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B-169658 Improved Accounting Control Over Equipment at The ‘& / kfr REPORT TO THE CONGRESS Improved Accounting Control Over ‘Equipment At The’ Kennedy Space Center?,,,,,, National Aeronautics and Space Admnistration a’ BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON. DC 20548 B- 169658 To the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives This is our report on Improved accountmg control over equipment at the Kennedy Space Center, Natlonal Aeronautics and Space Admlmstratlon. Our review was made pursuant to the Budget and Accountmg Act, 1921 (31 U.S.C. 53), and the Accountmg and Auditing Act of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 67). Copies of this report are bemg sent to the Dlrector, Office of Management and Budget, and to the Admmlstra- tor, Natlonal Aeronautics and Space Admmistratlon. Comptroller General of the United States c Contents Page DIGEST 1 CHAPTER - 1 INTRODUCTION 4 2 NASA PROCEDURES FOR CONTROLLING GOVERNMENT EQUIPMENT 6 NASA-held equipment 6 Contractor-held equipment 7 3 IMPROVEMENTS IN PROCEDURES FOR RECORDING EQUIPMENT TRANSACTIONS 9 Equipment not recorded when received 9 Some reasons why the equipment had not been recorded 10 Conclusions 16 NASA comments and our evaluation 17 4 NEED TO IMPROVE PROCEDURES FOR TARING PHYSICAL INVENTORIES 19 Physical inventories not taken as fre- quently as required 19 Survey reports not promptly prepared 19 Property custodians responsible for tak- ing physical inventories 20 Listings ofequrpment furnished to counters 22 Conclusions 22 NASA comments and our evaluation 23 Recommendations 25 5 INTERNAL REVIEWS OF PROPERTY ACCOUNTING 26 6 SCOPE OF REVIEW 27 Page APPENDIX I Letter dated December 19, 1969, from Acting Associate Administrator for Organization and Management 31 II Location of capitalized equipment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administra- tion as of June 30, 1969 39 III Principal officials of the National Aeronau- tics and Space Administration responsible for the activities discussed In this re- port 40 - I II 'COMPTROLLERGENERAL'S IMPROVEDACCOUNTING CONTROL OVER EQUIPMENT REPORTTO THE CONGRESS AT THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER Natlonal Aeronautics and Space Admlnlstratlon B-169658 ------DIGEST WHY THE REVIEW WASMADE The National Aeronautics and Space Admlnlstratlon (NASA) and its contrac- tors are accountable for over $1.7 billlon worth of Government-owned equipment. About $430 million worth of this equipment 1s at the Kennedy Space Center. Accurate and timely information on property 1s essential for management to maintain efflclent and econom-rcal operations, to prepare flnanclal re- ports to the Congress , and to establish responsibility for custody of property. The Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 directs the General Accounting Offlce (GAO) to examine into executive agencies' prop- erty accounting systems to determine the extent of their compliance with the property accounting prlnclples and standards prescribed by the Comp- troller General and to report to the Congress failures to comply with these principles and standards or to adequately account for property. This review was made because GAO had reason to question whether the Kennedy Space Center had adequate accounting control over some of the equipment at the center. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Kennedy Space Center h-ad notstahllshed accountablllty for equlp- ment costing over $320 million until as long as 4 yearsafter it was re- ceived. (See p. 9.) The maJor reason for the delay in recording promptly equipment in its fl- nancial and detalled property records was the absence of unit cost data that should have been provided by other centers or the manufacturers when equipment was shipped to the Center. (See p: 9.) In some cases receiving reports for use ln establishing accounting control were not furnished to the accounting department. (See p. 9.) In other cases, where equipment had been transferred to the Kennedy Space Center by the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Manned Spacecraft Center, 1 these centers had not complled with NASA's requirements for establlshlng ' control over property (See p+ IO.) GAO's review showed that: --A physical Inventory completed in July 1969 was the first complete physlcal inventory of equipment at the Kennedy Space Center in 7 years. NASA lnstructlons requjre that a complete physical inventory be taken at least once every 3 years. (See p. 19.) --Survey reports explaining the loss, damage, or destruction of Govern- ment equipment were not be-ing prepared promptly, contrary to NASA in- structions. Of the 171 survey reports issued bebeen January 1965 and April 1969, 46 were issued over a year after the loss of equipment had been detected Tardy preparation of survey reports delays the