements of designated government
activities for supplies or services during a specified contract period,
with deliveries or performance to be scheduled by placing orders with the
contractor. An indefinite- quantity contract provides for an indefinite
quantity, within stated limits, of supplies or services to be delivered
during a fixed period. Requirements contracts and indefinite- quantity
contracts are also known as indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity (ID/
IQ) contracts. These contracts do not specify a firm quantity of supplies
or

services (other than a minimum or maximum quantity) and provide for the
issuance of orders for the delivery of supplies or the performance of
tasks during the period of the contract. Examples of ID/ IQ contracts
include:

GAO- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 7

Government- wide acquisition contract (GWAC) is a contract for information
technology established by an agency designated as an executive agent by
the Office of Management and Budget for use by agencies government- wide.

Multi- agency contract is a contract established by one agency for use by
multiple government agencies to obtain supplies and services consistent
with the requirements of the Economy Act.

Multiple award contract is a contract awarded to two or more sources for
the same or similar supplies or services under a single solicitation.
Orders placed under such contracts must clearly specify all the tasks to
be performed or supplies to be delivered. In addition, agencies placing
orders must ensure that each awardee is afforded a fair opportunity to be
considered for orders exceeding $2,500.

Time- and- materials is a type of contract that provides for acquiring
supplies or services on the basis of

direct labor hours at specified fixed hourly rates that include wages,
overhead, general and administrative expenses, and profit, and

materials at cost, including, if appropriate, material handling costs as
part of material costs. Time- and- materials contracts require the
execution of a determination and finding that no other contract type is
suitable and that the contract includes a ceiling price that the
contractor cannot exceed except at his own risk.

CONTRACTING METHODS Share- in- savings describes a contracting approach,
authorized by the Clinger- Cohen Act for use in information technology
procurements, where a contractor funds a project up front in return for a
percentage of the savings actually realized by the contracting agency.

Performance- based contracting is a means of structuring all aspects of an
acquisition around the purpose of the work to be performed, with the
contract*s requirements set forth in clear, specific, and objective terms
with measurable outcomes, as opposed to specifying the manner by which the
work is to be performed.

Blanket purchase agreement (BPA) is a simplified method of filling
anticipated repetitive needs for supplies or services by establishing
*charge accounts* with qualified sources of supply. BPAs may be
established under the following conditions: Purchases may be from a wide
variety of items in a broad class of supplies or

services, but the exact items, quantities, and delivery requirements are
not known in advance and may vary considerably.

There is a need to provide commercial sources of supply for one or more
offices or projects in a given area that do not have authority to purchase
otherwise.

The use of this procedure would avoid the writing of numerous purchase
orders.

There is no existing requirements contract for the same supply or service
that the contracting activity is required to use.

GA0- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 8

General Service Administration (GSA) schedules, or Federal Supply
Schedules, are indefinite- delivery contracts that GSA negotiates with
commercial firms to provide supplies and services at stated prices for
given periods of time. Customers (federal agencies) place orders directly
with the schedule contractors.

CONTRACT SOLICITATION, NEGOTIATION, AND AWARD Competition is an
acquisition strategy where more than one contractor is sought to bid on a
service or function; the winner is selected on the basis of criteria
announced in the solicitation. The Competition in Contracting Act of 1984
(P. L. 98- 369) requires full and open competition for most government
contracts.

Cost analysis is the review and evaluation of the separate costs and
profit in a contractor*s proposal. The purpose of the review is to
determine the accuracy and reasonableness of the proposed costs, assuming
reasonable economy and efficiency, and the proposed profit.

Price analysis is the process of examining and evaluating a proposed price
without evaluating its separate cost components or proposed profit.

Price negotiation is the process of negotiating a contract*s price with
the objective to achieve a fair and reasonable contract price.

Request for proposal (RFP) is a solicitation used in a negotiated
acquisition to communicate government requirements to prospective
contractors and to solicit proposals intended to result in a contract
award. The RFP contains the anticipated terms and conditions of the
prospective contract.

Request for quotation (RFQ) is used in federal contracting to obtain
information (e. g. price, delivery information) from prospective
suppliers. An RFQ is similar to an RFP but solicits information rather
than offers and is not intended to result in a contract award.

Source selection is the process of selecting a contractor in a competitive
procurement and typically involves the assessment of contractor proposals
and evaluating such factors as price, product or service quality, and past
performance.

CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION Contract oversight is the monitoring of the
contractor*s performance by reviewing progress reports, making visits to
the contractor, inspecting deliverables, comparing progress with delivery
schedules and cost objectives, and advising the contracting officer of
suspected problems with contract performance. Contract oversight starts
when the contract is awarded and continues until the contract is closed
out.

Cost performance report (CPR) is a primary means that a contractor uses to
report cost and schedule performance and trends to the procuring agency.

Financial management includes the supervision or administration of
payments to the contractor and financing issues such as obtaining the
funds necessary for performance of the contract.

GAO- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 9

Fee administration is the administration or management of the amount paid
to a contractor beyond allowable costs under a cost- reimbursable
contract. The term *fee* is only used in the cost- reimbursement
environment and is used to describe the contractor*s profit. The term
*profit* is used in the fixed- price environment. A contractor*s fee may
be set as a contract award (as in cost- plus- fixed- fee contracts) or may
be allowed to fluctuate within a preestablished range in order to
incentivize the contractor (as in cost- plus- incentive- fee contracts, or
cost- plus- award- fee contracts). Subcontracting refers to a contractor*s
purchase of supplies or services from another nongovernmental

source for use in the performance of a prime contract or another
subcontract.

Contract closeout is the term used to describe the final settling of
outstanding contractual issues to ensure that both the government and the
contractor have completed their obligations. The term also includes the
final documenting of the contract file to indicate completion of the work.
A contract is complete when (1) the contractor has completed the required
deliveries or performed the required services and the government has
accepted them, or (2) the government has given the contractor notice of
complete contract termination.

FUNCTIONAL MANAGEMENT Acquisition workforce is the personnel component of
the acquisition system responsible for acquiring goods and services;
however, the definition of the acquisition workforce is not consistent
among federal agencies. In DOD, it is generally defined as those people,
including contracting professionals, program managers, engineers,
scientists, and logisticians who are

responsible for managing various facets of acquisitions from the earliest
phases of basic research to the logistical support of systems. In civil
agencies, it is generally defined as contracting professionals.
Information technology support includes all activities that ensure an
information

technology system meets its operational mission and supports the
contracting mission. "Information technology" includes computers,
ancillary equipment, software, firmware, services (including support
services), and related resources used to support the contracting mission
by providing the appropriate data and data accuracy needed to perform the

contracting function.

Policy/ guidance/ processes includes agency regulations, instructions, or
directives that govern how government acquisitions are carried out and
contracting activities are performed. Funds management is the management
of obligations against funds appropriated by the

Congress and apportioned to specific activities, programs, or projects.
The purpose of funds management is to prevent obligations in excess of the
funds made available in the appropriation as required by the Anti-
deficiency Act. SPECIAL TOPICS Illegal activities are actions that do not
comply with laws and regulations.

GA0- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 10

Commercial items include any item, other than real property, that is
customarily used by the general public or nongovernmental entities for
other than governmental purposes and that has been sold, leased, or
licensed to the general public; or has been offered for sale, lease, or
license to the general public.

E- commerce means electronic techniques for accomplishing business
transactions including electronic mail or messaging, World Wide Web
technology, electronic bulletin boards, electronic funds transfers, and
electronic data interchange.

Intellectual property includes inventions, patents, trademarks,
copyrights, trade secrets, technical information including software, data
designs, technical know- how, manufacturing information and know- how,
techniques, technical data packages, and manufacturing data packages.

Competitive sourcing is a process used to determine if it would be more
advantageous and cost- effective to obtain services using agency personnel
or through a contract with the private sector.

Prime vendor is a support concept whereby a single contractor serves as
commercial distributor/ supplier of products to various federal customers
within a geographical region or zone. The prime vendor concept was
initiated to reduce inventories and improve customer

satisfaction.

Purchase cards are similar in nature to a commercial credit card and are
issued to authorized agency personnel for use at commercial establishments
to acquire and pay for supplies and services.

GAO- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 11

Tips for Searching Catalogue of IG Contracting Reports 1. When you open
the IG contracting reports file, a contracting reports form will appear.
Please note: that you will actually be looking at a table of information
in a form format for easy reading. There are 934 records in this table.
Each record represents an individual IG report containing contracting
information

2. At the top of the form slightly to the right of the middle of the tool
bar you will see three funnels. Place your cursor over the center funnel;
this is the *Filter by Form* button (it will look like a funnel with a
square attached to it). Click on this funnel, and you will get a blank
form.

