United States

House of

Representatives

Financial

Audit Report

Audit of the Financial Statements 

for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2014

May 20, 2015 | Report No. 15-HSW-04

2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Office of Inspector General Audit Report Summary .......................................................................... 3

Management’s Discussion and Analysis ..............................................................................................7

Independent Auditor’s Report..............................................................................................................15

Chief Administrative Officer’s Audit Report Response .................................................................... 35

Fiscal Year 2014 Financial Statements................................................................................................ 43

Consolidated Balance Sheets............................................................................................................. 46

Consolidated Statements of Net Cost.................................................................................................47

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Net Position........................................................................ 48

Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources ................................................................................ 49

Notes to the Financial Statements.......................................................................................................51

Required Supplementary Information ................................................................................................ 75

Other Information................................................................................................................................. 79
2 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Office of Inspector General Audit Report Summary | 3

Office of Inspector General 

Audit Report Summary
4 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Office of Inspector General Audit Report Summary | 5

1 

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

To the Inspector General 

U.S. House of Representatives 

In our audits of the 2014 and 2013 financial statements of the U.S. House of Representatives (House), 

we found: 

• The financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, are 

presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting 

principles; 

• No material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and compliance as of 

September 30, 2014; 

• Three significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 

2014; and 

• No reportable noncompliance in fiscal year 2014 with the provisions of applicable laws, 

regulations, and contracts we tested. 

The following sections discuss in more detail (1) our report on the House financial statements and on 

required supplementary information and other information included with the financial statements; (2) 

our report on the House’s internal control over financial reporting; (3) our report on compliance with

laws, regulations, and contracts; and (4) the House’s comments on a draft of this report. 

REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of the House as of September 30, 2014 

and 2013, and the related consolidated statements of net cost, consolidated statements of changes in 

net position, and combined statements of budgetary resources for the years then ended, and the 

related notes to the financial statements. 

Management’s Responsibility for the Financial Statements

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in 

accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; this includes 

the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair 

presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or

error. 

Auditor’s Responsibility 

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We 

conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of 

America; standards applicable to financial statement audits contained in Government Auditing 

Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; and as applicable, Office of 
6 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Management’s Discussion and Analysis (unaudited) | 7

Management’s Discussion 

and Analysis
8 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Management’s Discussion and Analysis (unaudited) | 9

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

FISCAL YEAR 2014

Introduction

Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MDA) provides 

a high level overview of the origin and mission of the U.S. 

House of Representatives. Fiscal Year 2014 (October 1, 2013 

– September 30, 2014) coincided with sessions of the 113th 

U.S. Congress.

Origin, History, and Mission

The U.S. House of Representatives (House) is one of 

two legislative chambers that comprise the Congress of 

the United States (the other is the U.S. Senate). Article I, 

Section 1 of the Constitution, adopted by the Constitutional 

Convention on September 17, 1787, created and vested all 

legislative powers to the Congress. 

Location, Size, and Organization

The House chamber is located in the U.S. Capitol in 

Washington, DC. Other House administrative buildings in 

Washington, DC include the Cannon, Longworth, Rayburn, 

and Ford House Office Buildings; and the O’Neill Federal 

building. 

Law fixes the number of voting representatives in the 

House at no more than 435, proportionally representing 

the population of the 50 states. Also referred to as a 

congressman or congresswoman, each representative is 

elected to a two-year term serving the people of a specific 

congressional district. Among other duties, representatives 

introduce bills and resolutions, offer amendments and serve 

on committees. To be elected, a representative must be at 

least 25 years old, a United States citizen for at least seven 

years and an inhabitant of the state he or she represents.

Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution provides for 

both the minimum and maximum sizes for the House 

of Representatives. Currently, there are five delegates 

representing the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, 

Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 

the Northern Mariana Islands. A resident commissioner 

represents Puerto Rico. The delegates and resident 

commissioner possess the same powers as other members of 

the House, except that they may not vote when the House is 

meeting as the House of Representatives. 

The Rules of the House, adopted at the beginning of each 

new Congress, allow for the creation of standing and special 

and select committees. The Committees of the House under 

113th Congress are: 

Committee on Agriculture

Committee on Appropriations

Committee on Armed Services

Committee on the Budget

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

Committee on Energy and Commerce

Committee on Ethics 

Committee on Financial Services

Committee on Foreign Affairs

Committee on Homeland Security

Committee on House Administration

Committee on the Judiciary

Committee on Natural Resources

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Committee on Rules

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

Committee on Small Business

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

Committee on Ways and Means

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Select Committee on Benghazi

The joint committees are: the Joint Economic Committee, 

the Joint Committee on the Library, the Joint Committee on 

Printing and the Joint Committee on Taxation.
10 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

House Leadership

Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution states, “The House 

of Representatives shall chuse (sic) their Speaker and other 

officers.” In addition to the Speaker, each political party in 

the House has a leadership hierarchy, typically including 

a Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Majority Whip, and 

Minority Whip. 

House Officers and Organizations

Rule II of the Rules of the House for the 113th Congress 

provided for the election of four officers to support 

House operations: a Clerk, a Sergeant-at-Arms, a Chief 

Administrative Officer and a Chaplain. The Rules of the 

House also established the Offices of Inspector General, 

Historian and General Counsel.

Under House Rule II, the Chief Administrative Officer 

has “operational and financial responsibility for functions 

as assigned by the Committee on House Administration 

and shall be subject to the oversight of the Committee on 

House Administration.” According to Committee on House 

Administration records, the Chief Administrative Office 

has been designated as the disbursing officer for the House 

of Representatives since July 1, 1995. Additionally, House 

Rule II requires the Chief Administrative Officer to “fully 

cooperate with the appropriate offices and persons in the 

performance of reviews and audits of financial records and 

administrative operations.” Accordingly, an audit of the 

financial statements of the House, as prepared by the Chief 

Administrative Officer, is performed annually.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

Basis of Accounting and Presentation

The FY 2014 financial statements present the financial 

position, net cost of operations, changes in net position and 

budgetary resources of the House. These statements have 

been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted 

Accounting Principles (GAAP) issued by the Federal 

Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) and the 

applicable form and content requirements of the Office 

of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Circular No. A-136, 

Financial Reporting Requirements. 

The House’s accounting structure, in accordance with 

GAAP, utilizes both accrual and budgetary accounting. 

Under accrual accounting, events are recognized as they 

occur, as opposed to when cash is received or disbursed. 

Therefore, revenues are recorded when earned and expenses 

are recorded when a liability is incurred, without regard to 

receipt or payment of cash. The budgetary accounting, on 

the other hand, facilitates compliance with legal constraints 

on, and controls over, the use of Federal funds

Budgetary Resources

The House finances most of its operations through 

congressional appropriations of budget authority. To the 

extent that revenue generated by some House entities does 

not cover expenses, appropriations are required. The House 

receives annual, multi-year and no-year appropriations 

that may be used, within statutory limits, for operating 

and capital expenditures. A financing source is recognized 

for these appropriated funds received, less appropriations 

transferred or not available through rescission or 

cancellation. The House usually receives the full amount 

of its appropriation at the beginning of each fiscal year as 

stated in the public law. The House reported total budgetary 

resources for FY 2014 of $1.5 billion, up 3 percent from 

FY 2013. The House reported $86 million of total unpaid 

obligated balances as of September 30, 2014.

2014: $1.233B

2014: $1.269B

2014: $1.462B

2013: $1.268B

2013: $1.284B

2013: $1.425B

$0.0B $0.5B $1.0B $1.5B

Net

Outlays

Obligations

Incurred

Total Budgetary

3% Resources

-1%

-3%

Obligations Incurred decreased by $15 million in FY 2014. 

Net Outlays decreased by $35 million in FY 2014.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis (unaudited) | 11

Balance Sheet 

Condensed Balance Sheet Data

Dollars in Millions 2014 2013 % Change

Fund Balance with 

Treasury $279 $217 29%

Property and 

Equipment, Net 19 27 -30%

Other Assets 6 8 -25%

Total Assets $304 $252 21%

Accounts Payable 28 28 0%

Actuarial Federal 

Employees’ 

Compensation Act 

Liabilities 35 39 -10%

Other Liabilities 17 18 -6%

Total Liabilities $80 $85 -6%

Unexpended 

Appropriations 217 159 36%

Cumulative Results of 

Operations 7 8 -13%

Total Net Position $224 $167 34%

Total Liabilities and 

Net Position $304 $252 21%

Total Assets – The House reported total assets of $304 

million as of September 30, 2014, a 21 percent increase from 

prior year total assets of $252 million. The Fund Balance 

with Treasury (FBwT) of $279 million represents the 

primary asset on the Balance Sheet of the House (92 percent 

of total assets). FBwT increased due to overall spending for 

FY 2014 being approximately $62 million less than the total 

House appropriation received of approximately $1 billion. 

The House typically does not spend its entire appropriation 

in the first year as funds are available for spending over a 

three year period from the time received.

Property and Equipment is the second largest asset, with a 

net balance of $19 million. The major items in this category 

include computer software and hardware, and equipment. 

The majority of the decrease of approximately $8 million 

can be attributed to normal depreciation taken on existing 

equipment and computer hardware with no significant 

capital asset additions for the current year.

Other Assets include Cash, Accounts Receivable, Inventory 

and Operating Materials and Supplies, and Advances 

and Prepayments. The 25% decrease in Other Assets is 

primarily due to a decrease in Prepayments

Total Liabilities – The House reported total liabilities 

of $80 million as of September 30, 2014, a 6 percent 

decrease from the prior year total of $85 million. The 

primary categories include Accounts Payable of $28 

million (35 percent of total liabilities) and Actuarial Federal 

Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) Liabilities of $35 

million (44 percent of total liabilities). Actuarial FECA 

Liabilities decreased due to an overall decrease in Workers’ 

Compensation expenses. 

Other Liabilities include categories such as Accrued 

Payroll and Benefits, Accrued Annual Leave, Capital Lease 

Liabilities, Employer Contributions and Payroll Taxes 

Payable, and Other Post Employment Benefits Due and 

Payable.

Total Net Position – The Net Position as of September 

30, 2014 was $224 million, an increase of $57 million 

(34 percent) from the prior fiscal year. The balance was 

primarily comprised of Unexpended Appropriations of $217 

million. The increase in net position is primarily due to an 

increase of $20 million in net appropriations received and a 

$24 million decrease in the appropriations used.

Statement of Net Cost

Net Cost of Operations – The Net Cost of Operations for 

FY 2014 was $1.5 billion, a 3 percent decrease from FY 

2013, primarily comprised of Legislative Activities.

Limitations of the Financial Statements

The principal financial statements have been prepared to 

report the financial position and results of operations of the 

entity. 

While the statements have been prepared from the books and 

records of the House of Representatives in accordance with 

GAAP for federal entities and in the formats prescribed by 

OMB, the statements are in addition to the financial reports 

used to monitor and control budgetary resources that are 

prepared from the same books and records. 

The statements should be read with the realization that they 

are for a component of the U.S. Government, a sovereign 

entity.
12 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Management’s Discussion and Analysis (unaudited) | 13

INTERNAL CONTROL ASSESSMENT

OMB Circular A-123 Appendix A Review

The Internal Control Assessment is a review of the design 

and operating effectiveness of key internal control activities 

for the CAO’s business processes, for safeguarding of assets, 

and for compliance with applicable laws and regulations. 

