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GAO-15-413R 1 (2015-04-06)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaaitm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 




GO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
441 G St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20548



April 6, 2015


Mr. David Caperton
Special Counsel, Legal Division
Board of Governors of the Federal
    Reserve System
Management Report: Areas for Improvement in the Federal Reserve Banks' Information
Systems Controls

Dear Mr. Caperton:

In connection with our audit of the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government,1
we audited and reported on the Schedules of Federal Debt Managed by the Bureau of the
Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2014, and 2013.2 As
part of these audits, we performed a review of information systems controls over key financial
systems maintained and operated by the Federal Reserve Banks (FRB) on behalf of the
Department of the Treasury (Treasury) relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt.

As we reported in connection with our audits of the Schedules of Federal Debt for the fiscal
years ended September 30, 2014, and 2013, Fiscal Service maintained, in all material respects,
effective internal control over financial reporting relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt as of
September 30, 2014, based on criteria established under 31 U.S.C. § 3512(c), (d), commonly
known as the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA). Those controls provided
reasonable assurance that misstatements material in relation to the Schedule of Federal Debt
would be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis. While we identified control
deficiencies relating to information systems controls relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt,
we do not consider them individually or collectively to be material weaknesses or significant
deficiencies.3 Nevertheless, these control deficiencies warrant the attention and action of
management.



131 U.S.C. § 331 (e)(2). Federal debt and related activity and balances managed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service
during fiscal years 2014 and 2013 were also significant to the consolidated financial statements of the Department of
the Treasury (see 31 U.S.C. § 3515(b)).
2GAO, Financial Audit. Bureau of the Fiscal Service's Fiscal Years 2014 and 2013 Schedules of Federal Debt, GAO-
15-157 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 10, 2014).
3A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control, such that there is a
reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the entity's financial statements will not be prevented, or
detected and corrected, on a timely basis. A significant deficiency is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in
internal control that is less severe than a material weakness yet important enough to merit attention by those charged
with governance. A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow
management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or detect and
correct, misstatements on a timely basis.


GAO-15-413R Information Systems Controls at FRBs


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