Summary of Report 99-555

June 1999

Report Number 99-555

• The State is addressing the Year 2000 (Y2K) situation. Agencies and universities were in the process of correcting and testing all major automated systems, except one (Texas Child Support Enforcement System at the Attorney General's Office). Information about the status of the Y2K situation is presented in the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and was audited by the State Auditor's Office (SAO).

• The State does a good job of meeting federal requirements. Federal funds have requirements that govern how these funds may be spent. State agencies and universities generally have effective policies and procedures in place to ensure the State complies with federal grant requirements. The State receives approximately $17 billion in federal funds annually.

• Contract administration continues to be a concern. The problems observed during this audit have to do with the administration of contracts, particularly monitoring of contractors. These problems ranged from signing contracts after the starting date to not identifying monitoring needs for high risk contracts.

• Efforts improve accountability to the State. The Office of the Comptroller of Public Accounts has demonstrated continued progress toward using the Uniform Statewide Accounting System (USAS) as the primary source to prepare the State's CAFR. This utilization of USAS ensures that the information is more accurate and in a consistent format for the users of the financial statements. Our review of this process indicates that it is working well.

• The State is in compliance with bond covenants. Compliance with bond covenants was audited by other auditors under the SAO's direction. These auditors found that all of the 29 agencies and universities they audited complied with all significant bond covenant requirements. At the end of fiscal year 1998, the State had $11 billion in bonds payable.

Contact the SAO about this report.

Select this link to view detailed information by university or agency.

The following Acrobat files relating to this report are available for download.
To generate an HTML equivalent for a PDF document, select the "HTML Equivalent" link following the link to the PDF document.

• Full Report: Executive Summary, Summary of Most Significant Findings, Our Compliments, Auditor's Report, and Summary of Issues
  (HTML Equivalent)

• Individual Sections:

  • Schedule of Findings and Questioned Cost (HTML Equivalent)
  • Summary Schedule of Prior Audit Findings (HTML Equivalent)
  • Appendices (HTML Equivalent)

The State Auditor's Office has summarized the results of the Statewide Financial and Compliance Audit into a folded, eight-panel brochure. The brochure includes the following:

• A Message from the State Auditor
• Summarized Financial Statements for the State of Texas for Fiscal Year 1998
• Selected Financial Indicators
• Contract Administration: A Statewide Problem
• About the Statewide Audit

To receive a copy of this brochure, please call (512) 936-9880