Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: House Interparliamentary Groups 
(03-FEB-05, GAO-05-236R).					 
                                                                 
GAO agreed to assist Congress in evaluating the extent to which  
the Schedules of Receipts, Disbursements, and Fund Balance for	 
five Interparliamentary Groups appropriately reflect the actual  
cash receipts and disbursements and related fund balances for the
years ended December 31, 2002, and 2001. These five groups were  
the Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Group, Canada-United 
States Interparliamentary Group, Transatlantic Legislators'	 
Dialogue, United States Group of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly,
and British-American Parliamentary Group. Congress asked us to	 
(1) compare recorded receipts to appropriation requests, bank	 
statements, and other supporting documentation; (2) compare	 
recorded disbursements to vouchers, canceled checks, and other	 
supporting documentation; and (3) recalculate and compare fund	 
balance with amounts recorded in the general journal and Schedule
of Receipts, Disbursements, and Fund Balance for 2002 and 2001.  
We were not engaged to perform, and did not perform, an 	 
examination, the objective of which would have been to express an
opinion on the amounts reported on the schedules. Accordingly, we
do not express such an opinion. Had we performed additional	 
procedures, other matters might have come to our attention that  
we would have reported them.					 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-05-236R					        
    ACCNO:   A16817						        
  TITLE:     Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: House Interparliamentary
Groups								 
     DATE:   02/03/2005 
  SUBJECT:   Audit reports					 
	     Auditing procedures				 
	     Auditing standards 				 
	     Check disbursement or control			 
	     Financial analysis 				 
	     Financial statement audits 			 
	     Financial statements				 
	     Funds management					 
	     Accounting procedures				 
	     Accounting standards				 
	     Financial records					 

******************************************************************
** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a  **
** GAO 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.               **
**                                                              **
** Please see the PDF (Portable Document Format) file, when     **
** available, for a complete electronic file of the printed     **
** document's contents.                                         **
**                                                              **
******************************************************************
GAO-05-236R

United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548

February 3, 2005

The Honorable Henry J. Hyde
Chairman
Committee on International Relations
House of Representatives

Subject: Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: House Interparliamentary Groups

Dear Mr. Chairman:

We have performed the procedures contained in enclosure I to this letter,
which we agreed to perform and with which you concurred, solely to assist
you in evaluating the extent to which the Schedules of Receipts,
Disbursements, and Fund Balance for five Interparliamentary Groups
appropriately reflect the actual cash receipts and disbursements and
related fund balances for the years ended December 31, 2002, and 2001.
These five groups are:

o  Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Group,

o  Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group,

o  Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue,

o  United States Group of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and

o  British-American Parliamentary Group.

As agreed with your staff, we applied these procedures to the activity
reflected in the 2002 and 2001 schedules prepared by each Group.

In performing the agreed-upon procedures, we conducted our work in
accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards,
which incorporate financial audit and attestation standards established by
the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These standards
also provide guidance when performing and reporting the results of
agreed-upon procedures.

You are responsible for the adequacy of the procedures to meet your
objectives and we make no representation in that respect. The procedures
we agreed to perform for each Group include (1) comparing recorded
receipts to appropriation requests, bank statements, and other supporting
documentation; (2) comparing recorded disbursements to vouchers, canceled
checks, and other supporting documentation;

                  GAO-05-236R House Interparliamentary Groups

and (3) recalculating and comparing fund balance with amounts recorded in
the general journal and Schedule of Receipts, Disbursements, and Fund
Balance for 2002 and 2001. Enclosure I contains the agreed-upon procedures
and the results of our work.

We were not engaged to perform, and did not perform, an examination, the
objective of which would have been to express an opinion on the amounts
reported on the schedules. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion.
Had we performed additional procedures, other matters might have come to
our attention that we would have reported to you. We completed our
agreed-upon procedures on December 9, 2004.

We provided a draft of this report to your staff for review and comment.
They agreed with the results and findings presented in this report.

This report is intended solely for the use of the House Committee on
International Relations and should not be used by those who have not
agreed to the procedures or have not taken responsibility for the
sufficiency of the procedures for their purposes. However, this report is
a matter of public record and its distribution is not limited. Copies are
available upon request. This report is also available at no charge on
GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov.

If you have any questions please call me at (202) 512-9521, or Julie
Phillips, Assistant
Director at (202) 512-5121.

