Fund Administration
About Fund Administration:
- Fund Adminstration Overview
- How the Universal Service Fund Works
- Purpose of the Universal Service Fund
- Understanding Audits
Fund Administration Tools:
Understanding Audits
USAC must do all it can to protect the Universal Service Fund (USF) from waste, fraud, and abuse. USAC has developed an extensive system of internal controls and provides Whistleblower Hotlines for reporting allegations of misapplied Program funds or potential Program violations to protect the integrity of the USF.
USAC also conducts random and targeted audits of participants in the four USF Programs – High Cost, Low Income, Rural Health Care, and Schools and Libraries – as well as contributors to the USF. USAC works with the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to plan and conduct audits of USAC, the USF, the four Programs, and contributors. USAC has a well-trained Internal Audit Division and also engages outside firms to conduct audits on USAC’s behalf.
Follow the links below or use the right-hand links above to learn about how audits are conducted for each of the Programs.
High Cost Program – Understanding Audits
Low Income Program – Understanding Audits
Rural Health Care Program – Understanding Audits
Schools and Libraries Program – Understanding Audits
Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA) Audits
The FCC has determined that the USF is subject to the requirements of the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA), which requires federal agencies to review programs and activities they administer and identify those that may be susceptible to significant erroneous payments.
Specifically, IPIA focuses on disbursements of federal funds made by a federal agency, contractor, or an organization administering a federal program or activity. In an effort to assist the FCC in complying with IPIA and to continue to protect the integrity of the USF, USAC engaged numerous audit firms that conducted 460 randomly selected audits during 2006 and 2007.
The audit firms retained by USAC provided opinions as to whether a random sample of USF participants received improper payments as defined by the IPIA or are otherwise in compliance with the FCC’s rules and regulations governing the USF and the Programs. In addition to these randomly selected audits, USAC continued to perform targeted audits.
The random sample of 460 audits was selected by professional statisticians to ensure that it included a sufficient cross-section of USF participants to permit extrapolation of the results of the audits to the total population of USF participants. As a result, the cross-section of audited entities included some who sought but did not receive funding, some who may have received a small amount of funding, as well as some of the largest USF participants. The audits were “compliance attestation” examinations performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards (GAS) as promulgated by the Comptroller General of the United States. The period examined included disbursements received during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005 or, in the case of contributors to the USF, calendar year 2005 revenue information as reported on the 2006 FCC Form 499-A (Annual Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet).