3. Once in the *Filter by Form* you will see the following: 4. Filtering
to find the records you want. You can then place your cursor in

any field (e. g., Who Did The Audit?, Report Summary, Title, Date, etc.),
depending on the information you desire. Some fields will have drop down

Clear Grid (Red X)

Click to clear all criteria prior to starting a filter

Clear Grid (Red X)

Click to clear all criteria prior to starting a filter Filter by Form
Filter by Form

GA0- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 12
menus identifying specific information. For example, in the *Who Did The

Audit?* field, you can click on the drop down menu and see all the
agencies that have contracting information in this searchable form.

5. Once you*ve identified the field you want to find information in (by
clicking in it), then go to your tool bar and click on the funnel (it is
the only one on the tool bar at this point and will be next to the right
of the red *X*.) Click on this to apply filter and the appropriate
information you are looking for will be

identified by the number of records containing the information you want at
the bottom of the form on the left hand side. The text will read, *Look
for Record_________ of 297 (filtered),* for example.

*Apply Filter* *Apply Filter* Click *Drop Down* Button

Select an Agency you want Click *drop down* button and select the agency
want Click *Drop Down* Button Select an Agency youyou want Click *drop
down* button and select the agency you want

Number of records that met the criteria Can scroll through and look at all
records meeting the criteria

Number of records that met the criteria Can scroll through and look at all
records meeting the criteria

Number of records that met the criteria Can scroll through and look at all
records meeting the criteria

GAO- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 13 6.
Let*s do some examples:

a. How many Department of Defense (DOD) contracting reports are available
in this table?

Click on funnel *Filter by Form.* Place your cursor in the *Who Did The
Audit?* field. Click on the drop down menu. Highlight *Defense IG.* Go to
your tool bar at the top, click on apply filter funnel (as explained in
step 5). All records meeting these criteria will now be displayed

in the form view. You will notice on the very bottom left side of the
form, the text for *number of records* will read as 297. This means there
are 297 DOD IG contract records (reports). (See previous example.)

b. Now suppose you want to find out how many of these DOD contracting
reports deal with contract requirements. You already know that there are a
total 297 DOD reports on contracting issues from our first search. To
narrow the search to just those reports in DOD that deal with contract
requirement issues, click on the *filter by form funnel* (as explained in
step 2). Then look at the bottom of the

form on the left hand side under *Contract Planning* and click in the box
for *Requirements.* Then click on the *Apply Filter* button on the tool
bar (as explained in step 5). Now you will notice at the bottom of the
form that there are 69 records that meet your criteria and all records
meeting these criteria are now displayed in the form

view. Click to add additional criteria, contract planning *Requirements*,
then click *Apply Filter* Click to add additional criteria, contract
planning *Requirements*, then click *Apply Filter* - Re- click *Filter by
Form* to add more criteria - Re- click *Filter by Form* to add more
criteria

GA0- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 14

c. You are able to find additional information continuously by adding
whatever criteria you desire, clicking on the *Filter by Form,* and then
clicking on the *Applying Filter.* For example, if you now want to find
out how many DOD records contain source selection information in addition
to contract requirements information, you would click on the *Filter by
Form* then click in the box for *Source Selection* (Look for this under
the

*Contract Solicitation, Negotiation, and Award* heading). Then click on

*apply filter* button. You will then see that there are four records that
meet these criteria (look at the bottom left hand side of the screen where
you will see record_______ of 4 (filtered). You can add as much
information as you like to your search. If you decide that you want to
start a new search click on *filter by form* and then click on the red *X*
to clear the grid.

Criteria entered on *Look For* tab are *and* criteria

Defense IG and

Requirements

and

Source Selection Criteria entered

on *Look For* tab are *and* criteria

Defense IG and

Requirements

and

Source Selection Number of records meeting additional criteria Can scroll
through and look at records

Number of records meeting additional criteria Can scroll through and look
at records

GAO- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 15 7.
To remove the filter and return to the original form with all records,
click on the funnel (after in a filtered form, the funnel changes to
*Remove Filter*).