Sincerely yours,

Steven J. Sebastian
Director
Financial Management and Assurance

Enclosures

               Page 2 GAO-05-236R House Interparliamentary Groups

Enclosure I

             House Interparliamentary Groups Procedures and Results

I. Receipts procedures

A. EURCompare the amount of the appropriation recorded in the general
journal for each Group for calendar years 2002 and 2001 to evidence of the
amount of the appropriation requested and related deposits recorded on the
bank statements.

Results

For each Group, the annual appropriation recorded in the general journal
for 2002 and 2001 agreed to the appropriation requested and the bank
statements.

B. EURCompare the interest recorded in the general journal for each Group
as received for calendar years 2002 and 2001 to the interest credited on
the Group's 2002 and 2001 bank statements.

Results

For each Group, the interest recorded in the general journal as received
for calendar years 2002 and 2001 agreed to the interest credited on the
Group's 2002 and 2001 bank statements.

C. EURCompare the other receipts recorded in the general journal as
received for calendar years 2002 and 2001 to deposit slips, bank
statements, and/or other documentation evidencing the receipts.

Results

For each Group, the amounts of other receipts recorded in the general
journal were supported by deposit slips, bank statements, and supporting
documentation.

II. Disbursements procedures

For each of the reported disbursement categories (representation
functions, interpreters/translators, travel, lodging, transfers to U.S.
Treasury, and miscellaneous), obtain and review vouchers, canceled checks,
and other supporting documentation for each disbursement recorded in the
general journal for each Group for 2002 and 2001. As part of the review:

A. Compare the amount disbursed per the general journal to the voucher
amount.

            Page 3 GAO-05-236R House Interparliamentary Group Funds

Enclosure I Results

For all recorded disbursement transactions for each Group, the voucher
amount agreed with the amount disbursed per the general journal except in
two instances which involve very minor amounts.

For the Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group, the voucher amount
for one transaction is $0.61 greater than the amount recorded in the 2001
general journal. The numerical amount of $231.61 written on the check
agreed with the amount of the voucher; however, the alphabetical amount
written on the check was in the amount of two hundred thirty-one dollars
-- 61 cents was omitted. The amount recorded in the general journal agreed
with the alphabetical amount written on the check and disbursed by the
bank.

For the British American Parliamentary Group, the voucher amount of
$448.88 for one transaction is $40.00 less than the amount recorded in the
2002 general journal. The amount erroneously recorded in the general
journal and on the check is $488.88. The Group's treasurer requested a
refund; however, the vendor did not provide a reimbursement for the
overpayment.

B. Compare the payee on the voucher to the supporting documentation.

Results

For all vouchers for each Group, the payee on the voucher agreed to the
supporting documentation.

C. EURExamine each voucher and supporting documentation for evidence that
the (a) designated official certified that the goods and/or services were
received, (b) voucher was approved by an authorizing official, and (c)
voucher was approved before the date of the related check in payment of
the voucher.

Results

For all transactions for each Group, the designated official certified
that the goods and/or services were received, and an authorizing official
approved the voucher, with one exception.

For one 2002 transaction for the Canada-United States Interparliamentary
Group totaling $838.97, the voucher and approval were dated 10 days after
the date on the check. For all other transactions, the voucher approval
was dated prior to payment.

D. EURFor each voucher, examine the related canceled check to determine
whether the check was signed by the designated official and endorsed by
the payee.

            Page 4 GAO-05-236R House Interparliamentary Group Funds

Enclosure I Results

All canceled checks examined for each Group were signed by the designated
official and endorsed by the payee, including replacements for lost
checks. However, we were unable to examine nine checks written in the
2-year period because they were not in the records. In addition, the
treasurers of the Groups provided the underlying reasons presented below
for the unavailable canceled checks.

o  	Four checks totaling $1,824.01 written in 2001 for the
British-American Parliamentary Group cleared the bank but were lost in the
mail along with the bank statement due to the anthrax crises at the
Capitol Complex.

o  	One check in the amount of $160.18 written in 2001 for the
Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Group was lost by the payee and
subsequently voided by the Group's staff. The Group issued a replacement
check.

o  	One check for the Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Group
written in 2002 in the amount of $1,602.86 was held by the payee past the
negotiable period and subsequently destroyed. The Group issued a
replacement check.

o  	Two checks for the United States Group of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly written in 2002, totaling $11,516.80, were lost by the payees.
The Group issued replacement checks.

o  	One additional check for the United States Group of the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly in the amount of $14.80 was lost by the payee. The
Group did not issue a replacement check.

E. EURExamine the entry in the general journal for each disbursement to
determine whether the journal entry included the date of the check, the
payee, the check number, the amount, and the description of the type or
category of goods or services provided.

