The budget process relative to policies and procedures is among the items outlined in the annual independent audit of the federal consumer financial protection agency, published Wednesday.
Among the recommendations included in the document are that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB):
- Identify potential further actions needed based on the analysis of open travel obligations more than one year old.
- Identify potential further actions needed based on the analysis of open obligations with periods of performance that have been expired for more than one year.
- Enforce program manager follow up activities to help ensure all contract information needed to de- obligate is obtained promptly during the obligation review process.
- Consider updating current policies and procedures over contract closeout to provide CORs with additional guidance to initiate quick closeout procedures when appropriate, to reduce administrative costs and to enable the timely de-obligation of excess funds.
The audit, mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank) is aimed at providing “objective analyses to improve program performance and operations, reduce costs, facilitate decision-making, and contribute to public accountability,” according to CFPB.
CFPB said the audit, performed by accounting firm KPMG, L.L.P., evaluated:
- CFPB’s budget process relative to CFPB policies and procedures established over budget formulation, execution, and monitoring;
- CFPB’s monitoring and oversight of the interagency agreement with third-party service provider, Bureau of Fiscal Service-Administrative Resource Center; and
- the corrective actions taken to resolve the findings included in CFPB’s FY 2016 Independent Audit of Selected Operations and Budget (also a KPMG product, the agency said).