Summary

GAO reviewed the Department of Transportation's (DOT) first-year implementation of the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act.

GAO found that DOT has made progress in implementing the act, considering the scope and diversity of its programs and activities. However, GAO also found that: (1) DOT has not developed written procedures for the internal control process; (2) while DOT has acknowledged the need to better document the vulnerability assessment process, it has not determined what documentation is needed; (3) vulnerability assessments could not be readily related to internal control reviews or other corrective actions; (4) training in implementation of the act was not provided until after much of the implementation process was completed; (5) DOT has not established a process for tracking the results of internal control reviews; (6) DOT may not have identified all of its material internal control weaknesses; and (7) DOT did not adequately define the role of its Office of Inspector General in the internal control process. In addition, GAO found that DOT made a good effort to comply with the act's requirements regarding accounting system reviews, but noted that DOT did not: (1) incorporate testing procedures into its systems compliance evaluations; or (2) develop procedures and guidance for consolidating the reports of decentralized units into the overall DOT statement of compliance.