Summary

In response to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Finance Center's (NFC) progress in solving problems that GAO had previously identified involving NFC payroll operation and general automatic data processing (ADP) controls.

GAO found that, although NFC took action to restrict access to ADP programs and data and to ensure that payroll processing results were correct, and internal controls over record counts during computer processing remained inadequate. GAO had recommended that the Director, NFC, report quarterly to the Assistant Secretary for Administration, USDA, on the status of its efforts to: (1) provide adequate disaster planning; (2) develop appropriate program documentation; (3) implement an independent certification function; and (4) limit access to ADP programs and data. GAO found that NFC made some reports to the Office of Finance and Management, but took no action to: (1) improve program documentation procedures; (2) identify a backup processing facility; (3) implement its application software testing standard; or (4) control programmer access to production programs at the individual program level.