DOL Response

8/4/2019 DOL Response

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U.S. Department of Labor

The Honorable Darrell E. Issa

Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Washington, D.C. 20210

MAR 2 3 2011

Chainnan, Committee on Oversight and Government Refonn

The Honorable Todd R. Platts

Chairman, Subcommittee on Government Organization, Efficiency and Financial Management

The Honorable Jim Jordan

Chainnan, Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending

The Honorable James Lankford

Chainnan, Subcommittee on Technology, Infonnation Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and

Procurement

U.S. House of Representatives

2157 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairmen:

Thank you for your March 8,2011, letter regarding the Department of Labor's (DOL) financial

management systems. On behalf of DOL, I am pleased to provide the following responses to the

Committee's enumerated requests.

1. Identify and briefly describe each ofyour agency 'sbusiness and accounting systems. Ifseparate divisions, bureaus, or offices ofyour agency use separate systems, identify which

divisions, bureaus, or offices use each system.

Since 2010, the Department's core financial system has been the New Core Financial

Management System (NCFMS). NCFMS has direct, near-real-time interfaces to the E2 Travel

System, the Electronic Procurement System (EPS), and the grants management system (E

Grants).

2. Explain how the business and accounting systems identified in response to Request No.1

interact with one another.

NCFMS has direct, near-real-time interfaces to the E2 Travel System, to record and issue travel

authorizations and voucher payments; the E-Procurement System (EPS), to record financial

transactions associated with purchase orders and contracts; and the E-Grants system, to record

financial transactions associated with grants issuance.



3. For each system identified in response to Request No.1, state whether informationfound in

that system is regularly or periodically submitted to any of he government-wide accounting systems

maintained by the Department of he Treasury, e.g., GFRS, FACTS L FACTS 11, IFCS, etc., and

explain how and at what intervals those submissions occur, including descriptions ofboth manual and

automated processes.

Information residing in NCFMS is reported to the Department ofTreasury's ("Treasury") government

wide accounting systems at prescribed intervals. For each of the quarterly FACTS I, FACTS II, and

IFCS submissions, an automated process is used to generate a report or bulk file that is reviewed,

manually adjusted, and then transmitted to the respective accounting system. For the yearly

submission of the Closing Package into GFRS, NCFMS generates a report that is used to manually

enter information into various modules in GFRS. DOL agencies use their program systems to generate

data to complete the Treasury Report on Receivables (TROR) quarterly reports in the Treasury's Debt

Management Information System (DMIS).

4. For each system identified in response to Request No. 1, state whether information found in

that system is regularly or periodically submitted to the Office ofManagement and Budget's ("OMB")

lvIAX Information System, and explain how and at what intervals those submissions occur, including

descriptions ofboth automated and manual processes.

NCFMS generates trial balances and reports which are used to compile DOL's financial statements and

footnotes on a quarterly basis for the first, second, and third quarters for interim financial statements

and annually for the Agency Financial Report (AFR). The quarterly financial statements and footnotes

and AFR are submitted to the OMB MAX Information System. Both automated and manual processes

are used to cross-walk data from trial balances and reports to comply with the required form and

content of the interim financial statements and annual financial statements and footnotes. The

quarterly submissions also require variance analyses which we prepare using manual processes.

Treasury compiles certain of our budgetary information with that of other agencies and submits this

information to OMB's MAX system. Annually, DOL also reports in MAX certain performance

measures on improper payments, including outlay dollars, improper payment percentages (for over

and underpayment), and projected improper payment dollars. This data is compiled through the use of

special studies and statistical sampling methods, except for the Unemployment Insurance program,

where data is reported by the States and compiled by the Employment and Training Administration.

5. For each system identified in response to Request No.1, describe recent, current, and planned

migration or modernization projects.

DOL has no additional planned migration or modernization projects for NCFMS. DOL is focused on

system stabilization and normalizing operations.

For the E2 Travel System, DOL's only planned migration is in response to, and in conjunction with,

GSA's recompete ofthe basic contract providing government-wide travel services.

DOL is conducting a competitive procurement to acquire an electronic procurement system to replace

EPS. Depending on funding availability, DOL anticipates awarding the contract in FY 2011.



DOL plans to modernize the E-Grants system by deploying a fully redundant system at an

emergency location. This enhancement would provide DOL the ability to continue grant

operations if E-Grants servers in the Frances Perkins Building were to go down for an extended

period of time.

6. In addition to your agency's submission to government-wide accounting system

maintained by the Department of he Treasury and OMB, as described in response to Requests

Nos. 3 and 4, does your agency publish any of he same information onlinefor public viewing?

If o, describe how and in what format that information is published.

