Financial Management Bia Has Made Limited Progress In Reconciling Trust Accounts And Developing A Strategic Plan

Author : U S Government Accountability Office (G
Publisher : BiblioGov
ISBN 13 : 9781289266394
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (663 download)

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Download or read book Financial Management written by U S Government Accountability Office (G and published by BiblioGov. This book was released on 2013-07 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) efforts to reconcile and audit the Indian trust fund accounts and develop a strategic financial management plan to remedy its long-standing trust fund financial management problems. GAO found that: (1) in May 1991, BIA awarded a contract for reconciliation of the Indian trust fund accounts, which involves reconstructing trust account transactions so that account holders are provided the most accurate accounting information possible; (2) BIA and its contractor have since evaluated what the reconciliation effort would entail and have concluded that full reconciliation is neither possible nor cost-effective because of missing records, poor documentation, and the volume of data to review; (3) the projected cost of the reconciliation effort is substantial, and in some cases the cost of reconciling accounts exceeds their value; (4) BIA must address the root cause of its long-standing problems in its trust fund accounting systems, or it will continue to have unreconciled accounts; (5) Congress has directed BIA to develop a plan to improve trust fund financial management, including a method to keep accounts accurate in the future; and (6) although BIA has devised several short-term plans, it has not yet devised a comprehensive plan, which is a critical first step in improving its financial management operations.