Congressional Award Foundation: Review of the FY 2023 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.
The Foundation is required to have its financial statements audited each year, and we are required to review those audits.
The Foundation's auditor issued an "unmodified" or clean opinion on its FY 2023 and 2022 financial statements—concluding that the Foundation fairly presented its financial position and activities. We reviewed certain aspects of this financial audit and found no significant issues.
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 2023 financial statements, GAO did not identify any significant issues 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 years 2023 and 2022 financial statements. Specifically, the IPA found 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 2023 the IPA did not identify any (1) deficiencies it considered to be material weaknesses in the Foundation's internal control over financial reporting or (2) instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards. The Foundation concurred with the IPA's conclusions.
GAO's review of the Foundation's fiscal year 2023 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 a conclusion 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 1, 2024, 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 Foundation's Audit Committee Chair responded in an email that they were pleased that GAO found no significant issues related to the audit. The IPA's Audit Principal responded in an email that the IPA had no comments regarding GAO's report and its findings.
Why GAO Did This Study
This report presents the results of GAO's review of the Foundation's fiscal year 2023 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 help it carry 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 includes a provision for GAO to review the audit and report the results to the Congress annually.
GAO's objective was to review the Foundation's fiscal year 2023 financial statement audit to identify any significant issues it believes require attention. 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 years 2023 and 2022 financial statements, the IPA's audit report on the these statements, and the IPA's report on internal control over financial reporting and on compliance and other matters based on its audit; and (4) discussed matters pertinent to its objective with IPA representatives and Foundation management officials.
For more information, contact Cheryl E. Clark at (202) 512-9377 or clarkce@gao.gov.