The Program follows a risk-based approach in determining 

the key controls to be assessed during the current year in 

accordance with Appendix A of OMB Circular A-123, 

Management’s Responsibility for Internal Control over 

Financial Reporting.

Under Rule II of the Rules of the U.S. House of 

Representatives (the House) for the 113th Congress, 

the CAO has “operational and financial responsibility 

for functions as assigned by the Committee on House 

Administration.” The Rule further requires the CAO to 

“fully cooperate with the appropriate offices and persons in 

performance of reviews and audits of financial records...”

A Senior Assessment Team (SAT) exists to provide senior 

management oversight for assessment of internal controls 

over financial reporting as they relate to budgetary and 

financial policies, standard operating procedures and 

business systems. The SAT conducts periodic meetings, 

as needed, to report on the findings and status to date, and 

discuss remediation efforts. The Internal Controls Program 

supports the SAT in performing the day-to-day functions of 

the program.

The SAT assessed and evaluated the CAO’s compliance 

with Appendix A of OMB Circular A-123 requirements 

as of June 30, 2014, and determined that the deficiencies 

related to property, plant, and equipment identified as of 

September 30, 2013 continued to be a material weakness. 

As of September 30, 2014, the material weakness had been 

reduced to a significant deficiency and the internal controls 

over financial reporting were operating effectively and 

no other material weaknesses were found in the design or 

operation of the internal control over financial reporting

Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Assessment 

for Previous Fiscal Year

Under House Rule II of the 112th Congress, the Office of the 

Inspector General (OIG) provides “audit, investigative, and 

advisory services to the House and joint entities in a manner 

consistent with government-wide standards.” For FY 2014, 

the OIG engaged Cotton & Company LLP to perform the 

external audit of the House’s financial statements. The 

House received an unmodified audit opinion for FY 2014 

(See Table 1).

Cotton & Company LLP did not report any material 

weakness in FY 2014. The audit report noted three 

significant deficiencies related to ineffective controls over 

property and equipment, the financial reporting process, and 

information technology. 

Table 1 – FY 2014 Summary of Financial Statement Audit

Audit Opinion Unmodified

Name of Material Weakness Beginning Balance New Resolved Consolidated Ending Balance

None 0 0 0 0 0
14 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

Property, Plant, and Equipment

In FY 2013 the CAO reported a material weakness related 

to Property, Plant and Equipment (PP&E) mainly because 

a comprehensive inventory of CAO PP&E assets was not 

performed in more than a few years. Fully depreciated 

assets with zero net book values in Note 5 – General 

Property and Equipment, Net were adjusted for about $45M 

following a preliminary inventory effort conducted during 

FY 2013. 

The material weakness reported in FY 2013 related to 

safeguarding of assets remained open as of June 30, 

2014. Corrective action plans had been identified and a 

significant portion of the action plan had been completed 

as of September 30, 2014. Additional action plans are in 

place to address implementation of related policies and 

procedures. These actions are planned for completion in FY 

2015. As such, the material weakness has been reduced to a 

significant deficiency as of September 30, 2014.

In FY 2014, the House performed an inventory of CAO 

property and equipment and identified property records 

totaling approximately $10 million that were physically 

disposed prior to FY 2013. The House also performed 

an evaluation of infrastructure wiring in FY 2014 and 

determined that wiring with an acquisition cost of 

approximately $18 million had been upgraded or replaced 

and the old wiring was no longer in service as of September 

30, 2013. As a result of the inventory of CAO property and 

equipment and the evaluation of infrastructure wiring, the 

House determined the itemized computer software and 

hardware, and equipment acquisition cost and accumulated 

depreciation were overstated. Since the CAO property and 

equipment and infrastructure wiring were fully depreciated 

and had no net book value, the Property and Equipment, Net 

line item was shown correctly on the Consolidated Balance 

Sheet for FY 2013 and there was no effect on the total 

assets, net cost of operations or net position. (See Table 2). 

Table 2 – FY 2014 Summary of Management Assurances

Effectiveness of Internal Control over Financial Reporting (FMFIA §2)

Audit Opinion Unmodified

Name of Material Weakness Beginning Balance New Resolved Consolidated Ending Balance

Property and Equipment 1 0 1 0 0
Independent Auditor’s Report | 15

Independent Auditor’s Report
16 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Independent Auditor’s Report | 17

1 

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

To the Inspector General 

U.S. House of Representatives 

In our audits of the 2014 and 2013 financial statements of the U.S. House of Representatives (House), 

we found: 

• The financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, are 

presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting 

principles; 

• No material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and compliance as of 

September 30, 2014; 

• Three significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 

2014; and 

• No reportable noncompliance in fiscal year 2014 with the provisions of applicable laws, 

regulations, and contracts we tested. 

The following sections discuss in more detail (1) our report on the House financial statements and on 

required supplementary information and other information included with the financial statements; (2) 

our report on the House’s internal control over financial reporting; (3) our report on compliance with

laws, regulations, and contracts; and (4) the House’s comments on a draft of this report. 

REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of the House as of September 30, 2014 

and 2013, and the related consolidated statements of net cost, consolidated statements of changes in 

net position, and combined statements of budgetary resources for the years then ended, and the 

related notes to the financial statements. 

Management’s Responsibility for the Financial Statements

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in 

accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; this includes 

the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair 

presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or

error. 

Auditor’s Responsibility 

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We 

conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of 

America; standards applicable to financial statement audits contained in Government Auditing 

Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; and as applicable, Office of 

1 

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

To the Inspector General 

U.S. House of Representatives 

In our audits of the 2014 and 2013 financial statements of the U.S. House of Representatives (House), 

we found: 

• The financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, are 

presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting 

principles; 

• No material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and compliance as of 

September 30, 2014; 

• Three significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 

2014; and 

• No reportable noncompliance in fiscal year 2014 with the provisions of applicable laws, 

regulations, and contracts we tested. 

The following sections discuss in more detail (1) our report on the House financial statements and on 

required supplementary information and other information included with the financial statements; (2) 

our report on the House’s internal control over financial reporting; (3) our report on compliance with

laws, regulations, and contracts; and (4) the House’s comments on a draft of this report. 

REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of the House as of September 30, 2014 

and 2013, and the related consolidated statements of net cost, consolidated statements of changes in 

net position, and combined statements of budgetary resources for the years then ended, and the 

related notes to the financial statements. 

Management’s Responsibility for the Financial Statements

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in 

accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; this includes 

the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair 

presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or

error. 

Auditor’s Responsibility 

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We 

conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of 

America; standards applicable to financial statement audits contained in Government Auditing 

Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; and as applicable, Office of 
18 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

2 

Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 14-02, Audit Requirements for Federal Financial 

Statements. Those standards and OMB Bulletin No. 14-02 require that we plan and perform the audit to 

obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material 

misstatement. 

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in 

the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor's judgment, including the 

assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or 

error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity's 

preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that

are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the 

effectiveness of the entity's internal control. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also

includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of 

significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of

the financial statements. 

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for 

our audit opinion. 

Opinion 

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the 

consolidated financial position of the House as of September 30, 2014 and 2013, and its consolidated 

net cost, consolidated changes in net position, and combined budgetary resources for the years then 

ended, in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. 

Other Matters 

Required Supplementary Information 

Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and as applicable, OMB 

Circular A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements, require that the Management’s Discussion and 

Analysis and other Required Supplementary Information be presented to supplement the basic financial 

statements. Such information, although not a part of the basic financial statements, is required by the 

Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board and OMB, who consider it to be an essential part of 

financial reporting for placing the basic financial statements in an appropriate operational, economic, 

and historical context. We have applied certain limited procedures to the required supplementary 

information in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. 

These procedures consisted of inquiries of management about the methods of preparing the 

information and comparing the information for consistency with management's responses to our 

inquiries, the basic financial statements, and other knowledge we obtained during our audit of the basic 

financial statements. We do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on the information 

because the limited procedures do not provide us with sufficient evidence to express an opinion or 

provide any assurance. 

Other Information 

Our audits were conducted for the purpose of forming an opinion on the basic financial statements as a

whole. The Schedule of Spending for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, is presented 

for purposes of additional analysis and is not a required part of the basic financial statements. This
Independent Auditor’s Report | 19

3 

information has not been subjected to auditing procedures and, accordingly, we do not express an 

opinion or provide any assurance on it. 

OTHER REPORTING REQUIRED BY GOVERNMENT AUDITING STANDARDS

Internal Control Over Financial Reporting and Compliance 

In planning and performing our audit of the FY 2014 financial statements, we considered the House's 

internal control over financial reporting (internal control) to determine the audit procedures that are 

appropriate in the circumstances for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements, 

but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the House’s internal control.

Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of the House’s internal control. 

A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow 

management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or 

detect and correct, misstatements on a timely basis. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a 

combination of deficiencies, in internal control, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material 

misstatement of the entity’s financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a 

timely basis. A significant deficiency is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control 

that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by those charged

with governance. 

Our consideration of internal control was for the limited purpose described in the first paragraph of this 

section and was not designed to identify all deficiencies in internal control that might be material 

weaknesses or significant deficiencies. Given these limitations, during our audit we did not identify any 

deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses. However, material 

weaknesses may exist that have not been identified. 

Significant Deficiencies

We identified the following deficiencies in the House’s internal control that we consider to be significant 

deficiencies. 

1. Ineffective Control Over Property and Equipment 

2. Ineffective Control Over the Financial Reporting Process 

3. Ineffective Control Over Information Technology 

These deficiencies in internal control are described in more detail in Appendix A. 

Limitations of Internal Control

Because of inherent limitations in internal control, misstatements due to error or fraud, losses, or 

noncompliance may nevertheless occur and not be detected. We also caution that projecting our 

evaluation to future periods is subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of 

changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with controls may deteriorate. 

COMPLIANCE

As part of obtaining reasonable assurance about whether the House’s financial statements are free from

material misstatement, we performed tests of its compliance with certain provisions of laws, 
20 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

4 

regulations, and contracts, noncompliance with which could have a direct and material effect on the 

determination of financial statement amounts. However, providing an opinion on compliance with those 

provisions was not an objective of our audit, and accordingly, we do not express such an opinion. 

We did not test compliance with all laws and regulations applicable to the House. We limited our tests

of compliance to those provisions of laws and regulations OMB audit guidance requires that we test and

we deemed applicable to the financial statements for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014. We 

caution that noncompliance may have occurred and may not have been detected by these tests, and 

that such testing may not be sufficient for other purposes. The results of our tests disclosed no instances 

of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing 

Standards or OMB audit guidance. 

HOUSE’S RESPONSE TO FINDINGS

The House’s response to the findings identified in our audit is included in Appendix B. The House 

concurred with the findings in our report. The House’s response was not subjected to the auditing 

procedures applied in the audit of the financial statements and, accordingly, we express no opinion on

it. 

