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AFMD-82-84 1 (1982-07-12)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabmnw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT DIVISION 11111 11 1 '' I!11 llllIII! ll~ !ill U li III!Il B-208109 119275 JULY 12,1982 The Honorable James Watt The Secretary of the Interior Dear Mr. Secretary: Subject: Improvements Needed in the Accounting for Personal Property (GAO/AFMD-82-84) Our survey of accounting for personal property at the Depart- ment of the Interior identified recurrent problems at the Geological Survey, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Although the Interior Department's Inspector General had previously reported that required physical inventories were not being taken and that accounting and property records, which differed by $96 million, were not being reconciled, action was not taken to strengthen property accounting. As a result, the reported amount of personal property was inaccurate and unreliable, and control over the $500 million of property managed by the three bureaus was seriously weakened. We are reporting these matters to reiterate the need for adequate accounting for personal property so that assets are prop- erly safeguarded and reliable data is used by management in the decisionmaking process. OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND METHODOLOGY We surveyed the Department of the Interior's accounting for personal property to determine if (1) accounting records were ac- curate and periodically reconciled with property records, (2) phys- ical inventories were properly conducted, and (3) accounting for Government-owned property held by contractors was adequate. Personal property is defined as equipment, material, parts, and supplies; in short, all property except land and buildings. In addition to furniture and office machines, personal property at Inte- rior includes such things as electron microscopes and scales (Geo- logical Survey); livestock and construction equipment (Bureau of Indian Affairs); and fish tanks and hatchery equipment (Fish and Wildlife Service). We conducted our survey at the headquarters offices of the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. At the beginning of fiscal 1981, the three bureaus accounted for $512 million, or 64 percent, of Interior's $805 million investment in personal property. We also visited the (901337)

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