OMB has issued a memo requiring agencies to assign financial assistance award identification numbers unique within each agency and identify and implement a process to compare and validate USAspending.gov funding information with data in the agency’s financial system.
According to the memo, by October agencies must have developed and implemented procedures to validate USAspending.gov prime federal award financial data with data maintained in the agency’s financial system.
Then beginning in October, within 60 days of close of each quarter, agencies must report to OMB the accuracy rate of USAspending.gov prime federal award financial data based on its validation process if discrepancies exist between USAspending.gov and financial systems.
By November 15, 2014, based on that validation agencies must confirm that the prime federal award financial data reported on USAspending.gov is correct – or report the percentage of accuracy, and confirm that the agency has adequate internal controls over the underlying spending. They must also confirm that the agency has implemented processes to ensure data completeness and accuracy on USAspending.gov by using control totals with financial statement data and comparing samples of financial data to actual award documents.