After filter is applied, funnel changes to *Remove Filter* After filter is
applied,

funnel changes to *Remove Filter*

GA0- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 16 8.
All criteria entered on one *Filter by Form* page will result in all
reports that

meet all the criteria you have indicated. You can also build searches with
*or* criteria. For example, let*s say you now want to find out if there
are also Army Audit Agency contracting reports that contain both contract
requirements information and source selection information. You would once
again click on *Filter by Form* then look at the bottom of the form on the
left side for two tabs labeled *look for* and *or.* Click on the *or* tab.

Then click on the drop down menu in the *Who Did The Audit?* field;
highlight Army Audit Agency. Then, click on requirements and source
selection. Click on *Apply Filter.* Your Army Audit Agency criteria are
now added to your previous criteria for DOD, which was retained in the
*Filter by Form.* You can keep adding criteria with the *or* tab. The
following search will result in six reports (four for DOD IG and two for
Army Audit Agency).

9. You can search for individual words or phrases in various fields
containing text (e. g., Report Title or Report Summary) using the *Filter
by Form* and

*Apply Filter.* Please note that before starting any new searches you
should clear previous searches as described in the last sentence of step
6.c. In the Report Summary, for example, let*s say you want to identify
every

report (out of 934) that contains the phrase *service contract.* You will
note there is a field entitled *Report Summary.* This field provides a
short summary of information about every report listed. Therefore, you
would want to search in this field for the phrase *service contract.* You
would first click on the *Filter by Form* funnel on the tool bar (as
explained in step 2). Then click in the *Report Summary* field. Type in
*service contract*. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE * AT THE BEGINNING AND THE END
OF

Click on *Or* tab. Add additional Criteria. This filter will find all
records meeting the following: Defense IG

And

Requirements

And

Source Selection Army Audit Agency

And

Requirements

And

Source Selection

OR

Click on *Or* tab. Add additional Criteria. This filter will find all
records meeting the following: Defense IG

And

Requirements

And

Source Selection Army Audit Agency

And

Requirements

And

Source Selection

OR

GAO- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 17

YOUR PHRASE. By putting the asterisk at the end of the word *contract* you
will get both *service contract* and *service contracts.* Putting the
asterisk after the word *contracts* will only get the plural *service
contracts.* Click on Apply Filter and then at the bottom of the form (as
explained in step 5) you

will notice that there are 24 reports with information on *service
contract.* Please note that these 24 reports are not necessarily all
*service

contract* reports in the table, but represent only those with the phrase
*service contract* in the report summary. 10. Now suppose you want to find
out if there are any Department of Transportation (DOT) contracting
reports (audited agency) that contain the phrase *service contract* in the
report summary. You already have criteria on service contract; you now
just want to narrow your search to DOT. Click on *Filter by Form* (you
will notice that the previous criteria on service contract

is still retained in the Report Summary field). Click on the *Audited
Agency* field, highlight *Department of Transportation* and click on
*Apply Filter.* You will then notice a blank screen. This indicates that
there are no DOT reports that have the phrase *service contract* in the
Report Summary field. Enter words or phrase to search for. Enter words or
phrase to search for. Enter words o r p h rase an d other criteria Enter
words o r p h rase an d other criteria

GA0- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 18 11.
Now let*s say you want to search for all reports between a specific
starting

date and ending date. Start by clicking on *Filter by Form,* and then
place your cursor in the *Date Issued* field. Let*s say you want to
identify all contracting reports for all agencies in the table for 1998.
Type the following in the date field: between 01/ 01/ 1998 and 12/ 31/
1998, then click on *Apply

Filter* and look at the bottom of the form on the left hand side (as
explained in step 5). You will see that there are 162 records that meet
these criteria. You can expand this search (as explained in the first
sentence in step 6. c).

Blank screen indicates no records meeting criteria Blank screen indicates
no records meeting criteria

Enter Date Criteria Enter date criteria Enter Date Criteria Enter date
criteria

GAO- 03- 504SP GAO and Inspectors General Contracting Reports Page 19 12.
Now let*s do a variation of step 11. Suppose you want to find all reports

issued after 12/ 31/ 1997. You would clear the filter (as explained in the
last sentence of step 6. c) and then follow what you did in step 11 only
this time when you click in the *Date Issued* field you would type the
following:

>12/ 31/ 1997. You will notice at the bottom of the form on the left hand
side (as explained in the last sentence of step 5) that there are 745
records that meet this criterion. As was previously mentioned, you could
expand criteria on this particular search (as explained in the first
sentence step 6. c.) Enter Date Criteria Enter date criteria Enter Date
Criteria Enter date criteria
*** End of document. ***