Report 2016-124 Recommendation 1 Responses

Report 2016-124: Department of General Services and California Department of Technology: Neither Entity Has Provided the Oversight Necessary to Ensure That State Agencies Consistently Use the Competitive Bidding Process (Release Date: June 2017)

Recommendation #1 To: General Services, Department of

To improve its oversight of the State's noncompetitive contracts, General Services should immediately ensure that agencies enter accurate and complete contract information into FI$Cal. For example, General Services should regularly select contracts from agencies and verify the accuracy and completeness of the related entries in FI$Cal.

6-Month Agency Response

General Services (DGS) is now monitoring FI$Cal SCPRS reporting to ensure that agencies are entering accurate and complete contract information into FI$Cal. In June 2017, the Purchasing Authority Unit (PAU) began reviewing a sample of contracts from an initial six state agencies to verify the accuracy and completeness of the related entries in FI$Cal. The PAU has since issued 11 Purchasing Authority Approval Letters. They are also continuing to review samples of contracts, to verify the accuracy and completeness of FI$Cal SCPRS entries, for scheduled state agencies on an ongoing basis as part of the Purchasing Authority Accreditation process. In addition, as of September 2017, DGS' Office of Audit Services, in collaboration with the PAU, began reviewing samples of agencies' contract files and FI$Cal SCPRS data to ensure accurate and complete data is reported.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

60-Day Agency Response

DGS continues to monitor FI$Cal SCPRS reporting to ensure that agencies are entering accurate and complete contract information into FI$Cal. In June 2017, the Purchasing Authority Unit (PAU) began reviewing a sample of contracts from an initial six state agencies to verify the accuracy and completeness of the related entries in FI$Cal. The PAU will continue to review samples of contracts to verify the accuracy and completeness of FI$Cal SCPRS entries from additional state agencies on an ongoing basis as part of the Purchasing Authority Accreditation process. Further, the PAU has scheduled additional training sessions with DGS' Office of Audit Services in collaboration for reviewing samples of agencies' contract files and FI$Cal SCPRS data to ensure accurate and complete data is reported.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2016-124

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.