Independent Auditor's Report on Internal Control
We have audited the consolidated balance sheets of USAID as of September 30, 2005
and 2004. We have also audited the consolidated statements of changes in net position,
consolidated statements of net cost, combined statements of budgetary resources, and
consolidated statements of financing for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2005 and
2004, and have issued our report thereon dated November 14, 2005. We conducted the
audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards; Government Auditing
Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; and Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 01-02, Audit Requirements for Federal
Financial Statements.
In planning and performing our audits of USAID's financial statements for the fiscal years
ended September 30, 2005 and 2004, we considered its internal control over financial
reporting by obtaining an understanding of the agency's internal control, determined
whether internal controls had been placed in operation, assessed control risk, and
performed tests of controls in order to determine our auditing procedures for the purpose
of expressing our opinion on the financial statements. We limited our system of internal
control testing to those controls necessary to achieve the objectives described in OMB
Bulletin 01-02. We did not test all internal controls relevant to operating objectives as
broadly defined by the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act of 1982, such as those
controls relevant to ensuring efficient operations. The objective of our audit was not to
provide assurance on internal control. Consequently, we do not provide an opinion on
internal control.
Our consideration of internal control over financial reporting would not necessarily
disclose all matters in internal control over financial reporting that might be reportable
conditions. Under standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants, reportable conditions are matters coming to our attention relating to
significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal control that, in our judgment,
could adversely affect the Agency's ability to record, process, summarize, and report
financial data consistent with the assertions by management in the financial statements.
Material weaknesses are reportable conditions in which the design or operation of one or
more of the internal control components does not reduce to a relatively low level the risk
that misstatements in amounts that would be material in relation to the financial
statements being audited may occur and not be detected within a timely period by
employees in the normal course of performing their assigned functions. Because of
inherent limitations in internal control, misstatements, losses, or noncompliance may
occur and not be detected. Our consideration of internal control over financial reporting
would not necessarily disclose all reportable conditions that are also considered to be
material weaknesses as defined above. We noted certain matters (discussed in the
following paragraphs) involving internal control and its operation that we consider to be
reportable conditions and one matter that we consider to be a material weakness.
The material internal control weakness relates to USAID's need to improve its Accruals
Reporting System.
The reportable conditions relate to USAID's need to improve its:
- Process for reconciling its Fund Balance with the U.S. Treasury
- Process for reconciling intragovernmental transactions
- Process for recognizing and reporting its overseas accounts receivable.
With respect to internal control related to performance measures reported in USAID's
Performance and Accountability Report, we obtained an understanding of the design of significant
internal controls relating to the existence and completeness assertions, as required by OMB
Bulletin 01-02. Our procedures were not designed to provide assurance on internal control
over reported performance measures and, accordingly, we do not provide an opinion on such controls.
We also noted other matters involving the internal control over financial and performance
reporting which we reported to USAID management in a separate letter dated November
14, 2005.
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