Small Business: Information on and Improvements Needed to Surety Bond Guarantee Programs
RCED-91-99
Published: Apr 23, 1991. Publicly Released: May 28, 1991.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the: (1) Small Business Administration's (SBA) management of its Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) program between fiscal year (FY) 1987 and FY 1989; and (2) status of the SBA pilot Preferred SBG Program.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Small Business Administration | To ensure consistency among the 10 SBA regions and accurate reporting of SBG program management data, the Administrator, SBA, should ensure that the Office of Surety Guarantees' (OSG) planned updates to the standard operating procedure (SOP) include guidance to field staff on what to do if the bond applications include no minority code classification. |
Closed – Implemented
Revisions to SBA's Surety Bond Guarantee Program SOP include recommended guidance. The final SOP should be issued shortly.
|
| Small Business Administration | To ensure consistency among the 10 SBA regions and accurate reporting of SBG program management data, the Administrator, SBA, should ensure that the OSG-planned updates to SOP include instructions for documenting all entries made into the database, such as annotating the source document. |
Closed – Implemented
Revisions to SBA's Surety Bond Program SOP do not contain recommended guidance regarding database entries. However, SBA Surety Bond Program officials stated that during a recent training session, surety bond program staff were instructed to document database entries.
|
| Small Business Administration | To ensure consistency among the 10 SBA regions and accurate reporting of SBG program management data, the Administrator, SBA, should ensure that the OSG-planned updates to SOP include procedures for verifying data being entered into the surety bond guarantee computer system. |
Closed – Implemented
Revisions to SBA's Surety Bond Guarantee Program SOP do not contain guidance regarding verifying data entered into the computer system. However, SBA Surety Bond Program officials stated that during a recent training session, surety bond program staff were instructed to verify data entries.
|
| Small Business Administration | To ensure consistency among the 10 SBA regions and accurate reporting of SBA program management data, the Administrator, SBA, should ensure that the OSG-planned updates to SOP include instructions for categorizing obligee types. |
Closed – Implemented
Revisions to SBA's Surety Bond Program SOP do not contain recommended guidance regarding categorizing obligee types. However, SBA Surety Bond Program officials stated that during a recent training session, surety bond program staff were instructed to identify the obligee type.
|
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Bid guaranteesData collectionInternal controlsMinority contractorsProgram managementSmall business assistanceSmall business contractorsSmall business contractsSurety bondsWarranties