Results

With one exception, the transactions for each Group include the date of
the check, the payee, the check number, the amount, and the description of
the type or category of goods or services provided. For one 2002
disbursement for the United States Group of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly, the entry in the general journal does not include the date of
the check.

F. EURFor each payment voucher, examine the check register and subsequent
bank statements to determine if a check was recorded, issued, and paid.

            Page 5 GAO-05-236R House Interparliamentary Group Funds

Enclosure I Results

For each Group, each voucher was paid except in the following three
instances involving very minor amounts.

o  	As discussed in II.A. above, for one 2001 transaction for the
Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group, the check was paid for
$231.00, resulting in a $0.61 underpayment of the voucher.

o  	As discussed in II.D. above, for one 2002 transaction for the United
States Group of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the payee lost the
original check for $14.80. The treasurer did not reissue a check;
therefore, the voucher remained unpaid as of December 9, 2004.

o  	For one 2002 transaction for the British-American Parliamentary Group,
a check was written for $53.40 and recorded in the general journal;
however, the check was never sent to the payee and was later voided. The
voucher remained unpaid as of December 9, 2004.

III. Overall procedures

A. EURTrace the opening fund balances for 2002 and 2001 recorded in the
general journal to the closing balances recorded in the general journal
for 2001 and 2000, respectively.

Results

The opening fund balance recorded in the general journal agreed to the
prior year closing fund balance for four of the Groups. The
British-American Parliamentary Group did not record an opening fund
balance in the general journal for either year. However, the recorded
balance after the initial transaction for each year agreed to the amount
of the first transaction added to the ending balance recorded for the
prior year.

B. EURTrace the opening and closing fund balances for 2002 and 2001 in the
Group's general journal and related bank statements to the opening and
closing fund balances in the Group's Schedule of Receipts, Disbursements,
and Fund Balance for 2002 and 2001.

Results

The opening fund balance for four Groups and the closing fund balance for
the five Groups recorded in the general journal and bank statements agreed
to the Group's Schedule of Receipts, Disbursements, and Fund Balance for
2002 and 2001. As mentioned previously, the British-American Parliamentary
Group did not record an opening fund balance in the general journal for
either year.

            Page 6 GAO-05-236R House Interparliamentary Group Funds

Enclosure I

C. EURRecalculate the Group's ending balances for 2002 and 2001 by adding
all receipts posted to the journal to the opening balances recorded in the
journal for 2002 and 2001 and subtracting all disbursements or other
charges recorded in the journal for 2002 and 2001. Compare the results to
the amount recorded as ending balances in the general journal and shown on
the Schedule of Receipts, Disbursements, and Fund Balance.

Results

The recalculated ending balances for each Group agreed to the ending
balances on the Group's Schedule of Receipts, Disbursements, and Fund
Balance. However, as stated above, the British-American Parliamentary
Group did not record an opening fund balance in the general journal for
either year.

D. EURUsing the amounts recorded in the general journal for 2002 and 2001,
recalculate the (a) total receipts and total disbursements for the year;
and (b) total receipts for each year by category (appropriations,
interest, and other) and total disbursements for each year by category
(representational functions, interpreters/translators, travel, lodging,
transfers to U.S. Treasury, and miscellaneous). Trace the recalculated
amounts to the amounts in the 2002 and 2001 Schedule of Receipts,
Disbursements, and Fund Balance.

Results

For four of the Groups, all category amounts, as well as receipt and
disbursement totals recorded in the general journal agree with the amounts
on the schedules. The British-American Parliamentary Group did not
categorize the transactions into disbursement categories in the general
journal; however, the Group did categorize disbursements in the Schedule
of Receipts, Disbursements, and Fund Balance. The total disbursements and
receipts recorded in the general journal and the total disbursements and
receipts on the schedule agree.

E. EURFor each reconciling item on each Group's 2002 and 2001 year-end
bank statements, examine supporting documentation for evidence that it is
an appropriate reconciling item at year end and that it was subsequently
resolved.

Results

Each bank statement reconciling item for each Group at year-end 2002 and
2001 was supported by appropriate documentation and was subsequently
resolved.

            Page 7 GAO-05-236R House Interparliamentary Group Funds

Enclosure II

       Schedules of Receipts, Disbursements, and Fund Balance (Unaudited)

Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Group

               Page 8 GAO-05-236R House Interparliamentary Groups

Enclosure II

                 Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group

               Page 9 GAO-05-236R House Interparliamentary Groups

  Enclosure II Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue Enclosure II United States
     Group of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Enclosure II British-American
                              Parliamentary Group

                                  (196030) EUR
*** End of document. ***