Audit of VA's Conference Management for Fiscal Year 2014

In September 2012, the Office of Inspector General issued Administrative Investigation of the FY 2011 Human Resources Conferences in Orlando, Florida, which identified inadequate controls resulting in wasteful spending. We conducted this audit of Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 conferences to assess the adequacy of the actions VA took to address identified control weaknesses. We identified policy and oversight weaknesses that could undermine the cost effectiveness of conferences and increase the risk of inappropriate spending. VA organizations did not comply with policy for 11 of 12 randomly selected FY 2014 conferences. VA organizations did not prepare Conference Packages in accordance with policy for 10 conferences with budgets totaling approximately $11.6 million. VA organizations also did not prepare Final Conference Reports in accordance with policy for 11 of 12 conferences, with expenditures totaling approximately $7.9 million. Weaknesses in policy implementation occurred because VA did not issue adequate guidance or implement adequate oversight procedures to ensure VA organizations submitted Conference Packages and Final Conference Reports compliant with VA policy. In addition, VA did not provide adequate accountability to ensure that VA organizations complied with conference policies. As a result, these weaknesses contributed to VA reporting approximately $3.9 million in conference expenditures to Congress that could not be adequately traced to source documentation to verify their accuracy and appropriateness.