PURPOSE OF THE OTHER REPORTING REQUIRED BY GOVERNMENT AUDITING STANDARDS

The purpose of this communication regarding Other Reporting Required by Government Auditing 

Standards is solely to describe the scope of our testing of internal control and compliance and the 

results of that testing, and not to provide an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control 

over financial reporting or on compliance. This communication is an integral part of an audit performed 

in accordance with Government Auditing Standards in considering the entity’s internal control and 

compliance. Accordingly, this communication is not suitable for any other purpose. 

COTTON & COMPANY LLP 

Meredith Shears, CPA 

Partner 

Alexandria, VA 

March 11, 2015 

 
Independent Auditor’s Report | 21

5 

APPENDIX A 

SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCIES NOTED DURING THE

FY 2014 FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT

 
22 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

6 

APPENDIX A 

SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCIES NOTED DURING THE

FY 2014 FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT

During our audit of the U.S. House of Representatives (House)’s fiscal year (FY) 2014 financial 

statements, we identified three significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting,

described in this appendix. We do not consider these deficiencies to be material weaknesses. 

Finding 1: Ineffective Control Over Property and Equipment 

Summary Status: Prior-Year Condition 

 Open 

In FY 2013, we reported deficiencies in the House’s internal control over the accuracy and completeness 

of property and equipment (property) records. During FY 2014, the House performed an inventory of 

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) property and reconciled the results of the inventory with 

the property records. Although the House made progress in addressing the previously reported internal 

control weaknesses, controls around the inventory and disposal processes still need improvement. 

Specifically, we identified the following areas in which controls over property are not effective and need 

improvement: 

1. Inventory controls are not properly designed and are not operating effectively. 

2. Disposals are not always recorded timely. 

The weaknesses collectively represent a significant deficiency. We discuss each of these areas below and 

provide our recommendations for improvement. 

1. Inventory controls are not properly designed and are not operating effectively. 

While the House improved its controls over the inventory process, further improvements are required 

to ensure that property records are complete and accurate, including implementing inventory policies 

and procedures. 

In FY 2014, the House contracted with a third-party vendor to perform an inventory count of 

accountable and capitalized property assigned to the CAO; however, the inventory did not include 

capitalized software and wiring, which have a significant value when combined. Based on this inventory, 

the House removed 120 assets with a total acquisition cost of approximately $10 million from the 

House’s core financial system, PeopleSoft. These assets had no residual net book value (NBV)1

. In 

addition, the House analyzed its capitalized wiring and identified $18 million in fully depreciated wiring 

that was obsolete and no longer in service and removed the wiring from PeopleSoft. The balance sheet 

was not affected because these assets were fully depreciated; however, as a result of these errors, the 

House was required to restate Note 5 – General Property and Equipment, Net because acquisition cost 

and accumulated depreciation for this property was overstated by $28 million.

During our audit, we performed existence testing on a sample of capitalized property recorded in 

PeopleSoft. While we were able to verify the existence of all sampled property that had a NBV, we found 

 

1

 NBV is the acquisition value of an asset less accumulated depreciation. A fully depreciated asset with no residual 

value will have a NBV of $0. 
Independent Auditor’s Report | 23

7 

that 4 of 20 fully depreciated non-CAO assets and 2 of 38 fully depreciated CAO assets did not exist or 

were incorrectly capitalized. We also performed completeness testing, in which we selected 51 capital 

and accountable assets and physically observed them to determine whether each was recorded in 

PeopleSoft. We found that the House had recorded 3 of the 51 sampled assets as disposed property. 

As a result of these errors, the amounts reported for Computer Software and Hardware acquisition cost 

and accumulated depreciation in Note 5 – General Property and Equipment, Net were understated by 

approximately $424,000. The House corrected this misstatement in the final FY 2014 financial 

statements. 

CAO-HIR policy number 003-08, HIR Asset Management and Inventory Control, states: 

To maintain the integrity of HIR inventory systems, a complete physical inventory of equipment 

by serial number and/or barcode shall be conducted annually for accountable items...a complete 

inventory for each employee and custodial area shall be printed and distributed annually during 

the month of February. 

The House’s Guide To Outfitting and Maintaining an Office of the U.S. House of Representatives 

states: 

Inventory Procedures: HSS shall maintain an inventory of all office equipment and district office 

furnishing items having an original purchase price of $500 or more assigned to each office, 

except as noted below. 

HSS shall perform a physical inventory of all office equipment items assigned to each 

Washington, DC office: 

1. Whenever a Member or Committee office relocates; or

2. Whenever there is a change in the office holder (Member or Chair); or 

3. At least once every six years 

Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) Statements on Federal Financial Accounting 

Standards (SFFAS) 6, Accounting for Property, Plant, and Equipment, states: 

In the period of disposal, retirement, or removal from service, general PP&E [property] shall be 

removed from the asset accounts along with associated accumulated depreciation/amortization. 

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)’s Standards for Internal Control in the Federal 

Government states: 

A subset of these objectives is the safeguarding of assets. Internal control should be designed to 

provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention of or prompt detection of unauthorized 

acquisition, use, or disposition of an agency’s assets. 

We recommend that the CAO continue its efforts to improve the design and effectiveness of internal 

controls over property and equipment to ensure that property records are complete and accurate and 

that inventories are completed regularly, completely, and timely. 

 
24 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

8 

2. Disposals are not always recorded timely. 

The House does not have effective controls in place to ensure that disposals are recorded in PeopleSoft 

in a timely manner. In FY 2014, we tested a sample of ten asset disposals and found that two of the ten 

were not recorded in PeopleSoft in a timely manner. These property items were physically disposed in 

prior fiscal years, but the disposal was not recorded in PeopleSoft until House personnel identified the 

items as missing during FY 2014. 

Because of this internal control weakness, the House’s property records may not be complete and 

accurate. This increases the risk of misstatements in the House’s financial statements. 

Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) Statements on Federal Financial Accounting 

Standards (SFFAS) 6, Accounting for Property, Plant, and Equipment, states: 

In the period of disposal, retirement, or removal from service, general PP&E [property] shall be 

removed from the asset accounts along with associated accumulated depreciation/amortization. 

GAO’s Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government states: 

Transactions should be promptly recorded to maintain their relevance and value to management 

in controlling operations and making decisions. This applies to the entire process or life cycle of a 

transaction or event from the initiation and authorization through its final classification in 

summary records. In addition, control activities help to ensure that all transactions are 

completely and accurately recorded. 

Internal control and all transactions and other significant events need to be clearly documented, 

and the documentation should be readily available for examination. The documentation should 

appear in management directives, administrative policies, or operating manuals and may be in 

paper or electronic form. All documentation and records should be properly managed and 

maintained. 

We recommend that the CAO improve controls over disposals by: 

• Reviewing and updating existing standard operating procedures to ensure that property 

disposals are processed in PeopleSoft timely, completely, and accurately. 

• Ensuring that all employees responsible for disposing property receive training on the CAO’s 

standard operating procedures. 

Finding 2: Ineffective Control Over the Financial Reporting Process

Summary Status: Significant Deficiency 

 Prior-Year Condition 

 Open 

Since FY 2009, we have reported that the House does not have effective controls over financial 

reporting. During FY 2014, the House made additional progress in addressing previously identified 

errors; however, we identified the following areas within financial reporting in which controls are not 

effective and improvements are needed: 

1. The House is not always adhering to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). 
Independent Auditor’s Report | 25

9 

2. Amounts in the Schedule of Spending (SOS) are not always properly classified as “Federal” or 

“Non-Federal.” 

These weaknesses collectively represent a significant deficiency. We discuss each of these areas below

and provide our recommendations for improvement. 

1. The House is not always adhering to GAAP. 

During FY 2014, we identified two areas in which the House did not have sufficient internal control to

ensure that amounts were reported in accordance with GAAP. Specifically, we found the following: 

Corrections of Errors 

The House does not have adequate internal control to ensure that corrections of errors are properly 

evaluated and reported. In FY 2014, the House performed a physical inventory of all CAO property aside

from software and wiring and identified approximately $10 million in fully depreciated property that did 

not exist as of September 30, 2014. These disposals occurred prior to FY 2013; however, the Office of 

Accounting (Accounting) did not properly evaluate the error in accordance with GAAP to determine 

whether it was related to the prior fiscal year. As a result, the FY 2013 amount reported for the 

Computer Software and Hardware line in Note 5 – General Property and Equipment, Net was overstated 

by approximately $10 million. 

Upon notification by and discussion with the auditors, the House corrected this amount in FY 2013 Note

5 – General Property and Equipment, Net and disclosed the restatement in Note 20 – Restatements. 

FASAB SFFAS 21, Reporting Correction of Errors and Changes in Accounting Principles, Amendment of 

SFFAS 7, Accounting for Revenue and Other Financing Sources, states: 

Errors in financial statements result from mathematical mistakes, mistakes in the application of 

accounting principles, or oversight or misuse of facts that existed at the time the financial 

statements were prepared. When errors are discovered after the issuance of financial 

statements, and if the financial statements would be materially misstated absent correction of 

the errors, corrections should be made as follows: 

If comparative financial statements are presented, then the error should be corrected in the 

earliest affected period presented by correcting any individual amounts on the financial 

statements. If the earliest period presented is not the period in which the error occurred and the 

cumulative effect is attributable to period periods, then the cumulative effect should be reported 

as a prior period adjustment. The adjustment should be made to the beginning balance of 

cumulative results of operations, in the statement of changes in net position for the earliest 

period presented. 

We recommend that the CAO improve internal controls over financial reporting to ensure that errors 

are properly evaluated and reported in accordance with GAAP. 

Litigation and Unasserted Claims 

The House does not have effective internal controls in place to ensure that pending or threatened 

litigation and unasserted claims involving the House are properly reported in the financial statements in 
26 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

10 

accordance with GAAP. During FY 2014, a legal matter that settled for $2.5 million, to be paid from the 

Treasury Judgment Fund, was not recorded in the financial statements as an imputed financing source 

and related expense. As a result, the following financial statement lines were misstated by $2.5 million: 

• Statement of Change in Net Position – Imputed Financing from Costs Absorbed by Others was 

understated 

• Statement of Net Costs – Legislative Gross Costs was understated 

In addition, Note 10 – Commitments and Contingencies did not include disclosures for six cases in which

there was a reasonable possibility that a future loss may be incurred. 

Upon notification by and discussion with the auditor, the House made the necessary corrections for the

above-noted misstatements in the final FY 2014 financial statements. 

FASAB SFFAS 12, Recognition of Contingent Liabilities Arising from Litigation: An Amendment of SFFAS 5,

Accounting for Liabilities of the Federal Government, states: 

A contingent liability should be recognized when all of these three conditions are met: a past 

event or exchange transaction has occurred; a future outflow or other sacrifice of resources is 

probable; and the future outflow of resources is measurable... 

A contingent liability should be disclosed if any of the conditions for liability recognition are not 

met and there is at least a reasonable possibility that a loss or an additional loss may have been 

incurred. “Disclosure” in this context refers to reporting information in notes regarded as a 

integral part of the basic financial information... 

Disclosure should include the nature of the contingency and an estimate of the possible liability, 

an estimate of the range of the possible liability, or a statement that such an estimate cannot be 

made. 

