Congressional Award Foundation: Review of the FY 2020 Financial Statement Audit
Fast Facts
The Congressional Award Foundation is a privately-funded charity established by Congress that recognizes American youth for their public service, personal development, physical fitness, and exploration of other cultures or the wilderness.
Law requires the Foundation to have its financial statements audited each year, and we're required to review those audits. The Foundation's auditor issued an "unmodified" (clean) opinion of its FY2020 financial statements, concluding that they fairly presented the Foundation’s financial position and activities. We reviewed certain aspects of this financial audit and found no significant issues.
The Congressional Award Foundation honors American youth with certificates and medals for their public service and physical fitness, among other accomplishments.
Highlights
What GAO Found
Based on the limited procedures GAO performed in reviewing the independent public accountant's (IPA) audit of the Congressional Award Foundation's fiscal year 2020 financial statements, GAO did not identify any significant issues that it believes require attention. Had GAO performed additional procedures, other matters might have come to its attention that it would have reported. The IPA provided an unmodified audit opinion on the Foundation's fiscal year 2020 financial statements. Specifically, the IPA found that the Foundation's financial statements were presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Further, for fiscal year 2020, the IPA did not identify any (1) deficiencies that it considered to be material weaknesses in the Foundation's internal control over financial reporting or (2) instances of reportable noncompliance or other matters as a result of its tests of the Foundation's compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements. The Foundation concurred with the IPA's conclusions.
GAO's review of the Foundation's fiscal year 2020 financial statement audit, as differentiated from an audit of the financial statements, was not intended to enable GAO to express, and it does not express, an opinion on the Foundation's financial statements or conclude on the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting. Furthermore, GAO does not express an opinion on the Foundation's compliance with provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements. The IPA is responsible for its reports on the Foundation dated April 6, 2021, and the conclusions expressed therein.
GAO provided a draft of this report to the Foundation and the IPA for review and comment. The Foundation's National Director and the IPA's Audit Principal each replied in emails that they had no comments on the draft report.
Why GAO Did This Study
This report presents the results of GAO's review of the Foundation's fiscal year 2020 financial statement audit. The Congressional Award Act established the Congressional Award Board to carry out a program to promote excellence among the nation's youth in the areas of public service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition or exploration. The Board created the Foundation as a nonprofit corporation to assist in carrying out this program. The Congressional Award Act, as amended by the Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014, requires the Foundation to obtain an annual financial statement audit from an IPA. The act also requires GAO to review the audit and report the results to the Congress annually. GAO's objective was to review the audit of the Foundation's fiscal year 2020 financial statements. To satisfy this objective, GAO (1) read and considered various documents with respect to the IPA's independence, objectivity, and qualifications; (2) analyzed key IPA audit documentation; (3) read the Foundation's fiscal year 2020 financial statements, the IPA's audit report on the Foundation's financial statements, and the IPA's report on internal control over financial reporting and on compliance or other matters based on its audit; and (4) met with IPA representatives and Foundation management officials.