Audits

On June 30, we issued our audit of internal controls over payments for emergency relief transportation services. We found that better internal controls are needed to ensure that the Government receives the transportation services it pays for. While there were procedures in place for Government personnel at field locations to log trucks and trailers in and out as they arrived and departed, this documentation was not uniformly sent to FAA's Southern Region Emergency Transportation Center and was not used to verify invoices from the contractor. Instead, contracting officers were relying on documentation provided by the contractor to verify that transportation services had been provided as billed. While the documentation offered a level of support for billings, the lack of an independent verification process meant that contracting officers essentially had to rely on contractor documentation to support the contractor's invoices. FAA Southern Region management is aware of the need to develop better internal controls and is in the process of addressing this issue through an on-line contract administration system. Once the system is in place and operating, FAA Southern Region management will need to ensure that contracting officers are using the system to verify invoices.