The Quality Branch uses the OMB Circular A-123 Appendix A, Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, implementation guide which directs management to become more proactive in overseeing internal controls related to financial reporting.  Further, minimum HHS requirements and guidelines are set forth HHS Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act guidelines to perform this assessment. The evaluation of internal controls is primarily focused on the three objectives of internal controls:

• Effectiveness and efficiency of operations
• Reliability of financial reporting
• Compliance with applicable laws and regulations 

The annual A-123 assessment results are considered in the development of the assurance statement signed by the NIH Chief Financial Officer to support the HHS agency wide statement and meet the objectives of the Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act of 1982 (FMFIA).  The objective of the FMFIA is to provide reasonable assurance that "(i) obligations and costs are in compliance with applicable law; (ii) funds, property, and other assets are safeguarded against waste, loss, unauthorized use, or misappropriation; and (iii) revenues and expenditures applicable to agency operations are properly recorded and accounted for to permit the preparation of accounts and reliable financial and statistical reports and to maintain accountability over the assets."    

Another primary focus of the Quality Branch is to gather, review, provide and maintain all Prepared by Client (PBC) documentation to support the HHS CFO Financial Statement Audit. PBC documentation is the source evidence which contains the appropriate approvals and supports the recording of financial statement transactions and key internal controls placed in operations.  The overall goal is to provide sufficient supporting documentation to the auditors in a timely manner, as well as coordinate the requests between the financial statement audit and the internal A-123 review. 

The purposes of the CFO Act of 1990 are the following: " (1) Bring more effective general and financial management practices to the Federal Government through statutory provisions which would establish in the Office of Management and Budget a Deputy Director for Management, establish an Office of Federal Financial Management headed by a Controller, and designate a Chief Financial Officer in each executive department and in each major executive agency in the Federal Government. (2) Provide for improvement, in each agency of the Federal Government, of systems of accounting, financial management, and internal controls to assure the issuance of reliable financial information and to deter fraud, waste, and abuse of Government resources. (3) Provide for the production of complete, reliable, timely, and consistent financial information for use by the executive branch of the Government and the Congress in the financing, management, and evaluation of Federal programs.  For more information visit http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/misc/cfo.html Exit Link Disclaimer.

Other sources, guidelines and regulations are provided by agencies such as the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and the U.S. Department of Treasury.