ABSTRACT

On March 29, 1968, the Department of the Interior requested formal approval of the principles and standards proposed for the accounting system of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Accountants of the Financial Management Group of the General Accounting Office (GAO) examined the accounting manuals containing BLM's principles and standards statement to determine its conformity to GAO specifications. In light of the importance of data-processing functions systems in the accounting function, immediate steps were taken to communicate with the Denver Service Center where BLM's accounting functions were centralized. In the Comptroller General's letter, in which BLM's accounting system design was formally approved, a caution was directed to the bureau. Recognizing that BLM was blatantly defying the law by disregarding statutory regulations, the GAO contemplated possible corrective action. However, BLM retained the approval status of its accounting system because the GAO decided to use its resources elsewhere.