In addition, Interpretation of Federal Financial Accounting Standards 2, Accounting for Treasury 

Judgment Fund Transactions, states: 

The Federal entity’s management, as advised by the Justice Department, must determine 

whether it is probable that a legal claim will end in a loss for the Federal entity and the loss is 

estimable. If the loss is probable and estimable, the entity would recognize an expense and 

liability for the full amount of the expected loss. The expense and liability would be adjusted 

periodically, as necessary, based on any changes in the estimated loss. The Federal entity 

involved in the litigations shall discuss in a footnote to the financial statements the Judgment 

Fund’s role in the payment of a possible loss... 

Once the claim is either settled or a court judgment is assessed against the Federal entity and 

the Judgment Fund is determined to be the appropriate source for the payment of the claim, the 

liability should be removed from the financial statements of the entity that incurred the liability 

and an “other financing source” amount (which represents the amount to be paid by the 

Judgment Fund) would be recognized. 
Independent Auditor’s Report | 27

11 

We recommend that the CAO implement policies and procedures to ensure pending or threatened 

litigation and unasserted claims are reported in accordance with general accepted accounting principles. 

2. Amounts in the SOS are not always properly classified as “Federal” or “Non-Federal.” 

The House does not have effective internal controls in place to ensure that spending presented in the 

SOS is properly classified and is consistent with the basic financial statements. Accounting classified 

Members’ gross payroll spending as “Federal” in the “Where did the Money go to” section of the SOS. 

Because this spending was provided to a non-federal entity, it should have been classified as “NonFederal,” consistent with information contained in the basic financial statements. As a result, the 

“Federal” amounts were overstated by $76.3 million, and the “Non-Federal” amounts were understated 

by this same amount. 

Upon notification by and discussion with the auditors, the House made the necessary corrections in the

final FY 2014 SOS. 

GAO’s Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government states: 

Internal control should provide reasonable assurance that the objectives of the agency are being 

achieved in the following categories: 

• Effectiveness and efficiency of operations including the use of the entity’s resources. 

• Reliability of financial reporting, including reports on budget execution, financial 

statements, and other reports for internal and external use. 

• Compliance with applicable laws and regulation. 

We recommend that the CAO improve internal controls over financial reporting to ensure that spending 

presented in the SOS is properly classified and is consistent with information contained in the basic 

financial statements. 

Finding 3: Ineffective Control Over Information Technology

Summary Status: Significant Deficiency 

 Prior-Year Condition 

 Open 

During FY 2014, the House continued to improve its controls over information technology (IT). It 

successfully remediated prior-year issues concerning security control assessments and contingency 

planning; however, full implementation of a risk management framework, including maintenance of 

system security plans (SSPs), implementation of baseline configurations, and tracking of information 

security weaknesses, is still in progress. We first identified and reported the issues concerning the risk 

management framework in FY 2009. In addition, there are still other areas for improvement in 

strengthening controls surrounding the completeness, accuracy, and reliability of financial data. 

We noted the following conditions related to internal controls over information systems, which 

collectively represent a significant deficiency in the control environment: 

1. The House has not fully implemented procedures to ensure that all major systems within its IT 

environment have undergone a risk management process. 
28 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

12 

2. The House has not fully developed and maintained SSPs for major financial systems. 

3. The House has not fully developed or implemented a process for identifying, tracking, and 

remediating all known security weaknesses and incidents. 

4. The House has not adequately designed and implemented audit logging and monitoring controls 

for financial applications. 

5. The House has not adequately configured and monitored security configuration baselines. 

6. The House does not actively monitor and review access to PeopleSoft shared group accounts. 

7. The House permitted a developer to retain access to the production environment of PeopleSoft. 

We discuss each of these areas below and provide our recommendations for improvement. 

1. The House has not fully implemented procedures to ensure that all major systems within its IT 

environment have undergone a risk management process. 

The House did not complete risk management framework activities in accordance with National Institute 

of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidance for PeopleSoft, Human Resource Information Systems 

(HRIS), the House Network, and Active Directory. Specifically, SSPs continue to need improvement, 

control assessment processes are not fully implemented, and the continuous monitoring program has 

not been finalized. As a result of these limitations, all in-scope systems authorized in FY 2014 received 

only “Limited Authority to Operate” (LATO). 

During 2014, the CAO did achieve a significant milestone in the implementation of a formal risk 

management framework by finalizing the following risk management framework policies and 

procedures: 

• House Information Security Policy (HISPOL) 007.0, The United States House of Representatives 

Risk Management Framework Policy

• House Information Security Publication (HISPUB) 007.2, The United States House of 

Representatives Information Security Publication – Risk Management Framework for CAO 

Information Systems

Without completing Security Assessment and Authorization (SA&A) activities, management cannot 

obtain adequate assurance that the general IT environment and all information systems are operating 

with an acceptable amount of risk. 

NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-37, Revision 1, Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to

Federal Information Systems: A Security Life Cycle Approach, requires that organizational officials, in 

collaboration with the senior information security officer, assess the information provided by the system 

owner or common control provider regarding the current security state of the system and make 

recommendations for addressing any residual risks. Risk assessments are employed at the discretion of 

the organization to provide needed information on threats, vulnerabilities, and potential impacts, as 

well as the analyses for risk mitigation recommendations. 
Independent Auditor’s Report | 29

13 

We recommend that the CAO: 

• Implement and enforce a risk management framework utilizing the recently approved risk 

management framework policies and procedures.

• Undergo a security assessment process, to include risk assessments, in accordance with House 

policy and industry best practices for federal information systems, to ensure that management’s 

authorizing officials are provided with adequate information to make system authorization 

decisions. 

2. The House has not fully developed and maintained SSPs for major financial systems. 

We found that the House has not fully developed and maintained SSPs for major financial systems in 

accordance with House policy and industry best practices. During FY 2014, the House did update SSPs 

for all in-scope applications. The House Network and Active Directory were consolidated into one 

General Support System (GSS) SSP, while the in-scope financial applications (i.e., PeopleSoft, HRIS, and 

FinMart) were consolidated into the Major Applications SSP. Despite these updates, issues persist with

the SSPs. Specifically, we noted the following issues: 

• Common controls are identified extensively throughout the SSPs; however, these common 

controls have not yet fully undergone the SA&A process, and the controls have not been 

documented. Management therefore does not have a full understanding of system risk, as there 

may be controls that are not fully implemented. 

• All in-scope systems were granted only LATO due to significant issues with SSP documentation. 

Specifically, the chief information security officer (CISO) had reservations surrounding common 

controls, categorization of controls, and documentation detail. 

During FY 2014, CAO management finalized policies and procedures that provide guidance regarding the 

implementation of a risk management framework as outlined by NIST SP 800-37, Revision 1, including 

minimum security control selection, scoping, and tailoring; however, these new policies and procedures

have not been completely implemented and institutionalized as part of a recurring information security

process. As a result, there is an increased risk that potential threats and vulnerabilities will go 

unmitigated due to a lack of security controls commensurate with the risk of the system security 

categorization. 

In accordance with NIST SP 800-18, Revision 1, Guide for Developing Security Plans for Federal 

Information Systems, agencies must meet the minimum security requirements of Federal Information 

Processing Standard (FIPS) 200. These requirements represent a broad-based, balanced information 

security program that addresses the management, operational, and technical aspects of protecting the 

confidentiality, integrity, and availability of federal information and information systems. Agencies meet 

the minimum security requirements in FIPS 200 by applying security controls selected in accordance 

with NIST SP 800-53, Revision 3, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems and 

Organizations, and with the designated impact levels of the information systems. 

We recommend that the CAO document and implement policies and procedures that provide guidance 

regarding the implementation of a risk management framework as outlined by NIST SP 800-37, Revision 

1, including system security categorization, minimum security control selection, scoping, and tailoring. 
30 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

14 

3. The House has not fully developed or implemented a process for identifying, tracking, and 

remediating all known security weaknesses and incidents. 

The House has not developed or implemented a process for identifying and tracking all known security 

weaknesses and incidents across the agency, or for ensuring that appropriate corrective action is taken. 

We did note that the House developed a formal Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) process in FY 

2014, as documented in the CAO Guidelines for the Creation and Maintenance of Plan of Action and 

Milestones. We also noted that the House updated POA&Ms for all in-scope systems, including the 

House Network, Active Directory, PeopleSoft, HRIS, and FinMart; however, the POA&Ms were 

incomplete and were missing a significant portion of the required fields, including: 

• Responsible Resources 

• Planned Completion Date 

• Action Plan/Milestones 

• Actual Completion Date 

• Remediation Funding 

• Issue Source 

HISPOL 007.0 requires that vulnerabilities identified during the review process of an application or 

device be documented and tracked throughout the remediation process. Identified vulnerabilities are 

prioritized based on the risk each poses. Once a vulnerability is identified, a corrective action should be 

formulated and a timeframe established for its implementation. 

We recommend that the CAO complete the implementation of the POA&M process by ensuring that 

each POA&M include: 

• Responsible Resources 

• Planned Completion Date 

• Action Plan/Milestones 

• Actual Completion Date 

• Remediation Funding 

• Issue Source 

4. The House has not adequately designed and implemented audit logging and monitoring controls 

for financial applications. 

We noted that PeopleSoft had inadequate monitoring of sensitive application transactions and table 

edits, as well as inappropriate separation of duties for security personnel reviewing system or 

application logs. We also noted inadequate logging and monitoring of FinMart infrastructure 

components. Specifically, we noted the following issues: 

• At an application level, the only auditable events in the PeopleSoft program that management 

actively monitors are failed logon attempts and security role changes. While management has 

established key fields and tables for trigger-based auditing, it does not actively monitor and 

review these logs. 

• The UNIX administrators supporting PeopleSoft, all of whom have SUDO access to root on the 

production application, web, and database Solaris servers, are responsible for both the 

administration of the operating system and the monitoring of operating system security logs. 
Independent Auditor’s Report | 31

15 

This represents a separation-of-duties conflict, as the administrators are potentially reviewing 

their own actions. 

• CAO management does not log and monitor the modification or deletion of content in SQL 

Server Agent jobs on the FinMart production SQL server. SQL Server Agent jobs manage the 

daily data transfer with PeopleSoft, as well as the system assurance job that ensures data 

integrity. 

We noted that CAO management was investigating application monitoring tools to address this issue in 

2014; however, procurement had not begun as of the end of FY 2014. 

CAO management has not developed policies and procedures documenting all aspects of audit logging 

and monitoring for financial applications. This increases the risk that suspicious activity affecting key 

financial data, whether intentional or unintentional, will not be detected in a timely manner, and that a 

single individual could engage in malicious activity that could remain undetected. 

In accordance with NIST SP 800-53, Revision 3, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information 

Systems and Organizations, organizations should determine, based on a risk assessment and 

mission/business needs, that the information system is capable of auditing organizationally-defined 

auditable events. The organization should review and analyze information system audit records for 

indications of inappropriate or unusual activity and report findings to designated organizational officials. 

Additionally, NIST SP 800-53, Revision 3 states that organizations should separate duties of individuals as 

necessary, to prevent malevolent activity without collusion. For example, security personnel who 

administer access control functions should not administer audit functions. 

