# VHA Can Improve Controls Over Its Use of Supplemental Funds
> **Audit** by Department of Veterans Affairs OIG · 2023-05-09
> *About: Department of Veterans Affairs*
## Report
- **Title:** VHA Can Improve Controls Over Its Use of Supplemental Funds
- **Submitting OIG:** Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
- **Component agency:** Department of Veterans Affairs
- **Type:** Audit
- **Publication date:** 2023-05-09

## Summary

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act appropriated about $17.2 billion in supplemental funds to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to support VA’s efforts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The OIG conducted this audit to assess the effectiveness of VA’s controls over VHA’s use of these funds.Because VA’s financial management system does not support the direct obligation of supplemental funds for all expenses, staff used expenditure transfers to shift funds between appropriation accounts.


## Recommendations

- **Rec 01** (Closed): Assess the iFAMS configuration to determine whether integration with the payroll subsystems can be accomplished to resolve some of the payroll-related issues that require the need for expenditure transfers.
- **Rec 02** (Closed): Establish guidance that outlines the type of documentation required to support the amounts identified in the manual journal vouchers when processing expenditure transfers.
- **Rec 03** (Closed): Require medical facility staff have documented authority, through proper delegation, to make purchases.
- **Rec 04** (Closed): Verify that medical facility staff segregate duties so that the same person is not both authorizing and receiving goods and services.
- **Rec 05** (Closed): Make certain the purchase card holder is not the requestor or approver for the purchase.
- **Rec 06** (Closed): Ensure contracting officers representatives know and understand their duties and responsibilities for the certification and payment of invoices.
- **Rec 07** (Closed): Check vendors compliance with contract terms to include the comparison of invoiced amounts with the contract line-item unit costs.esponse to the pandemic and develop appropriate action plans to integrate oversight roles, responsibilities, and clear…
- **Rec 08** (Closed): Ensure that medical facility staff track the receipt of goods to make certain they are the correct quantity.
- **Rec 09** (Closed): Conduct an assessment of lessons learned from the emergency response to the pandemic and develop appropriate action plans to integrate oversight roles, responsibilities, and clear guidance into the use of supplemental funds.
## Source
- [oversight.gov report page](https://www.oversight.gov/reports/audit/vha-can-improve-controls-over-its-use-supplemental-funds)
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