U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
COMMERCE
Office of Inspector General
Report on the External Quality Control Review
of the Social Security Administration
Office of the Inspector General
Office of Audit
Final Audit Report No. DEN-18153-7-001/December 2006
Office of Audits, Denver Regional Office
JAN 4, 2007
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Office of Inspector General
Washington, D.C. 20230
Steve Schaeffer
Assistant Inspector General for Audit
Social Security Administration
Altmeyer Building, Suite 300
6401 Security Blvd.
Baltimore, Maryland 21235
Subject: Report on the External Quality Control Review of the Social Security
Administration Inspector General Audit Organization
Dear Mr. Schaeffer:
This report presents the results of our External Quality Control Review of
the Social Security Administration Inspector General Audit Organization. Your
response to the draft report is included as Appendix C.
We thank you and all of your staff that we dealt with for your assistance
and cooperation during the conduct of the review. If you have any questions
or would like to further discuss the enclosed document, please contact me
at (202) 482-1934 or John Bunting, Regional Inspector General for Audits,
Denver Regional Office, at (303)-312-7663.
John M. Seeba
Assistant Inspector General for Auditing
JAN 4, 2007
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
The Inspector General
Washington, D.C. 20230
The Honorable Patrick P. O'Carroll, Jr.,
Inspector General
Social Security Administration
Altmeyer Building, Suite 300
6401 Security Blvd.
Baltimore, Maryland 21235
Dear Mr. O'Carroll:
We have reviewed the system of quality control for the audit function of the
Social Security Administration, OIG in effect for the year ended March 31,
2006. A system of quality control encompasses the OIG's organizational structure,
and the policies adopted and procedures established to provide it with reasonable
assurance of conforming with generally accepted government auditing standards
(GAGAS). The elements of quality control are described in GAGAS, promulgated
by the Comptroller General of the United States. The design of the system,
and compliance with it in all material respects, are the responsibility of
the Social Security Administration, OIG. Our objective was to determine whether
the internal quality control system was adequate as designed and complied
with to provide reasonable assurance that applicable auditing standards, policies,
and procedures were met. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the
design of the system and the OIG's compliance with the system based on our
review.
Our review was conducted in accordance with the guidelines established by
the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency and the Executive Council
on Integrity and Efficiency. In performing our review, we obtained an understanding
of the system of quality control for the OIG. In addition, we tested compliance
with the OIG's quality control policies and procedures to the extent we considered
appropriate. These tests included the application of the OIG's policies and
procedures on selected audits. Because our review was based on selective tests,
it would not necessarily disclose all weaknesses in the system of quality
control or all instances of lack of compliance with it. Nevertheless, we believe
that the procedures we performed provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Because there are inherent limitations in the effectiveness of any system
of quality control, departures from the system may occur and not be detected.
Also, projection of any evaluation of a system of quality control to future
periods is subject to risk that the system of quality control may become inadequate
because of changes in conditions, or because the degree of compliance with
the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Our Scope and Methodology appear as Appendix A. General comments appear as
Appendix B. Your response to the draft report is included as Appendix C.
In our opinion, the system of quality control for the audit function of the
Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, in effect
for the year ended March 31, 2006, has been designed to meet the requirements
of the quality control standards established by the Comptroller General of
the United States for a Federal Government audit organization and was complied
with during the year ended to provide the OIG with reasonable assurance of
conforming with applicable auditing standards, policies, and procedures.
Sincerely,
Johnnie E. Frazier
Inspector General
Appendix A
Peer Review Scope and Methodology
Scope and Methodology
We tested compliance with the Social Security Administration Office of the
Inspector General system of quality control to the extent we considered appropriate.
These tests included a review of 13 of 98 reports issued during the April
1, 2005 through March 31, 2006, reporting periods. In addition, we reviewed
the financial statement audit covering FY 2005, performed under contract by
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, Certified Public Accountants. Appendix B includes
a listing of audits reviewed. We also reviewed the OIG's internal quality
control reviews and other relevant policies, procedures, and activities.
OIG Offices Reviewed
We reviewed audits conducted from April 1, 2005 through March 31, 2006 by
the Chicago, San Francisco and New York field offices, and the SSA-OIG Headquarters
Office in Baltimore.
Appendix B details the audit reports selected for review.
General Comments
We observed numerous positive audit practices in the OIG's audit organization.
Most importantly, the audit staff showed a high level of professionalism and
expertise. The audit staff displayed extensive knowledge about audits we reviewed
as well as your audit organization's policies and procedures. We also noted
noteworthy practices and controls instituted to help ensure audits were performed
in accordance with professional standards. In particular, we observed that
OIG's implementation of Teammate at Headquarters and its regional offices
has been very successful.
Appendix B
Listing of Audits Reviewed, Report Number, Report Title, Report Date
Baltimore, MD
A-14-05-15063 State Disability Determination Services' Removal of Sensitive
Informationfrom Excessed Computers 8/4/2005
A-14-05-15064 Assessing the Application Controls for the Social Security Administration'sIntegrated
Disability Management System 3/2312006
A-15-05-15043 Analysis of Undeliverable Social Security Number Cards (Limited
Distribution) 712612006
A-13-05-15029 The Social Security Administration's Decisions to Terminate
Collection Effortsfor Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Overpayments
3/22/2006
A-15-05-15130 Oversight of the Fiscal Year 2005 Financial Statement Audit
11/912005
Chicago, IL
A-05-04-13058 Social Security Administration's Controls for ConcurrentlyEntitled
Beneficiaries with Representative Payees 4/11/2005
A-05-05-15081 Universities' Use of Social Security Numbers as Student Identifiersin
Region V 6/7/2005
A-05-05-15082 Access to secured Areas in Region V Hearing offices 8/5/2005
San Francisco, CA
A-09-05-15025 Administrative Costs Claimed by the Alaska Disability Determination
Services 7/7/2005
A-09-05-15099 Universities' Use of Social Security Numbers as Student Identifiers
in RegionIX 11/30/2005
New York, NY
A-02-05-25089 Access to Secured Areas in Region II Hearing Offices 4/11/2005
A-02-05-45097 Representative Payee Audit of the Rescue Mission of Utica (LimitedDistribution)
8/12/2005_
A-02-05-15125 The Social Security Administration's Ticket to Work-Ticket Assignments
1/2412006
Appendix C
SOCIAL SECURITY
December 8, 2006
Mr. John M. Seeba
Assistant Inspector General for Auditing
Office of Inspector General
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, D.-C. 20230
Dear Mr. Seeba:
We reviewed your draft report on our quality control system. We are pleased
with your conclusion that our quality control system has been designed to
meet the requirements of the quality control standards established by the
Comptroller General of the United States and was complied with during your
review period to provide reasonable assurance of conforming with applicable
auditing standards, policies, and procedures.
We appreciate the efforts of your staff in completing this review in a thorough
fashion, with minimal interference to our normal work flows. My staff also
appreciated the description in your draft report of our implementation of
automated working papers as very successful.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (410) 965-9700. I look forward
to reviewing your final report.
Sincerely,
Steven L. Schaeffer
Assistant Inspector General for Audit
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
BALTIMORE MD 21235-0001
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