RDE Statistical Sampling Changes Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 15:25:41 -0400 To: "AO - All Administrative Officers", "Dianne E Putnam Reston, VA" , "Carole Carter-Pfisterer Reston, VA" , "Kelly L Bradley, Chief, FORS, Reston, VA" , "Mary C Grate-Pyos, Budget Analyst, Reston, VA" , "Martin Eckes Reston, VA" , "Martha M Long Reston, VA ", "Eleonora S Alsop Reston, VA" , "Joyce M Clark Reston, VA" From: Tim Calkins Subject: RDE Statistical Sampling Changes Cc: "AE - Administrative Employees", "Alice A Sabatini, Administrative Officer, Reston, VA" , "Carole Carter-Pfisterer Reston, VA" , "Gloria J Stiltner, Chief, DIS, Reston, VA" , "Gayle A Sisler Reston, VA" , "John R Caracciolo, Management Initiatives Officer, Reston, VA" , "Joseph S Pillera Reston, VA" , "MaryLou D Pectol Reston, VA" , "Smith, Phyllis C" , "John K Peterson Reston, VA" Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To All Remote Data Entry (RDE)Sites: I am writing this to inform you of revised requirements for providing documentation for certain RDE entries to the Office of Financial Management. These statistical sampling guidelines were first announced in Instructional Memorandum 97-02. A new Instructional Memorandum, OFM 97-08, reflects the revised requirements and replaces 97-02. The new IM is shown at the end of this message, and will be available soon on the USGS Intranet at: http://www.usgs.gov:8888/ops/finance/imlist.html#1997 These changes are being made to reduce the sampling burden for RDE sites, by lowering the volume of documents to be sent to OFM as part of the post-entry review process under our statistical sampling plan. This decrease in the number of documents results from raising the threshold at which RDE sites must send copies of transactions to OFM, and is based on the generally positive error rates found during our reviews of FY 1997 RDE processing. Please note the following under this revised procedure: All Remote Data Entry Payments and purchase orders greater than $20,000 must be faxed to OFM immediately after entering the documents into FFS. This is a change from the previous $5,000 threshold. Please fax all source documents and supporting documentation to the Attention of Irene Myers at 703-648-7687. Mark the documents ‘Statistical Sampling'. Please do not fax payments or purchase orders less than or equal to $20,000 unless you are contacted by OFM. These statements may be randomly selected for review by a statistical sampling program. All bank card Statements greater than $10,000 must be sent to OFM immediately after adjusting the statement in FFS. This is a change from the previous $5,000 threshold. Please send copies of the statements and supporting documentation to the Attention of Jane Herman at Mail Stop 270. Mark the statements ‘Statistical Sampling'. Please do not send statements less than or equal to $10,000 unless you are contacted by OFM. These statements may be randomly selected for review by a statistical sampling program. Bank Card holders not participating in RDE must continue to forward their monthly statements to OFM regardless of the statement dollar amount. OFM also will randomly select payments, bank card statements, and purchase orders quarterly instead of monthly for review. This should result in a 75% decrease in payment documentation requested from the RDE sites, and a 60% decrease in bank card documentation requested from RDE sites. However, all documents under the dollar thresholds will have an equal chance of being selected for review by the statistical sampling program. Questions on this change may be addressed to Mary Christensen (703-648-608, mchriste@usgs.gov. Text of OFM 97-08 follows: Department of the Interior U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY INSTRUCTIONAL MEMORANDUM No. OFM 97-08 Subject: Post-Entry Audit and Statistical Sampling Plan (Replaces IM 97-02) This Instructional Memorandum (IM) applies to Bank Card Processing and to Remote Data Entry (RDE) of Accounting Source Documents. It raises the dollar thresholds at which RDE sites are required to provide copies of source documents to the Office of Financial Management (OFM). At the start of FY 1997, OFM initiated a statistical sampling process for a post-entry audit of all types of accounting source documents entered into the Federal Financial System (FFS) under RDE procedures. The purpose of the audit process is to confirm that bureau and division-level financial controls are sufficient to guard against fraud, waste and misuse of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) resources, and that the FFS data integrity is maintained. As a result of positive review findings to date