We recommend that the CAO develop and implement audit logging and monitoring policies and 

procedures for PeopleSoft and FinMart to ensure that management actively monitors audit logs for 

sensitive financial records and tables, as well as for key security activities, and that all reviews and any 

follow-up actions are documented. 

5. The House has not adequately configured and monitored security configuration baselines. 

During FY 2014, the House did not complete the implementation of security configuration baselines to 

correct deficiencies noted in prior years, including issues with the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and

UNIX configuration checklists. The CAO has completed checklists for Windows Server 2008 and Solaris 

11, and management is monitoring configuration baselines for Solaris using Trip Wire; however, they did 

not complete monitoring of the baseline configurations for the Windows servers during FY 2014. 

CAO management has not implemented a process to ensure that security configuration baselines are 

configured and monitored in accordance with industry best practices. As a result, settings deployed to

House operating systems and database management systems may not provide adequate security and 

protection. This increases the risk that the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of House data could 

be compromised. 

In accordance with NIST SP 800-53, Revision 3, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information 

Systems and Organizations, organizations should establish configuration settings for IT products 

employed within the information system that reflect the most restrictive mode consistent with 
32 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

16 

operational requirements, and monitor changes to the configuration settings in accordance with 

organizational policies and procedures. 

We recommend that the CAO implement a process to ensure that security configuration baselines are 

appropriately configured and monitored for all platforms, in accordance with industry best practices. 

6. The House does not actively monitor and review access to PeopleSoft shared group accounts. 

The House does not adequately monitor and review shared group accounts, including privileged 

administrator accounts. We noted three group accounts, two with administrative access and one used 

by the accounting department for accounts payable processing, that did not have proper oversight and 

accountability. The CAO has attempted to resolve this issue internally for the last two years, and in 2014, 

the CAO determined that an automated solution would best address this control. During 2014, CAO 

management began investigating application monitoring tools to address this issue; however, 

procurement had not begun as of the end of FY 2014. 

These issues are due to a lack of adequately established policies and procedures guiding the usage and

monitoring of PeopleSoft shared group accounts, including privileged administrator accounts. This lack

of policies and procedures increases the risk that inappropriate actions may be performed with a 

privileged account within the financial system and go undetected; even if inappropriate actions are 

detected, accountability for those actions cannot be determined. 

In accordance with NIST SP 800-53, Revision 3, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information 

Systems and Organizations, the information system should uniquely identify and authenticate 

organizational users or processes acting on behalf of organizational users. Unique identification of 

individuals in group accounts (e.g., shared privileged accounts) may need to be considered for detailed 

accountability of activity. 

We recommend that the CAO uniquely identify and authenticate users to the highest degree possible by 

establishing and implementing policies and procedures concerning audit logging and monitoring, 

including privileged administrator accounts. 

7. The House permitted a developer to retain access to the production environment of PeopleSoft. 

We identified a developer that is able to move code into the production environment. Specifically, this 

developer has both developer access within the PeopleSoft development environment and systems 

administrator access within the STAT server; as a result, the developer is able to move code from the 

STAT server into the PeopleSoft production environment. This represents a separation-of-duties issue. 

In accordance with NIST SP 800-53, Revision 4, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information 

Systems and Organizations, control AC-5, the organization should separate system developers from the 

ability to move code into production. 

Current PeopleSoft access restrictions do not prevent one of the developers from moving code from the 

development environment to the production environment. This increases the risk that a developer may 

move their own code into production without ensuring that is it reviewed and approved by the 

appropriate personnel. 
Independent Auditor’s Report | 33

17 

We recommend that the CAO change the access restrictions in the system to prevent individuals with 

development capabilities from being able to move code into production. 
34 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Chief Administrative Officer’s Audit Report Response | 35

Chief Administrative Officer’s 

Audit Report Response
36 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Chief Administrative Officer’s Audit Report Response | 37
38 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Chief Administrative Officer’s Audit Report Response | 39
40 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Chief Administrative Officer’s Audit Report Response | 41
42 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Fiscal Year 2014 Financial Statements | 43

Fiscal Year 2014 

Financial Statements
44 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Fiscal Year 2014 Financial Statements | 45

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT

The U.S. House of Representatives (House) has prepared 

financial statements for fiscal year (FY) 2014 in accordance 

with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles 

(GAAP) issued by the Federal Accounting Standards 

Advisory Board (FASAB) and the applicable form and 

content requirements of the Office of Management and 

Budget’s (OMB) Circular No. A-136, Financial Reporting 

Requirements. The responsibility for the integrity of the 

financial information included in these statements rests 

with management of the House. The audit of the House’s 

financial statements was performed by Cotton & Company 

LLP. The auditor’s report accompanies the financial 

statements.

The House’s financial statements for FY 2014 consisted of 

the following:

The Consolidated Balance Sheets, which present as of 

September 30, 2014 and 2013 those resources owned or 

managed by the House that are available to provide future 

economic benefits (assets); amounts owed by the House 

that will require payments from those resources or future 

resources (liabilities); and residual amounts retained by the 

House comprising the difference (net position).

The Consolidated Statements of Net Cost, which present 

the net cost of the House’s operations as of September 30, 

2014 and 2013. The House’s net cost of operations includes 

the gross costs incurred by the House less any exchange 

revenue earned from House activities. 

The Consolidated Statements of Changes in Net Position, 

which present the change in the House’s net position 

resulting from the net cost of the House’s operations, 

budgetary financing sources other than exchange revenues, 

and other financing sources as of September 30, 2014 

and 2013.

The Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources, 

which present the budgetary resources available to the 

House during FY 2014 and FY 2013, the status of these 

resources at September 30, 2014 and 2013, the change in 

obligated balance during FY 2014 and FY 2013, and net 

outlays of budgetary resources as of September 30, 2014 

and 2013.
46 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

As of September 30, 2014 and 2013

2014 2013

ASSETS

 Intergovernmental

Fund Balance with U.S. Treasury (Note 2) $ 278,582,522 $ 217,273,660 

Accounts Receivable, Net (Note 3) 66,614 63,034 

Advances and Prepayments (Note 7) 169,759 10,733 

Total Intragovernmental 278,818,895 217,347,427 

Cash and Other Monetary Assets (Note 2) 2,655 3,782 

Accounts Receivable, Net (Note 3) 370,883 493,500 

Inventory and Operating Materials and Supplies (Note 4) 1,197,223 1,323,008 

Property and Equipment, Net (Note 5) 19,208,430 26,796,857 

Advances and Prepayments (Note 7) 4,639,201 5,839,165 

Total Assets $ 304,237,287 $ 251,803,739 

 

Stewardship Property and Equipment (Note 6)

 

LIABILITIES

 Intragovernmental

Accounts Payable $ 4,529,826 $ 4,476,022 

Advances from Others 603,219 197,209 

Capital Lease Liabilities (Note 9) - 72,862 

Other Liabilities 2,361,598 2,165,654 

Total Intragovernmental 7,494,643 6,911,747 

Accounts Payable 23,158,599 23,997,401 

Actuarial Federal Employees’ Compensation Act Liabilities 35,349,785 38,506,935 

Accrued Payroll and Benefits 6,522,459 6,989,142 

Accrued Annual Leave 7,125,969 7,919,488 

Other Liabilities 77,556 261,983 

Total Liabilities (Note 8) $ 79,729,011 $ 84,586,696 

NET POSITION

Unexpended Appropriations $ 217,237,784 $ 159,014,711 

Cumulative Results of Operations 7,270,492 8,202,332 

Total Net Position $ 224,508,276 $ 167,217,043 

Total Liabilities and Net Position $ 304,237,287 $ 251,803,739 
Fiscal Year 2014 Financial Statements | 47

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF NET COST

For the Years Ended September 30, 2014 and 2013

2014 2013

NET COST OF OPERATIONS (Note 11)

Net Costs by Program Area

Legislative Activities

Gross Costs $ 1,485,227,505 $ 1,520,266,570 

Less: Earned Revenue (5,362,533) (3,557,267)

Net Program Costs 1,479,864,972 1,516,709,303 

Revolving Funds

Gross Costs 1,965,051 5,582,938 

Less: Earned Revenue (4,736,462) (5,266,751)

Net Program Costs (2,771,411) 316,187

Net Cost of Operations $ 1,477,093,561 $ 1,517,025,490 
48 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET POSITION

For the Years Ended September 30, 2014 and 2013

2014 2013

Cumulative Results of Operations

Beginning Balance $ 8,202,332 $ 34,706,575 

Budgetary Financing Sources

Appropriations Used 1,235,297,710 1,259,270,279 

Nonexchange Revenue 33,950 36,450 

Donations - 150 

Other Adjustments - 159,789 

Other Financing Sources

Imputed Financing from Costs Absorbed

 by Others (Note 15) 241,196,971 231,388,782 

Other Adjustments (366,910) (334,203)

Total Financing Sources 1,476,161,721 1,490,521,247 

Net Cost of Operations (1,477,093,561) (1,517,025,490)

Net Change (931,840) (26,504,243)

Total Cumulative Results of Operations $ 7,270,492 $ 8,202,332 

Unexpended Appropriations

Beginning Balance $ 159,014,711 $ 148,024,167 

Budgetary Financing Sources

Appropriations Received 1,295,494,000 1,340,438,000 

Appropriations Transferred-In/Out - (3,037,202)

Other Adjustments (1,973,217) (67,139,975)

Appropriations Used (1,235,297,710) (1,259,270,279)

Total Budgetary Financing Sources 58,223,073 10,990,544 

Total Unexpended Appropriations $ 217,237,784 $ 159,014,711 

Net Position $ 224,508,276 $ 167,217,043 
Fiscal Year 2014 Financial Statements | 49

COMBINED STATEMENTS OF BUDGETARY RESOURCES

For the Years Ended September 30, 2014 and 2013

2014 2013

Budgetary Resources

Unobligated balance brought forward, Oct 1 $ 140,882,286 $ 127,694,618 

Recoveries of prior year unpaid obligations 2,236,360 2,386,466 

Other changes in unobligated balance (1,973,217) (5,205,855)

Unobligated balance from prior year budget authority, net 141,145,429 124,875,229 

Appropriations (discretionary and mandatory) 1,295,494,000 1,275,626,467 

Spending authority from offsetting collections (discretionary and mandatory) 25,105,864 24,658,251 

Total budgetary resources $ 1,461,745,293 $ 1,425,159,947 

Status of Budgetary Resources

Obligations incurred $ 1,268,889,233 $ 1,284,277,661 

Unobligated balance, end of year:

Exempt from apportionment 182,011,041 138,724,631 

Unapportioned 10,845,019 2,157,655 

Total unobligated balance, end of year: 192,856,060 140,882,286 

Total budgetary resources $ 1,461,745,293 $ 1,425,159,947 

Change in Obligated Balance

Unpaid Obligations

Unpaid Obligations, brought forward, Oct 1 $ 77,226,086 $ 88,480,376 

Obligations incurred 1,268,889,233 1,284,277,661 

Outlays (gross) (1,258,174,482) (1,293,145,485)

Recoveries of prior year unpaid obligations (2,236,360) (2,386,466)

Unpaid obligations September 30, 2014 85,704,477 77,226,086 

Memorandum (non-add) entries

Obligated balance, start of year $ 77,226,086 $ 88,480,376 

Obligated balance, September 30, 2014 $ 85,704,477 $ 77,226,086 

Budget Authority and Outlays, Net

Budget authority, gross (discretionary and mandatory) $ 1,320,599,864 $ 1,300,284,718 

Actual offsetting collections (discretionary and mandatory) (25,105,864) (24,658,251)

Budget authority, net (discretionary and mandatory) $ 1,295,494,000 $ 1,275,626,467 

Outlays, gross (discretionary and mandatory) $ 1,258,174,482 $ 1,293,145,485 

Actual offsetting collections (discretionary and mandatory) (25,105,864) (24,658,251)

Outlays, net (discretionary and mandatory) 1,233,068,618 1,268,487,234 

Agency outlays, net (discretionary and mandatory) $ 1,233,068,618 $ 1,268,487,234
50 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Notes to the Financial Statements | 51

Notes to the 

Financial Statements
52 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Notes to the Financial Statements | 53

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1 – SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

A. Description of the Reporting Entity

The U.S. House of Representatives (House) is one of two 

separate legislative chambers that comprise the Congress 

of the United States. The other is the U.S. Senate (Senate). 

