Financial Management: Customs' Self-Assessment of Its Internal Control and Accounting Systems Is Inadequate
AIMD-94-8
Published: Oct 27, 1993. Publicly Released: Oct 27, 1993.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the U.S. Customs Services' efforts to identify, report, and correct its internal control and accounting system weaknesses.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| United States Customs Service | To ensure accurate reporting to the Secretary of the Treasury on the effectiveness of Customs' internal control and accounting systems, the Commissioner of Customs should direct the Chief Financial Officer to develop guidance for assessing control risk in Customs' operations. |
Closed – Implemented
Customs implemented a comprehensive FMFIA training course which provides guidance on assessing control risk. All program managers and other personnel conducting FMFIA-type reviews are required to attend this course.
|
| United States Customs Service | To ensure accurate reporting to the Secretary of the Treasury on the effectiveness of Customs' internal control and accounting systems, the Commissioner of Customs should direct the Chief Financial Officer to develop adequate tools to perform Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA) reviews. |
Closed – Implemented
Customs implemented its FMFIA training course which provides tools to help managers review their programs. The effectiveness of these tools will be evaluated during the Department of the Treasury's Office of Inspector General fiscal year 1994 audit.
|
| United States Customs Service | To ensure accurate reporting to the Secretary of the Treasury on the effectiveness of Customs' internal control and accounting systems, the Commissioner of Customs should direct the Chief Financial Officer to implement a comprehensive FMFIA training program to be attended by all staff involved in performing FMFIA reviews. |
Closed – Implemented
Customs has implemented a comprehensive FMFIA training program which is to be attended by all staff performing FMFIA reviews. This training provides managers with the proper guidance to help them identify and report material weaknesses as required by FMFIA.
|
| United States Customs Service | To ensure accurate reporting to the Secretary of the Treasury on the effectiveness of Customs' internal control and accounting systems, the Commissioner of Customs should direct the Chief Financial Officer to review corrective action plans to ensure that they address the underlying cause of the problem. |
Closed – Implemented
Customs has put together a task team to review corrective action plans as well as the status of corrective actions for all material weaknesses. This task team's effectiveness will be evaluated by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Inspector General during the fiscal year 1994 audit.
|
| United States Customs Service | To ensure accurate reporting to the Secretary of the Treasury on the effectiveness of Customs' internal control and accounting systems, the Commissioner of Customs should direct the Chief Financial Officer to promptly test the effectiveness of corrective actions implemented to ensure that the weaknesses are corrected before they are removed from Customs' FMFIA assurance letter. |
Closed – Implemented
Customs has established a schedule to test or validate the effectiveness of corrective actions. This schedule will be updated each year with the goal of validating all available current and past closed weaknesses.
|
| United States Customs Service | The Commissioner of Customs should direct the Chief Financial Officer to have the Management Controls Division obtain and systematically review the detailed results of Customs' self assessments for accuracy and completeness. |
Closed – Implemented
Customs offices were directed to provide copies of all FMFIA-type reviews to the Management Controls Division for review. The Management Controls Division has received samples of completed management control reviews to inspect for accuracy and completeness.
|
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Topics
Accounts receivableAssetsData integrityFederal agency accounting systemsFederal property managementFinancial disclosureFinancial management systemsInternal controlsInventory control systemsReporting requirements