under the USGS statistical sampling program, OFM is raising the dollar threshold for providing to OFM copies of source documents for both Bank Card and RDE transactions. FFS Data Entry Both remotely-entered transactions (expanded RDE and limited field payments) and OFM-entered transactions will be subject to random sampling and audit. All payments and purchase orders less than or equal to $20,000 may be randomly selected for audit by a statistical sampling program. A 100% audit will be performed on documents reflecting values over $20,000. When apparent errors are found during the audit process, OFM will directly contact the remote entry site to obtain additional information, to provide instruction on proper procedures, or to assist the remote entry user in making the proper correcting entry. Users may be requested to provide copies of original documentation or other supporting or explanatory material. Summary information from the audit reviews will also be compiled to identify control weaknesses, develop training requirements, and to improve the remote entry process. For All Payments greater than $20,000: Fax all supporting documentation to OFM at (703) 648-7687, immediately after entering the payment into FFS. The documentation should include the vendor invoice, receiving report, and obligation if applicable. All Payments less than or equal to $20,000: Documentation should be sent to OFM only if OFM contacts the entering office because the payment has been randomly selected for audit. Fax all supporting documentation to OFM at 703-648-7687. The documentation should include the vendor invoice, receiving report, and obligation if applicable. Purchase Orders Over $20,000: Fax all supporting documentation to OFM at 703-648-7687 immediately after entering the obligation into FFS. Purchase Orders less than or equal to $20,000: OFM will contact the entering office if the obligation is selected for audit. Fax all supporting documentation to OFM at 703-648-7687. Bank Cards OFM, in conjunction with the Office of Acquisition and Federal Assistance (OAFA), carries out a sampling process for reviewing charges against the International Merchant Purchase Authorization Card (I.M.P.A.C.) VISA charge cards. The sampling process applies to all bank card transactions. The requirement for RDE sites to send a copy of the annotated bank card statement to OFM is hereby changed from a monthly statement total of $5,000 to $10,000. Send copies of all bank card statements with total monthly purchases over $10,000 to OFM at Mail Stop 270 immediately after the statement is entered into FFS. All supporting receipts must also be sent. Send copies of monthly statements less than or equal to $10,000 with supporting receipts to Mail Stop 270 only when notified by OFM. These statements will be audited only if selected in the random sample. For those bank cardholders participating in RDE and who retain their statements on site, OFM will call or E-mail the bank cardholders and their appropriate Administrative Officers if their bank card statements are selected for the audit. OFM will request that a copy of the annotated statement and all applicable receipts be sent for review. OFM must receive this information within 2-3 working days of the request. If bank card statements and supporting documentation are not provided within the requested time, OFM will notify OAFA, which may suspend the cardholder's privileges pending a determination of the circumstances. Cardholders, approving officials, and RDE personnel are advised that documents faxed or sent to OFM must reflect the actual statement which was used to make the RDE entry. Any alteration of the source and/or supporting document(s) after RDE entry and before faxing them to OFM may be construed to represent falsification of official Government records. OFM and OAFA will work with card holders, administrative officers, and approving officials to develop any appropriate corrective actions necessary as a result of the statement review process. NOTE: Bank cardholders not participating in expanded RDE must continue to forward their monthly statements to OFM. All supporting documentation that is forwarded to OFM as part of the statistical sampling process must be clearly annotated as "Stat Sampling Documentation. For further information: If you have any questions about this memorandum or OFM statistical sampling activities, please contact Mary Christensen at 703-648-7608 (mchriste@usgs.gov) or Kathleen Carpenter at 703-648-7664 (kcarpent@usgs.gov). This IM is effective upon date of issuance. This IM will remain in effect until superseded or canceled. Timothy E. Calkins, Chief Office of Financial Management