Audit Confirms Recommendations to Improve DoT DATA Act Compliance

The Department of Transportation (D0T) Office of Inspector General (OIG) completed a quality control review (QCR) of KPMG’s report on D0T’s compliance with the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act), and concurred with KPMG’s four recommendations to improve the agency’s compliance with the DATA Act.

DoT contracted with KPMG LLP to audit its compliance with the DATA Act during the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2021.

The objective of the audit was to assess completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and quality of DoT’s first-quarter FY2021 financial and award data submitted for publication on USASpending.gov, and to assess DoT’s implementation and use of the governmentwide financial data standards established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of Treasury.

“KPMG determined that for the specific period, DoT submitted data of a higher quality but did not submit certain data completely, accurately, or timely,” the report said. “KMPG also determined that DoT implemented and consistently used the governmentwide financial data standards for Files A, B, and C.”

Further, KPMG found instances in which DoT didn’t consistently report one File C element in accordance with the guidance in the DATA Act Information Model Schema (DAIMS).

The four recommendations that KPMG made for DoT to improve its compliance with the DATA Act are:

1. Implement and document a formal quarterly review process to ensure nonfatal warnings related to cross-validations of Files C, D1, and D2 at the Operating Administration (OA) level are investigated, and actions to address the warnings are documented;
2. Develop a complete inventory of DATA Act data element sources and definitions that exist within their systems, and establish controls to ensure the inventory is updated to address changes to DoT systems or DAIMS guidance;
3. Implement a control to ensure transaction level information is reported in File C in accordance with data standards; and
4. Implement and document an internal oversight review process for financial assistance awards to ensure controls to verify recipients are registered in SAM at the time of financial assistance award are in place.