All lawmaking powers of the Federal government are 

given to the Congress under Article I of the Constitution 

of the United States. The House and Senate jointly agree 

on a budget for the Legislative Branch and submit it to the 

President of the United States. The Members of the House 

serve two-year terms of office, which coincide with the 

sequential numbering of the entire Congress. 

To help carry out its constitutional duties, the House creates 

committees of Members and assigns them responsibility 

for gathering information, identifying policy problems, 

proposing solutions, and reporting bills to the full chamber 

for consideration. The House elects and appoints Officers 

and officials to administer both legislative and nonlegislative functions, which support the institution and its 

Members in carrying out its legislative duties. The financial 

statements of the House provide financial information 

on the activities of all entities, which are subject to the 

authority vested in the House by the U.S. Constitution, 

public laws, and rules and regulations adopted by the 

membership of the House.

These financial statements reflect the organizational 

structure of the House under the 113th Congress. The 

fiscal year 2014 financial statements are comprised of two 

programs: Legislative Activities and Revolving Funds. 

Legislative Activities

Legislative Activities consist of all financial activity related 

to the operations of all Member Offices, both in Washington, 

D.C. and Congressional districts; all Committees both 

Standing and Special and Select; Leadership Offices; House 

Officers and Offices and Joint Functions that the House 

shares with the Senate including the Attending Physician 

and Joint Committee on Taxation.

House Members are elected from congressional districts of 

approximately equal population. The financial information 

aggregates transactions of the Member districts and 

Washington, D.C. offices, and includes 435 Representatives; 

five Delegates, one each, from the District of Columbia, 

Guam, Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Northern 

Mariana Islands; and one Resident Commissioner from 

Puerto Rico. 

The Committees financial information aggregates 

transactions of the Standing and Special and Select 

Committees of the 113th Congress. Committees are 

organized at the beginning of each Congress according to 

their jurisdictional boundaries incorporated in the Rules of 

the House. The Committees of the House under the 113th 

Congress are:

Committee on Agriculture

Committee on Appropriations

Committee on Armed Services

Committee on the Budget

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

Committee on Energy and Commerce

Committee on Ethics 

Committee on Financial Services

Committee on Foreign Affairs

Committee on Homeland Security

Committee on House Administration

Committee on the Judiciary

Committee on Natural Resources

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Committee on Rules

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

Committee on Small Business

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

Committee on Ways and Means

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Select Committee on Benghazi
54 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

The House Leadership Offices financial information 

aggregates transactions of:

Speaker of the House

Majority and Minority Leaders

Majority and Minority Whips

Party Steering Committees, Caucus or Conference, which 

consist of Representatives of the same political party

The Officers and Legislative Offices financial information 

aggregates transactions of all legislative support and 

administrative functions provided to Members, Committees, 

and Leadership offices, including:

Chaplain

Chief Administrative Officer

Clerk of the House

Office of Congressional Ethics

Office of Interparliamentary Affairs

Office of the General Counsel

Office of the Historian

Office of Inspector General

Office of the Law Revision Counsel

Office of the Legislative Counsel

Parliamentarian

Sergeant at Arms

The Joint Functions financial information aggregates 

transactions of the joint activities of the House and the 

Senate to the extent that the House funds these functions. 

House administrative management does not exert direct 

control over the expenditures of these functions. The joint 

functions in these statements include:

Attending Physician

Joint Economic Committee

Joint Committee on the Library

Joint Committee on Printing

Joint Committee on Taxation

Revolving Funds 

Revolving Fund Activities consist of all financial activity 

related to the operations of all House revolving fund accounts.

The Revolving Funds financial information aggregates 

transactions of:

House Child Care Center

House Recording Studio 

House Services

Net Expenses of Equipment 

Net Expenses of Telecommunications

Stationery

B. Basis of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts 

and significant activities of the House. All significant 

interoffice balances and transactions have been eliminated 

to arrive at consolidated financial information, except for 

the Statement of Budgetary Resources which is presented 

on a combined basis in accordance with the Office of 

Management and Budget’s (OMB) Circular No. A-136, 

Financial Reporting Requirements. 

The financial statements do not include legislative 

agencies that support the House and that receive separate 

appropriations. These agencies are:

Architect of the Capitol

Congressional Budget Office

Government Accountability Office

Government Printing Office

Library of Congress

U.S. Botanic Garden

U.S. Capitol Police

Functions jointly shared between the House and the Senate 

are included in the financial statements to the extent their 

operations are funded by House appropriations. These 

consist of:

Attending Physician

Joint Economic Committee

Joint Committee on the Library

Joint Committee on Printing

Joint Committee on Taxation

C. Basis of Accounting and Presentation

The financial statements present the financial position, net 

cost of operations, changes in net position and budgetary 

resources of the House. These statements have been 

prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted 

Accounting Principles (GAAP) issued by the Federal 

Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) and the 

applicable form and content requirements of the OMB 

Circular No. A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements. 

While the House is a Legislative Branch entity, it has 

elected to incorporate many of the Federal government 

Executive Branch agency financial management and 

reporting standards that management deems necessary for 

the fair presentation of financial statement information.
Notes to the Financial Statements | 55

The House’s accounting structure, in accordance with 

GAAP, utilizes both accrual and budgetary accounting. 

Under accrual accounting, events are recognized as they 

occur, as opposed to when cash is received or disbursed. 

Therefore, revenues are recorded when earned and expenses 

are recorded when a liability is incurred, without regard to 

receipt or payment of cash. The budgetary accounting, on 

the other hand, facilitates compliance with legal constraints 

on, and controls over, the use of Federal funds. 

Throughout these financial statements, assets, liabilities, 

revenues and costs have been classified according to the 

type of entity with whom the transactions were made. 

Intragovernmental assets and liabilities are those from or to 

other Federal entities. Intragovernmental earned revenues 

are collections or accruals of revenue from other Federal 

entities, and intragovernmental costs are payments or 

accruals to other Federal entities. 

While these statements have been prepared from the 

records of the House in accordance with GAAP and formats 

prescribed in OMB Circular No. A-136, Financial Reporting 

Requirements, these statements are in addition to the 

financial reports used to monitor and control the budgetary 

resources that are prepared from the same records. These 

statements should be read with the realization that they are 

for a component of the U.S. government, a sovereign entity. 

D. Fund Balance with the U.S. Treasury 

and Cash

The U.S. Treasury processes cash receipts and 

disbursements for the House through its cash management 

services. Fund Balance with Treasury represents the 

aggregate amount of House fund accounts with the U.S. 

Treasury available to pay current liabilities and finance 

authorized purchases. Fund Balance with Treasury consists 

of balances for general fund expenditure accounts, revolving 

funds, and other fund types as of the end of the fiscal year. 

Fund Balance with Treasury also includes the Congressional 

Use of Foreign Currency account, which is held at the 

U.S. Treasury and is maintained and administered by the 

Department of State on behalf of the House. The House also 

maintains an account related to Special Fund Receipts and 

Other Fund Types. Cash and other monetary assets include 

cash on hand that represents deposits in transit and amounts 

held in a commercial bank account. (See Note 2)

The following describes the type of funds maintained by the 

House:

General Fund Expenditure Accounts are fund accounts 

used to record amounts appropriated by Congress for the 

general support of the Federal government. 

Revolving Funds are fund accounts used to record funds 

authorized by specific provisions of law to finance a 

continuing cycle of business–type operations. Receipts 

are credited directly to the revolving fund as offsetting 

collections and are available for expenditure without further 

action by Congress. 

Special Fund Receipt Accounts are fund accounts used to 

record receipts from specific sources earmarked by law for 

specific purposes.

Other Fund Types include General Fund Receipt and 

Deposit Fund accounts. General Fund Receipt accounts 

are used to record all receipts not earmarked by law for a 

specific purpose. These receipts may include miscellaneous 

recoveries and refunds and fines and penalties. The U.S. 

Treasury automatically transfers all cash balances in these 

receipt accounts to the general fund of the Treasury at the 

end of each fiscal year. Deposit Fund accounts are used to 

record monies withheld from Federal government payments 

for goods and services received pending payment; and 

receipts and disbursements awaiting determination of the 

proper accounting classification. 

E. Accounts Receivable, Net

Accounts Receivable represents amounts due to the House 

from Federal entities, Members, employees and/or vendors 

for money, goods, and services less an Allowance for 

Doubtful Accounts. Accounts Receivable primarily arises 

from provision of goods and services, commissions, and 

overpayments. Allowance for Doubtful Accounts is based 

on an analysis of outstanding accounts, aging methodologies 

and historical collection experience. Intragovernmental 

accounts receivable are generally considered to be fully 

collectible. (See Note 3)
56 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

F. Inventory and Related Property, Net 

Inventory is tangible personal property that is held for sale. 

The Chief Administrative Office (CAO) Office Supply 

Service and Gift Shop maintain an inventory of supplies and 

merchandise purchased for resale to the public. Inventories 

for sale are valued at the moving weighted average method. 

Operating Material and Supplies are tangible personal 

property to be consumed during normal operations. The 

CAO Logistics and Support Office maintains inventories of 

such items as hardwood, carpet, leather, fabric, furniture 

components, and repair materials purchased by the House 

for use in its operations. The CAO House Information 

Resources Office maintains inventories of such items as 

fiber jumpers to support network connectivity and patch 

cords to support desktop computers. These items are not 

for sale and are reflected in the financial statements at an 

estimated value based on the first in/first out inventory 

valuation method. (See Note 4)

G. General Property and Equipment, Net

General Property and Equipment consists of office and 

computer equipment, furniture, vehicles, software, assets 

acquired under capital leases, leasehold improvements 

and work in process. The House capitalizes property and 

equipment when the acquisition cost equals or exceeds an 

established threshold and has a useful life of two years or 

more. The costs of such items are recognized as assets when 

acquired. 

