Audit of PBS NCR's Metropolitan Service Center Reimbursable Work Authorizations

Why We Performed This Audit

We performed this audit based on previous audits that identified deficiencies in GSA’s PublicBuildings Service (PBS) service centers’ management and oversight of Reimbursable Work Authorizations (RWAs). Our objective was to determine whether the PBS National Capital Region’s (NCR’s) Metropolitan Service Center (MSC) is ensuring that RWAs are completed and closed in a timely manner in accordance with GSA policies and regulations.

What We Found

PBS NCR’s MSC is not fulfilling its stewardship responsibilities for customer agency funding of RWAs. We found that the MSC is not providing customer agencies with milestone schedules or submitting written justifications when contracts are not awarded within a reasonable time frame. We also found that the MSC and GSA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) are not recording substantial completion dates in a timely manner. Taken together, these deficiencies impair the MSC’s ability to effectively manage and return customer agency funding and increase the risk of appropriations law violations and inaccurate financial reporting.

What We Recommend

We recommend that:

1. The PBS Commissioner direct the Reimbursable Services National Program to update all applicable policies and procedures to align with the current RWA organizational structure and to clarify the roles and responsibilities of PBS project managers and OCFO budget analysts in updating the RWA Entry and Tracking Application (RETA) status for substantial completion.
2. The Acting NCR Regional Commissioner should:

1. Establish controls to ensure staff are trained on the PBS Reimbursable Work Authorizations National Policy Manual requirement to update RETA with a milestone schedule or written justification.
2. Develop a program to train staff in their role in the revised guidance regarding updating the RETA status for substantial completion.
3. Coordinate with the OCFO to ensure national RWA policies and goals are met for substantial completion dates to be entered into RETA.

In its response to our report, PBS wrote that it “acknowledges the legitimacy of [our] findings, generally agrees with [our] recommendations, and will work to develop a comprehensive Corrective Action Plan to address the deficiencies identified.” PBS’s response can be found in its entirety in Appendix B.