The Agency Financial Report (AFR) and the Summary ofPerformance and Financial

Information Report are published on DOL's website. The FY 2010 AFR is at:

http://www.dol.gov/ sec/media/reports/annual201 0/201 Oannualreport.pdf

The FY 2010 Summary of Performance and Financial Information Report is at:

http://www.dol.gov/ sec/media/reports/2010summarylFY2010PerformanceSummary.pdf

On a quarterly basis, DOL also publishes information for other Federal agencies' use in reporting

their expenses and liabilities associated with workers' compensation costs of current and former

Federal employees under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) and unemployment

benefits under the Unemployment Insurance program. These reports are at:

http://www.dol.gov/ocfo/publications.html.

7. Identify and briefly describe each system that your agency uses to manage grants, direct

loans, and/or loan guarantees. If eparate divisions, bureaus or offices ofyour agency use

separate systems, identify which divisions, bureaus, or offices use each system.

DOL operates E-Grants as its single grants management system for its various grant programs

within seven agencies. E-Grants supports more than 1,000 users in DOL's national and regional

offices and serves approximately 6,000 domestic and international grantees. E-Grants supports

the complete grant lifecycle which includes pre-award, award, post-award , and closeout

management.

8. For each system identified in response to Request No.7, explain how it interacts with any

business or accounting system identified in response to Request No.1.

E-Grants interfaces with the E-Procurement System and NCFMS. E-Grants uses the E-Procurement "shopping cart" electronic approval functionality for fund approvals for newawards and to initiate modifications to existing awards.

Once a requested action is reviewed and approved, E-Grants interfaces with N C F ~ S The

approved funds are electronically recorded in NCFMS followed by an electronic

·interface/transfer to the Health & Human Services Payment Management System (PMS). Once

the funds are posted in the PMS system, they are available for the grantee to draw down.



9. For each system identified in response to Request No.7, state whether information found

in that system is regularly or periodically submitted to the Catalogue ofFederal Domestic

Assistance (CFDA), and describe how and at what intervals those submissions occur, including

descriptions ofboth automated and manual processes.

DOL complies with the CFDA requirements through annual reviews of the CFDA content and

registration of new programs as needed. Financial data reported for grants to USASpending.Gov

is properly tagged with the CFDA catalog numbers.

10. For each system identified in response to Request No . 7, state whether informationfound

in that system is regularly or periodically submitted to any of he government-wide grants

management and reporting systems, e.g. FAADS, FAADS PLUS, etc. and describe how and at

what intervals those submissions occur, including descriptions ofboth automated and manual

processes.

The Federal Assistance Award information is submitted monthly to www.USASpending.gov via

the Data Submission Validation Tool in the requisite F AADS+ format.

The use of the Census Bureau's FAADS system was terminated effective February 10,2011,

pursuant to the OMB bi-weekly report to the Chief Financial Officer Council (CFOC) and

Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (ClGIE) communities.

11. For each system identified in response to Request No.7, describe recent, current, and

planned migration or modernization projects.

Please see the answer to Request No.5.

12. In addition to your agency's submission to government-wide grants management and

reporting systems, described in response to Request Nos. 9 and 10, does your agency publish any

of he same information online for public viewing? If o, describe how and in what format that

information is published.

The Department is in the process of developing a website with grant data; however, this website

is not yet functional.

13. Identify and briefly describe each system that your agency uses to manage contracts. If .separate divisions, bureaus, or offices ofyour agency use separate systems, identify which

divisions, bureaus, or offices use each system.

DOL utilizes EPS to generate and award its contracts. Authorized users initiate a procurement

requisition in the system, which is submitted to the requisitioner's management approval chain

for approval and subsequently routed to the agency's servicing budget officer who certifies that

funding is available. Ifbudget approval is granted, the action is transmitted to the servicing

contracting office for processing. EPS also contains the appropriate Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR) contract clauses that are required for DOL contracts. DOL updates the system

to incorporate new or revised FAR clauses.



14. For each system identified in response to Request No. 13, explain how it interacts with

any business or accounting system identified in response to Request No.1.

EPS has a direct interface to NCFMS. EPS transmits financial commitment and obligation

information to NCFMS.

15. For each system identified in response to Request No. 13, state whether information

found in that system is regularly or periodically submitted to any of he government-wide

contract management an d reporting systems, e.g., FPDS, FPDS-NG, FAPIIS, etc., and describe

how and at what intervals those submission occur, including descriptions ofboth automated and

manual processes.

EPS has the capability to transmit data to the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation

(FPDS-NG). As contract actions are awarded, DOL acquisition personnel regularly submit

award data from EPS to FPDS-NG.

16. For each system identified in response to Request No. 13, describe recent, current, and

planned migration or modernization projects.

Please see the answer to Request No.5.

