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GAO-04-681R 1 (2004-05-28)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptaqfc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SGAO Accountability * Integrity Reliability United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 May 28, 2004 The Honorable Van Zeck Commissioner, Bureau of the Public Debt Subject: Bureau of the Public Debt: Areasfor Improvement in Computer Controls Dear Mr. Zeck: In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the financial statements of the U.S. government,' we audited and reported on the Schedules of Federal Debt Managed by the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2003 and 2002.2 As part of these audits, we performed a review of the general and application computer controls over key BPD financial systems. The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is authorized by the Congress to borrow money on the credit of the United States to fund federal operations. Treasury is responsible for prescribing the debt instruments and otherwise limiting and restricting the amount and composition of the debt. BPD, an organizational entity within the Fiscal Service of Treasury, is responsible for issuing and redeeming debt instruments, paying interest to investors, and accounting for the resulting debt. In addition, BPD has been given the responsibility for issuing Treasury securities to trust funds for trust fund receipts not needed for current benefits and expenses. The scope of our work for fiscal year 2003 included a review of the general and application computer controls over key financial management systems maintained and operated by BPD relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt and follow-up on open recommendations from our prior years' reports for which actions were not complete as of September 30, 2002. We use a risk-based, rotation approach for testing general computer controls. Each general control area is subjected to a full-scope review, including testing, at least every 3 years. The computer control areas we review are defined in the Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual. Areas considered to be of higher risk are subject to more frequent review. Each key application is subjected every year to a full-scope review. '31 U.S.C. § 331(e) (2000). 2U.S. General Accounting Office, Financial Audit: Bureau of the Public Debt's Fiscal Years 2003 and 2002 Schedules of Federal Debt, GAO-04-177 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 7, 2003). 3U.S. General Accounting Office, Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual, GAO/AIMD-12.19.6 (Washington, D.C.: January 1999). GAO-04-681R Computer Controls at BPD Page 1

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