Property and equipment are capitalized if the unit 

acquisition cost is equal to or greater than $25,000 and 

the item has a useful life of two years or more with the 

exception of software. Software is capitalized if the unit 

acquisition cost is equal to or greater than $10,000 and the 

item has a useful life of two years or more. Work in process 

consists of capitalized costs associated with assets received, 

but not placed in service as of the end of the fiscal year. 

An appropriate portion of an asset’s value is reduced and 

an expense for depreciation or amortization is recognized 

over the accounting periods benefited by the asset’s use. 

The House calculates depreciation and amortization 

expense based on the straight-line method over an asset’s 

estimated useful life. Depreciation expense is applicable to 

tangible assets such as equipment, furniture, and vehicles. 

Amortization expense is applicable to intangible assets such 

as software and capital leases. Assets acquired under capital 

leases are generally amortized over the lease term. However, 

if a lease agreement contains a bargain purchase option or 

otherwise transfers title of the asset to the House, the asset 

is amortized on the same basis as similar categories of 

owned assets. 

A loss is recognized when the net book value of the asset 

at the time of disposal exceeds any proceeds received. A 

gain is recognized when the net book value of the asset at 

the time of disposal is less than any proceeds received. (See 

Note 5)

The House also entered into capital leases for building 

structures. Items acquired by capital leases are recorded 

as House assets because they are structured such that their 

terms effectively finance the purchase of the item, and 

such leases convey the benefits and risks of ownership. The 

House capitalizes a lease if at least one of the following 

four criteria are met: 1) the lease transfers ownership of the 

property to the lessee by the end of the lease term; 2) the 

lease contains an option to purchase the leased property 

at a bargain price; 3) the lease term is equal to or greater 

than 75 percent of the estimated economic life of the 

leased property; or 4) the present value of rental and other 

minimum lease payments, excluding that portion of the 

payments representing executory cost, equals or exceeds 

90 percent of the fair value of the leased property. The 

asset and corresponding liability are recorded at the lower 

of net present value of the minimum lease payments or 

fair market value at lease inception. The portion of capital 

lease payments representing imputed interest is expensed as 

interest on capital leases. (See Note 9)

House office buildings and land occupied by Members and 

employees in Washington, D.C. are under the custody of 

the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) and are excluded from 

the House’s property and equipment accounts. The House 

recognizes an imputed cost and related imputed financing 

source in its financial statements for the costs associated 

with House office buildings. (See Notes 1K and 15)

H. Stewardship Property and Equipment 

Stewardship Property, Plant and Equipment (PP&E) 

includes heritage assets and stewardship land. Heritage 

assets are unique due to their historical or natural 

significance; cultural, educational, or artistic importance; 

or significant architectural characteristics. Heritage assets 

consist of collection-type heritage assets, such as objects 

gathered and maintained for exhibition, for example, 
Notes to the Financial Statements | 57

museum collections, art collections, and library collections; 

and non-collection-type heritage assets, such as parks, 

memorials, monuments, and buildings. These assets are 

expected to be preserved indefinitely. The House’s heritage 

assets are considered collection-type heritage assets and 

consist primarily of historical artwork and artifacts. 

Heritage assets can serve two purposes: a heritage function 

and a general government operational function. If a heritage 

asset serves both purposes, but is predominantly used 

for general government operations, the heritage asset is 

considered a multi-use heritage asset, which is included 

in general PP&E on the Balance Sheet. The House office 

buildings and land occupied and used by Members and 

employees in Washington, D.C. meet the criteria of multiuse heritage assets. Stewardship responsibility for these 

multi-use heritage assets is maintained by the AOC and 

disclosed on its financial statements. The House does not 

possess multi-use heritage assets or stewardship land.

Heritage assets are disclosed on the Balance Sheet as a note 

reference with no asset amount shown, and are generally 

not included in the general PP&E. The cost of improving, 

reconstructing, or renovating heritage assets is recognized 

as an expense in the period incurred. Similarly, the cost 

to acquire or construct a heritage asset is recognized as 

an expense in the period incurred. Due to their nature, 

matching costs with specific periods would not be 

meaningful. (See Note 6 and Required Supplementary 

Information)

I. Advances and Prepayments

Advances and prepayments are transfers of cash to cover 

future expenses or the acquisition of assets. These goods 

and/or services are delivered in increments that span 

several months. Advance payments are recorded as assets 

and consist of payments to Federal government entities for 

contractual services and for mailings that require address 

corrections or additional postage. As the goods and/

or services are rendered, the Advance account is drawn 

down and the appropriate asset or expense is recognized. 

Prepayments are payments made in advance of the receipt 

of goods and services. Prepayments include payments for 

subscriptions and are initially recorded as expenses. At 

year-end, all such payments made for the current year are 

analyzed to determine the proper expense and prepayment 

amounts applicable to the current accounting period for 

financial statement purposes. The House also prepays for 

health plans under Public Law 111-148, Patient Protection 

and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Advance account is 

drawn down and an expense is recognized when invoices are 

received for health care insurance premiums. (See Note 7)

J. Liabilities 

Liabilities represent the probable future outflow or other 

sacrifice of resources as a result of past transactions or 

events. Liabilities are amounts due to others as a result of 

items received, services rendered, expenses incurred, assets 

acquired and construction or work in process regardless 

of whether invoices have been received. Liabilities also 

represent amounts received that have not yet been earned. 

Liabilities covered by budgetary resources are liabilities 

incurred that will be covered by available budgetary 

resources encompassing not only new budget authority 

but also other resources available to cover liabilities for 

specified purposes in a given year. Liabilities not covered by 

budgetary resources include unfunded liabilities incurred 

for which revenues or other sources of funds necessary to 

pay the liabilities have not been made available through 

congressional appropriations or current earnings of the 

reporting entity. (See Note 8)

The House’s liabilities include:

Accounts Payable that represent amounts owed for the 

cost of goods and services received but not yet paid. The 

House estimates certain accounts payable balances based on 

methodology that encompasses historical data and the first 

two month’s financial activity of the subsequent fiscal year. 

Advances from Others that represent advance payments 

received from other Federal government entities for shared 

services, in advance of the delivery of these services. As the 

services are rendered the Advances from Others account is 

drawn down and the appropriate revenue is recognized. The 

House received payments in advance of receipt of shared 

services from the Library of Congress. 

Capital Lease Liability that represents the portion 

recorded at the lower of net present value of the minimum 

lease payments or fair market value at lease inception.

Actuarial Federal Employees’ Compensation Act 

Liabilities that represents an estimate based on actuarial 

calculations using historical payment patterns to predict 

what costs will be incurred in the future. The liability is 

adjusted annually by applying actuarial procedures. Any 

upward or downward adjustment to the liability is recorded 

as an annual increase or decrease to benefits expense. The 
58 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

House calculated the actuarial liability based on a model 

developed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The 

Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) provides 

income and medical cost protection to covered Federal 

civilian employees injured on the job, employees who 

have incurred a work-related occupational disease, and 

beneficiaries of employees whose death is attributable 

to a job-related injury or occupational disease. Claims 

incurred for the benefit of House employees under FECA 

are administered by DOL, which pays the initial claim and 

obtains reimbursement from the House. 

Accrued Payroll and Benefits and Annual Leave that 

represent both a funded and unfunded liability. A funded 

liability has a corresponding appropriation to liquidate it. 

An unfunded liability is a liability that is incurred during 

the current or prior year but is not payable until a future 

fiscal year for which an appropriation has not yet been 

received.

Accrued payroll and benefits include salaries and associated 

benefits earned in the current fiscal year and paid in the 

subsequent fiscal year.

Annual leave for the House Officers, the Inspector General 

and their employees is accrued as earned, and the liability 

is reduced as leave is taken. The accrued annual leave 

balances are calculated according to Public Law 104-53, 

November 19, 1995, Sec. 109 Stat. 522 (i.e., the lesser of 

the employee’s monthly pay or the monthly pay divided by 

30 days and multiplied by the number of days of accrued 

leave). The House utilizes actual hours to calculate the 

liability. Sick and other types of paid leave are expensed 

as they are taken. The Members’ and Committees’ 

Congressional Handbooks allow offices to adopt personnel 

policies that provide for the accrual of annual leave and use 

of such leave. Leadership and other select House offices 

have also adopted similar policies. While leave is tracked 

from one pay period to the next, a consistent policy has 

not been formally adopted by these entities regarding the 

accrual and payment of leave time. Therefore, an accrued 

leave liability for Members, Committees, Leadership and 

select House offices is estimated on the financial statements. 

In FY 2014, the estimate was based on a three-year average 

of actual annual leave paid. 

Other Intragovernmental Liabilities that represent the 

Accrued workers’ compensation amount billed by DOL that 

will be paid in subsequent fiscal years and Unemployment 

compensation amounts owed to DOL. 

Other Public Liabilities that represent amounts held 

pending proper accounting disposition or amounts withheld 

from payments for goods and services received pending 

payment. 

K. Revenue and Other Financing Sources

Appropriations

The House finances most of its operations through 

congressional appropriations of budget authority. To the 

extent that revenue generated by some House entities does 

not cover expenses, appropriations are required. The House 

receives annual, multi-year and no-year appropriations 

that may be used, within statutory limits, for operating 

and capital expenditures. A financing source is recognized 

for these appropriated funds received, less appropriations 

transferred or not available through rescission or 

cancellation. The House usually receives the full amount 

of its appropriation at the beginning of each fiscal year as 

stated in the public law. 

Exchange and Non-Exchange Revenue

The House classifies revenues as either exchange revenue or 

non-exchange revenue. Exchange revenue is derived from 

transactions in which both the government and the other 

party receive value; and is recognized when goods have 

been delivered or services rendered. The House’s exchange 

revenue consists of (1) sales of goods to the public for Office 

Supply Service and Gift Shop sales; (2) sales of services 

to the public for child care fees, photography sales, postal 

fees and Attending Physician fees; and (3) other revenue 

for vendor commissions. Non-exchange revenue is derived 

from the government’s sovereign right to demand payment 

from the public (e.g., taxes, duties, fines, and penalties) but 

also includes donations. The House reports non-exchange 

revenue collected from donations for the Reduction of 

Public Debt and Ethics Fines.

Intragovernmental Costs and Earned Revenues

The House earns intragovernmental revenue by providing 

mail and telecommunication services primarily to other 

legislative entities. Intragovernmental costs and exchange 

revenue represent transactions made between two reporting 

entities within the Federal government and are disclosed 

separately from costs and exchange revenue with the public 

(exchange transactions made between the reporting entity 

and a non-Federal entity). Intragovernmental expenses 

relate to the source of goods and services purchased by 
Notes to the Financial Statements | 59

the reporting entity and not to the classification of related 

revenue. The purpose of this classification is to enable 

the Federal government to provide consolidated financial 

statements, and not to match public and intragovernmental 

revenue with costs that are incurred to produce public and 

intragovernmental revenue. The net cost of the House’s 

operations includes gross costs incurred by the House less 

any exchange revenue earned from House activities. 

Imputed Financing from Cost Absorbed by Others 

(and Related Imputed Costs)

The House recognizes the amount of cost incurred by a 

Federal entity for goods or services provided and paid for 

in total, or in part, by other Federal entities. Since the cost 

is not actually reimbursed to these Federal entities, an 

imputed financing source is also recognized to offset the 

costs financed by the entities. The imputed cost and imputed 

financing source for costs are associated with the occupancy 

of the U.S. Capitol, House office buildings, and the O’Neill 

Federal building under the custody of the AOC; and the 

Federal Employee and Veterans’ Benefits. The imputed cost 

is recognized in the Statement of Net Cost and the imputed 

financing source is recognized in the Statement of Changes 

in Net Position. 