17. In addition to your agency's submissions to government-wide contract management and

reporting systems, described in response to Request No. 15; does your agency publish any of he

same information online for public viewing? If o, describe how and in what format that

information is published.

DOL publishes Service Contract Inventory and Annual Acquisition Procurement Plan and

Forecast documents on the DOL website. Additionally, American Reinvestment and Recovery

Act data is made available on DOL's website, as well as the USA Spending andOMB MAX

websites.

18. Briefly describe your agency's efforts to comply with OMB's memorandum on the Open

Government Directive - Federal Spending Transparency, dated April 6, 2010. In particular,

describe whether and how your agency has begun to collect and report sub-award data, as

. required by the memorandum, and describe how your agency's reports on OivfB's data quality

metrics, as required by the memorandum, are generated..

In accordance with the FAR, reporting sub-award data is a prime contractor's responsibility.

DOL contracting offices have been provided guidance directing the use of FAR clause 52.204-10

in relevant DOL contracts.

For grants, DOL awards on or after October 1, 2010, include the requirement for sub-award

reporting which was published in the Federal Register on September 14, 2010. DOL grant

officers have also been directed to incorporate the sub-grantee reporting requirement in

appropriate grants.



With regard to compliance with OMB's data quality metrics, DOL is participating in an OMB

workgroup to develop date, quality standards to address agency reporting on timeliness,

completeness, and accuracy. DOL expects to implement these standards once they are finalized.

19. If our agency interacts directly with USASpendinggov, in addition to submitting

information to the systems thatfeed USASpendinggov, describe the nature, frequency, and

purposes of hat interaction.

DOL Federal assistance award data (i.e., grants and cooperative agreements) is manually

uploaded via the USASpending.gov Data Submission and Validation Tool on a monthly basis.

The infonnation is collected from DOL's E-Grants system and then manually uploaded. The

purpose of this transmission is to publically post the required information.

DOL Contract data is reported directly to USASpending from FPDS-NG.

20. Describe the data quality controls and procedures that your agency has implemented for

information that is submitted to USASpendinggov, including information submitted directly and

information submitted to one of he systems that feeds USASpendinggov.

DOL data quality controls include requiring data verification by an official one level above the

contract specialist to validate the accuracy of data contained in FPDS-NG, a feeder system to

USAS pending. 2:OV.

In addition, DOL participates in the annual OMB FPDS Data Quality exercise whereby random

sampling of all FPDS records are subjected to a thorough and supplemental review of the

contract file to identify any specific errors and negative trends in data quality.

Further, DOL participates in the Small Business Administration's (SBA) annual SBA FPDSAnomaly exercise. The SBA identifies any potential anomalies in the Contracting Officers'

business-size determination in the FPDS records. DOL then conducts an extensive evaluation of

each potential anomaly in an effort to identify and correct any errors.

21. State whether all ofyour agency's current grants, contracts, and loans are accurately

reflected on USASpendinggov, and, ifnot, estimate the percentage ofcurrent grants, contracts,

and loans that are not accurately reflected, using both the number of ransactions and dollar

figures .

A recent review ofDOL contract data contained in FPDS-NG revealed an estimated 96 percent

accuracy rate for FY 2010. The Department is taking appropriate steps to account for and reportthe remaining estimated 4 percent.

22. State whether your agency incurs any reporting burdens or costs as a result of ts

obligations under the Federal Financial Assistance Transparency Act ("FFATA ") that it does

not incur as a result ofother reporting obligations, and estimate those burdens and costs in

worker-hours and dollars.



DOL's E-Grants system does not provide for a direct reporting link to USASpendng.gov.

Therefore, an additional burden is placed on staff to collect data from the E-Grants system and

format the data as required by the Data Submission and Validation Tool. Approximately 10

hours per month is spent exclusively on the process of formatting and uploading the data.

Additionally, the quality review standards for FFATA data are currently being formulated by

ONIB and the vast majority of the grant agreements for the Department were awarded prior to the

implementation of FFA TA. Therefore, the actual costs and burden are not yet known.

At this time, the estimated cost of the burden is approximately $668,400, or approximately 6.5

full-time equivalent positions.

23. Identify the individual(s) who servers) as Senior Accountable Official(s) ("SAO 0) over

federal spending data quality for your agency, as defined by OJYfB .

I am DOL's Senior Accountable Official.

I f you have any questions regarding DOL's response, you may contact Patrick Findlay in DOL's

Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at 202-693-4600.

Sincerely,

~ . T a Y l o r V,e fF inanc i a lO lcer

cc: The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings

Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

The Honorable Edolphus Towns

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Government Organization, Efficiency and Financial.

Management

The Honorable Dennis Kucinich

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and

Government Spending

The Honorable Gerry Cormolly

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental

Relations and Procurement

Documents

DOL Response