Natural Resources Conservation Service's Balance Sheet for Fiscal Year 2017

We recommend that management of the NRCS: A. Enhance processes and NRCS feeder systems to improve monitoring of activity in U.S. Standard General Ledger (USSGL) 4871 and 4881 and ensure that invalid upward and downward. adjustments are identified and corrected in a timely manner and that balances are appropriate; and B. Develop and implement a process that tracks agreement progress to ensure all signed agreements have been recorded in the financial system.

We recommend that NRCS management appropriately align knowledgeable resources to evaluate the roles of service organizations, assess controls at those service organizations, and identify and assess the CUECs of those service organizations. Identification and assessment of CUECs should address the following: Are there any CUECs identified by the service organization that are relevant to the entity? Are the CUECs identified, implemented and operating effectively at NRCS? If the service auditor's report cannot be relied on (i.e., if there is an uncovered subservice organization), what compensating controls, if any, are needed?