Library of Congress: Special Events Gift Fund Operations and Accountability

GAO-03-312R Published: Jan 23, 2003. Publicly Released: Jan 23, 2003.

Highlights

The Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, and the Ranking Minority Member, House Subcommittee on Legislative, Committee on Appropriations, requested that we review the Library's Special Events Gift Fund. As agreed, we focused on the Library's analysis supporting its June 2000 decision to increase suggested room contributions associated with the Great Hall effective January 2001, and key policies, procedures, and controls associated with holding the approximately 120 fiscal year 2001 special events that were accounted for in the Gift Fund. Specifically, we agreed to (1) review and comment on the analysis behind the Library's January 2001 increase in the suggested room contributions from outside sponsors of events held in the Great Hall of the Jefferson Building; (2) identify key policies and procedures applicable to requesting, approving, and planning those special events accounted for through the Gift Fund and determine whether the Library is following those policies and procedures; and (3) identify key accounting and control policies and procedures over receipts, expenditures, and the fund balance of the Gift Fund and determine whether the Library is following those policies and procedures.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Library of Congress	To help ensure that the Library of Congress has the ability to fund the salary and benefit costs of personnel who support the Library's overall special events activities, the Librarian of Congress should direct the Library's Financial Services Director to work with OSEPP to conduct a new analysis that considers various options for funding forecast salary and benefits costs of special events support staff. In conducting this analysis, the Library should develop and maintain documentation to support the assumptions incorporated into the analysis.	Closed – Not Implemented Following our report, the Library received authority to transfer the Special Events operating activities from a Library Gift Fund to one of the Library's Revolving Funds. As part of the transfer, the Library performed a new pricing analysis in September 2003 and updated that analysis in July 2005. Relying on various assumptions, the analysis projected anticipated revenues and costs associated with operating the Special Events activities as a revolving fund over the next 5 years. However, in conducting its analysis, the Library did not develop and document data and other information needed to support the underlying assumptions, which was a key element of our recommendation. Accordingly,... View More
Library of Congress	To help improve the Library's internal control over event files and their contents, the Librarian of Congress should direct the Library's Financial Services Director to work with OSEPP to develop documentation standards for maintaining event files.	Closed – Implemented Following our recommendation, the Library's Office of Special Events and Public Programs (OSEPP) implemented an event management software system known as Raiser's Edge. This software requires the Special Events staff to create electronic records associated with event approval, planning, execution, and final accounting. The software provides for automated routing of key electronic records/documents to appropriate officials and offices for formal review and, where required, provides an electronic record that documents necessary approvals. Key event-related documentation, including event request/approval and final accounting, is maintained electronically in the Raiser's Edge system. Other... View More
Library of Congress	To help improve the Library's internal control over event files and their contents, the Librarian of Congress should direct the Library's Financial Services Director to work with OSEPP to require periodic review of event folders to ensure compliance with Library policies and procedures.	Closed – Implemented Following our recommendation, the Special Events Fund Manager, who assumed responsibility for managing Special Events and the Fund in 2005, established an operating procedure requiring the Fund Manager to annually review event planners' electronic event file documentation for completeness as part of the event staff annual performance assessment process. The Special Events Office on-line procedures manual serves as the criteria for this review, the overall objective of which is assessment of compliance with applicable Special Events policies/procedures, including those requiring the preparation and approval of event-specific documentation. The Fund Manager performs the reviews in two... View More
Library of Congress	To help improve the Library's internal control over event files and their contents, the Librarian of Congress should direct the Library's Financial Services Director to work with OSEPP to develop policies for including in events files documentation for exceptions of deviations from policies.	Closed – Implemented Following our recommendation, Library officials implemented a new event management system which provides for the documentation and approval of exceptions and deviations from established Special Events policies and procedures. Event planners are expected to identify and electronically document requests for exceptions and deviations associated with special event requests and execution. The system's routing and approval process electronically documents the routing and approval of event requests and planning/execution activities, including requests for exceptions and deviations from policies and procedures. In May 2007, Library officials formally documented an established operating practice... View More
Library of Congress	To improve the Library's accounting for and control of the funds in the Special Events Gift Fund, the Librarian should direct the Financial Services Director to work with OSEPP to establish basic accounting records in OSEPP for the Gift Fund, including receipts, expenses, amounts due, and amounts owed by event.	Closed – Implemented In response to our recommendation, the Library took several actions to improve the basic accounting records maintained by the Library's Office of Special Events and Public Programs. The Library implemented a new event management software system (Raiser's Edge) which includes accounting functionality. Specifically, the system provides for tracking event-related receipts (advances from internal and external event sponsors for both event administrative fees and costs) and expenses (catering, printing, and other charges); producing reports of amounts due/owed (by event); and preparing final accountings for all events based on the recorded accounting information. In addition, the Special... View More
Library of Congress	To improve the Library's accounting for and control of the funds in the Special Events Gift Fund, the Librarian should direct the Financial Services Director to work with OSEPP to establish a policy to reconcile, on a monthly basis, OSEPP's Gift Fund receipts and disbursements to amounts maintained in the Library's FMS.	Closed – Implemented In response to our recommendation, the Library implemented several corrective actions that have improved its ability to perform periodic reconciliations of event-related receipts and disbursements. Following our recommendation, the Special Events Fund Manager established a requirement for monthly reconciliation of receipt and disbursement amounts recorded in Raiser's Edge--the Library's events management system--with event-related amounts recorded in the Library's financial management system, Momentum. In October 2005, the Special Events Senior Accountant began routinely preparing the required reconciliation reports. A key factor in the development of these control procedures was the... View More
Library of Congress	To improve the Library's accounting for and control of the funds in the Special Events Gift Fund, the Librarian should direct the Financial Services Director to work with OSEPP to compile a monthly status report as a tool for monitoring the operations and finances of the Gift Fund. The report could include event-specific information, such as event date, sponsor, budget event number, budgeted expenses, payments received to date, expenses incurred to date, amount and date of final billing, and amount owed to or from event sponsor.	Closed – Implemented In response to our recommendation, the Library's Office of Special Events and Public Programs designed and implemented the Balance Outstanding Report that enables the Special Events Fund Manager to routinely monitor fund operations and finances. The Special Events Senior Accountant produces this report for all events on a weekly basis, and the data reported includes event date, event number/name, final accounting date, and net amount due to or owed by the Library. During fiscal year 2006, the Fund Manager implemented procedures to review the report to monitor events with outstanding balances for further collection effort or refund.
Library of Congress	To improve the Library's accounting for and control of the funds in the Special Events Gift Fund, the Librarian should direct the Financial Services Director to work with OSEPP to establish a policy for completing all final accountings on a timely basis.	Closed – Implemented In response to our recommendation, the Library instituted a policy requiring that the final accounting for all special events be completed within three months following the event, and revised its Special Events Agreement form used for externally-funded events to reflect this policy. In addition, the Library's Office of Special Events and Public Programs began preparing a monthly status report that tracks the period of time between the event date and completion of the final accounting. During fiscal year 2006, the Special Events Fund Manager implemented procedures to review this Final Accounting Aging Report to assess the timeliness of processing final accountings. According to the... View More

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