lnvestlgatlon of the loss of equipment since the investigation is made after preparation of the survey report. (See p. 19.) --PhysIcal inventories of equipment were taken by the indlvlduals hav- ing custodial responslbillty for the equipment. This procedure seriously weakens the system of internal control because there IS no segregation of duties, therefore, management cannot rely upon the re- sults of the physical inventory to satisfy itself that the accounting records are accurate and that the custodian has the equipment. (See p. 20.) --Listings of equipment to be counted were given to the property custo- dians for their use in taking the physical inventories. The use of llst~ngs IS not considered an acceptable practice because of the tendency of inventory takers to look only for items of equipment on the llst-rngs rather than to 1dentJfy and count all equipment. (See p. 22.) RECOMkLiZiDATIONSOR SUGGESTIONS The Admlnlstrator, NASA, should direct the Kennedy Space Center to issue and Implement procedures requlrlng that: --All receipts and transfers of equipment be handled through a central receiving and shipping department. --Documents acknowledgrng receipt of equipment contain all the informa- tion necessary for identification and valuation purposes. --All documentation on equipment transactions be processed through the accounting and property management offices. --Physical lnventones be taken or supervised by someone other than the custodian of the equipment being counted. 2 . --PhysIcal inventones be taken by counting all equipment In a given area rather than by us-rng listings of equipment --Complete physical inventones of all equipment In the custody of NASA be taken at least once every 3 years. --Survey reports for missing or damaged equipment be promptly prepared and processed. (See pp- 16 and 22.) The Administrator, NASA, should direct headquarters to: --Establish a task force--composed of headquarters officials involved In the property and supply, financial, and procurement areas--to re- view equipment accountablllty at the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Manned Spacecraft Center and to report on the extent of the defl- ciencies, their basic causes, and the corrective actIons needed. --Revise the NASA-wide requirements for taking physical inventories to include specific guidelines on the means, methods, and personnel to be used. (See pp. 16 and 23.) AGENCY ACTIONS AND UNRESOLVEDISSUES NASA has taken corrective actjon on all of GAO's suggestions, except for two pertaining to the taking of physical ~nventorles. --The Kennedy Space Center has not Issued procedures requlnng that physical inventories be taken or supervised by someone other than the custodian of the equipment being counted. (See pQ 23.) --NASA has not issued requirements for taking physical inventones (See p. 25.) GAO believes that NASA should implement the two recommendations to lm- prove physical inventory procedures. GAO is asking NASA to keep it informed of the progress being made to Im- prove property accountability at the various NASA centers. MA!-i.TERSFOR CONSIDERATION BY THE CONGRESS GAO IS reporting the results of its review to Inform the Congress of the actions taken by NASA to improve accounting control over equipment at the Kennedy Space Center, the Manned Spacecraft Center, and the Marshall Space Flight Center and of the additional act-ions stall required to resolve the deficlencles cited in this report. 3 i . CHAPTER 1 1NTRODUCTION The General Accounting Office (GAG) reviewed the man- ner in which the Kennedy Space Center had complied with the principles and standards established by the National Aero- nautics and Space Administration (NASA) to provide finan- clal and quantitative control over NASA-held andcontractor- held, Government-owned equipment. Our review was extended to the Marshall Space Flight Center and the Manned Space- craft Center after we found that these centers had not es- tablished accountability for certain equipment when it was acquired. The scope of our review is described in chap- ter 6. The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451), which established NASA, authorized the peaceful exploration of space, including both manned and unmanned exploration. The Kennedy Space Center is the ma- jor NASA organization responsible for the launching of manned and unmanned space vehicles. A NASA report for fiscal year 1969 showed that NASA had a total of about $1.7 billion worth of Government-owned equipment In its custody at NASA installations and in the custody of contractors. (See app. II.) Financial records of the Kennedy Space Center showed that there was about $82 million worth of Government-owned equipment in the cus- tody of NASA and $348 million worth in the custody of con- tractors at the Kennedy Space Center at December 31, 1969. Section
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