National Aeronautics and Space Administration<br />Office of Inspector General<br />Washington, D.C. 20546<br /><br /><br />June 13, 2003<br /><br /><br />RELEASE 2003-038: INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM CORE <br />FINANCIAL MODULE CONVERSION TO FULL COST ACCOUNTING<br /><br /><br /> The audit report "Integrated Financial Management Program (IFMP) Core <br />Financial Module Conversion to Full Cost Accounting" (IG-03-015) has <br />been posted to the NASA Office of Inspector General Web site at: <br />http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oig/hq/ig-03-016.pdf<br /> <br />The Core Financial Module is the backbone of the IFMP, which is <br />intended to provide the NASA-wide fully integrated accounting system <br />that the Agency now lacks. A primary objective of the IFMP is to <br />support the Agency's Full Cost Initiative, developed in response to <br />NASA requirements and Federal law such as the Federal Financial <br />Management Improvement Act of 1996. We performed the audit of the Core <br />Financial Module to determine whether it would support full cost <br />accounting by the October 1, 2003, target.<br /><br /><br /> <br />Results of Audit<br /><br /><br />The Core Financial Module software, which has been installed at six <br />NASA Centers, has the capability to accomplish full cost accounting. <br />However, NASA must first resolve several extraordinarily complex <br />accounting and costing issues involving the allocation of service and <br />general and administrative costs, civil service costs, and unassigned <br />costs. Once the accounting and costing issues are resolved, NASA has <br />to configure the IFMP software to reflect the changes. For NASA to <br />meet the October 1, 2003, target for full cost accounting, the <br />accounting and costing issues must be resolved and the software <br />configuration must be completed in about 3 months following the June 23 <br />installation of the module at the remaining NASA Centers. If those <br />tasks are not completed by October 1, 2003, the Agency faces a high <br />risk that it will be unable to use IFMP to report full cost accounting <br />data until fiscal year 2005. Additionally, a substantial delay in the <br />availability of full cost accounting data could extend the <br />implementation date of the Agency's overall Full Cost Initiative.<br /><br /><br />Recommendations<br /><br /><br />We recommended that the NASA Deputy Chief Financial Officer revise the <br />IFMP plans to include: (1) timeframes and milestones for completing <br />steps implementing full cost accounting, (2) identification of the <br />personnel and other resources necessary to perform the steps within the <br />established timeframes, and (3) senior management approval and support <br />of these additional procedures.<br /><br /><br />Management's Response<br /><br /><br />Management concurred with the recommendation and formed the Full Cost <br />Policy and Operations Team, which has identified timeframes, <br />milestones, and resources for completing the steps necessary to <br />implement full cost accounting and to address the cost issues <br />identified in the report. In addition, NASA has appointed a full-time <br />Director of Full Cost to manage the full cost implementation process. <br />The Agency plans to have all phases of full cost accounting implemented <br />by October 1, 2003. We consider the planned action responsive to the <br />recommendation.<br /><br /><br />To comment on this report, please send e-mail to igrelease@hq.nasa.gov <br /><br /><br /> *** End ***<br /> <br />Please do not contact NASA Office of Public Affairs for information on<br />Office of Inspector General releases.<br /><br /><br />For additional information on the NASA Office of Inspector General,<br />including published reviews, audit reports, inspection/assessment reports,<br />press releases, and other publications, please access our web site at:<br />http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oig/hq<br /><br /><br />Report Crime, Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement to the NASA OIG<br />Hotline at: 800-424-9183, TDD 800-535-8134.