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GAO-16-754R 1 (2016-08-12)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaakdg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 August 12, 2016 Congressional Committees Congressional Award Foundation: Review of the Audit of the Financial Statements for Fiscal Year 2015 This report presents the results of our review of the Congressional Award Foundation's (Foundation) fiscal year 2015 financial statement audit. The Congressional Award Act established the Congressional Award Board to carry out a program to promote excellence among the nation's youth. The Foundation was created to assist the Congressional Award Board in carrying out this program. The Congressional Award Act, as amended by the Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014, requires the Foundation to obtain an annual financial statement audit from an independent public accountant (IPA).1 It also requires the Comptroller General of the United States to annually review the audit of the Foundation's financial statements and report the results to the Congress. The Foundation received an unmodified opinion from an IPA on its fiscal year 2015 financial statements.2 The IPA found that the Foundation's financial statements were presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The IPA also reported that for fiscal year 2015, it did not identify any (1) deficiencies in internal control that the IPA considered to be material weaknesses3 or (2) reportable noncompliance with selected provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements it tested.4 However, the IPA identified a significant deficiency in internal control related to cash disbursements 'From fiscal years 1986 through 2014, the Congressional Award Act mandated that GAO perform an annual audit of the financial statements of the Foundation. On November 26, 2014, the Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014 was enacted, which amended the Congressional Award Act to repeal GAO's annual requirement to audit the Foundation's financial statements. See Pub. L. No. 113-188, § 902, 128 Stat. 2016. Beginning in fiscal year 2015, the Foundation was required to contract with an IPA for an audit of the Foundation's financial statements. Therefore, the fiscal year 2014 audit was our final audit under the Congressional Award Act. We reported the results of our fiscal year 2014 audit in GAO, Financial Audit: Congressional Award Foundation's Fiscal Years 2014 and 2013 Financial Statements, GAO-1 5-552 (Washington, D.C.: May 15, 2015). 2The Foundation's financial statements consist of the statements of financial position, statements of activities, statements of cash flows, and accompanying notes to the financial statements. 3A material weakness is a deficiency, or 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 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. 4U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS), issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, incorporate U.S. generally accepted auditing standards and constitute the professional standards under which the Foundation's financial statement audit was to be performed. For an audit of financial statements performed in accordance with GAGAS, the auditor is required to report on internal control over financial reporting and on compliance with provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, or grant agreements that have a material effect on the financial statements, regardless of whether the auditor identifies internal control deficiencies or instances of noncompliance. GAGAS does not require the auditor to express opinions on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting or compliance. GAO-16-754R Review of the Financial Audit of the Foundation for Fiscal Year 2015 Page 1

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