Occupancy Cost:

The House recognizes an occupancy cost for the U.S. 

Capitol, House office buildings, and the O’Neill Federal 

building under the custody of the AOC that are occupied by 

Members and staff in Washington, D.C. The House office 

buildings are comprised of the Cannon, Ford, Longworth, 

Rayburn, and other buildings and facilities. The AOC 

receives an appropriation for the maintenance, care and 

operations of the House office buildings, facilities and 

grounds; and costs associated with the acquisition and 

maintenance of the land and buildings is accounted for by 

the AOC. A separate appropriation is received for the O’Neill 

Federal building which is included in the occupancy cost.

The imputed occupancy cost for the U.S. Capitol and House 

office buildings is calculated by multiplying the gross 

square footage of the buildings by the estimated per square 

foot value. A common area factor of 11% was applied to 

the gross square footage. The industry standard rental 

rate increase of 1.7% over FY 2013 is reflected in the FY 

2014 occupancy costs. Actual cost paid by the AOC for the 

O’Neill Federal building is included in the occupancy cost.

Federal Employee and Veterans’ Benefits Cost:

Federal-employing entities recognize their share of the cost 

of providing future pension benefits to eligible employees at 

the time the employees’ services are rendered. The pension 

expense recognized in the Statement of Net Cost is the 

current service cost for House employees less the amount 

contributed by the employee. 

The measurement of the service cost requires the use of 

actuarial cost methods and assumptions, with the factors 

applied by the House provided by the Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM), the Federal agency that administers 

the plan. The excess of the recognized pension expense 

over the amount contributed by the House represents the 

amount being financed directly through the Civil Service 

Retirement and Disability Fund administered by OPM. 

The House does not receive an appropriation to fund 

this cost. Therefore, this portion of the pension cost is 

considered an imputed financing source to the House, and is 

included in the Imputed Financing from Costs Absorbed by 

Others on the Statement of Changes in Net Position. 

Federal-employing entities also recognize a current period 

expense for the future cost of post-retirement health benefits 

and life insurance for its employees while they are still 

employed. This cost is included in the Statement of Net 

Cost. Employees and the House do not currently make 

contributions to fund these future benefits, and the House 

does not receive an appropriation to fund this expense. 

Therefore, this portion of the post-retirement health benefits 

and life insurance is considered an imputed financing source 

to the House, and is included in Imputed Financing from 

Costs Absorbed by Others on the Statement of Changes in 

Net Position. (See Note 15)
60 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

L. Personnel and Benefits Compensation

House Members and employees are covered by either Civil 

Service Retirement System (CSRS), the Federal Employees 

Retirement System (FERS), the Federal Employees 

Retirement System – Revised Annuity Employee (FERSRAE) or the Federal Employees Retirement System – 

Further Revised Annuity Employee (FERS-FRAE). Both 

Members and employees are eligible for retirement benefits 

under CSRS, FERS, FERS-RAE or FERS-FRAE. 

With few exceptions, employees of the House are covered 

by one of the following retirement programs:

1. Employees hired before January 1, 1984, and who have 

been employed continuously without a break in service 

of more than 365 days since December 31, 1983 are 

covered under CSRS. 

2. Employees hired on or after January 1, 1984, and before 

January 1, 2013, are covered under FERS. 

3. Employees hired on or after January 1, 2013, and before 

January 1, 2014, are covered under FERS-RAE. 

4. Employees hired on or after January 1, 2014, and who 

would normally be placed under FERS-RAE, are 

covered under FERS-FRAE.

A CSRS basic annuity, unreduced for age, debts to the 

fund, or survivor’s benefits, is calculated by multiplying the 

highest 3 consecutive years’ average salary by a percentage 

factor which is based on the length of Federal service. 

However, Members’ benefits are different from those of 

employees. For example, a Member covered by CSRS is 

eligible to receive unreduced retirement benefits at age 60 if 

he or she has 10 years of Member service. An employee is 

eligible to receive reduced benefits at age 50 with 20 years 

of service or at any age with 25 years of service. The FERS, 

FERS-RAE and FERS-FRAE basic benefit plans provide 

the same benefits for either Members or employees. 

CSRS employees contribute a portion of their earnings to the 

Civil Service Retirement Fund. The House also contributes 

an amount to this fund. FERS, FERS-RAE and FERSFRAE employees, in addition to paying Social Security, 

contribute a portion of their base earnings to the FERS, 

FERS-RAE and FERS-FRAE retirement funds. The House 

also contributes an amount toward the FERS, FERS-RAE 

and FERS-FRAE retirement and Social Security funds. 

FERS, FERS-RAE, FERS-FRAE and CSRS employees 

can contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) up to 

the IRS limit. FERS, FERS-RAE and FERS-FRAE 

employees also receive an automatic one percent Housepaid contribution, as well as an additional House matching 

TSP contribution up to five percent of their basic pay. CSRS 

employee contributions to TSP do not receive matching 

House contributions. FERS, FERS-RAE and FERS-FRAE 

employees could receive benefits from the basic FERS 

annuity, the Social Security System, and TSP. CSRS 

employees could receive benefits from CSRS and TSP. 

(See Note 12) Post-employment benefits, health, and life 

insurance are not reported by the House, rather they are 

reported by OPM.

M. Net Position

Unexpended Appropriations

Unexpended Appropriations includes the portion of the 

House’s appropriations represented by undelivered orders 

and unobligated balances. The amount of unexpended 

appropriations reported on the Balance Sheet should equal 

the amount of unexpended appropriations reported on the 

Statement of Changes in Net Position.

Appropriations are not considered expended until goods 

have been received or services have been rendered. The 

House has single, multi and no-year appropriations. Multiyear appropriations consist of 15-month, 18-month, and 

27-month multi-year funding. Funds cancel two years after 

expiration and are no longer available for obligation or 

expenditure for any purpose and are returned to the U.S. 

Treasury. 

Cumulative Results of Operations

Cumulative Results of Operations includes the net results 

of operations since inception plus the cumulative amount of 

prior period adjustments. The amount of cumulative results 

of operations reported on the Balance Sheet should equal 

the amount of cumulative results of operations reported on 

the Statement of Changes in Net Position.

N. Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements requires 

management to make estimates and assumptions that affect 

the reported amount of assets and liabilities, as well as the 

disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of 

the financial statements, and the amount of revenue and 

expense reported during the period. Actual results could 

differ from those estimates. 
Notes to the Financial Statements | 61

NOTE 2 – FUND BALANCE WITH THE U.S. TREASURY, CASH AND OTHER 

MONETARY ASSETS

Fund Balances with Treasury (FBWT) as of September 30, 2014 and 2013: 

Fund Balance with Treasury 2014 2013

General and Other Funds

House maintained $ 224,580,024 $ 158,882,728 

Congressional Use of Foreign Currency 22,589,531 29,761,306 

Total General and Other Funds 247,169,555 188,644,034 

Revolving Funds 31,412,967 28,629,626

Total $ 278,582,522 $ 217,273,660 

Status of Fund Balance with Treasury as of September 30, 2014 and 2013: 

Status Balance with Treasury 2014 2013

Unobligated Balance

Available $ 182,011,041 $ 138,724,631

Unavailable 10,845,019 2,157,655 

Obligated Balance not yet Disbursed 85,704,477 77,226,086 

Other Funds 21,985 (834,712)

Total $ 278,582,522 $ 217,273,660 

Other funds represent deposit funds held at the U.S. Treasury.

Cash and Other Monetary Assets as of September 30, 2014 and 2013:

Cash and Other Monetary Assets 2014 2013

Cash on Hand $ 2,655 $ 3,782

Total $ 2,655 $ 3,782 

Funds that were canceled and returned to the U.S. Treasury as of September 30, 2014 and 2013: 

Appropriations 2014 2013

2013 (single year) $ 523,128 $ - 

2012 (single year) 1,450,089 - 

2011 (single year) - 2,054,950 

2010/2011 (multi-year) - 6,266 

2009/2011 (multi-year) - 2,317 

Total $ 1,973,217 $ 2,063,533
62 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

NOTE 3 – ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE, NET

Accounts Receivable, Net as of September 30, 2014 and 2013:

Accounts Receivable, Net 2014 2013

Intragovernmental

Accounts Receivable $ 66,614 $ 63,034 

Total Intragovernmental 66,614 63,034

With the Public

Accounts Receivable 399,537 536,280 

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts (28,654) (42,780)

Total With the Public 370,883 493,500

Total $ 437,497 $ 556,534 

NOTE 4 – INVENTORY AND RELATED PROPERTY, NET

Inventory and Related Property, Net as of September 30, 2014 and 2013:

Inventory and Related Property, Net 2014 2013

Operating Materials and Supplies Held for Use $ 401,479 $ 508,252 

Inventory Purchased for Resale 795,744 814,756

Total $ 1,197,223 $ 1,323,008 
Notes to the Financial Statements | 63

NOTE 5 – GENERAL PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, NET

General Property and Equipment, Net as of September 30, 2014 and the related depreciation 

and amortization expense: 

2014 Classes of Property 

and Equipment

Service 

Life 

(Years)

Acquisition 

Cost Depreciation Net Book Value

Depreciation 

Expense

Work in Process N/A $ 1,099,623 $ - $ 1,099,623 $ - 

Computer Software in Development N/A - - - - 

Computer Software and Hardware 3/5 86,970,444 77,104,142 9,866,302 9,377,376 

Equipment 5 45,077,786 37,538,706 7,539,080 5,796,580 

Motor Vehicles 5 10,532,139 10,510,499 21,640 66,085 

Assets Under Capital Lease 10 - - - 33,862 

Furnishings and Other Equipment 10 1,240,517 827,585 412,932 72,754 

Leasehold Improvements 10 9,085,375 8,816,522 268,853 210,352 

Total $ 154,005,884 $ 134,797,454 $ 19,208,430 $ 15,557,009 

General Property and Equipment, Net as of September 30, 2013 and the related depreciation 

and amortization expense: 

2013 Classes of Property 

and Equipment

Service 

Life 

(Years)

Acquisition 

Cost

(Restated)

Depreciation

(Restated)

Net Book 

Value

Depreciation 

Expense

Work in Process N/A $ 1,001,079 $ - $ 1,001,079 $ - 

Computer Software in Development N/A 3,344,500 - 3,344,500 - 

Computer Software and Hardware 3/5 77,832,439 67,419,027 10,413,412 15,418,507 

Equipment 5 44,291,945 33,340,556 10,951,389 6,317,902 

Motor Vehicles 5 10,532,139 10,444,415 87,724 91,155 

Assets Under Capital Lease 10 1,354,473 1,320,611 33,862 135,447 

Furnishings and Other Equipment 10 1,148,767 663,081 485,686 73,304 

Leasehold Improvements 10 9,085,375 8,606,170 479,205 227,514 

Total $ 148,590,717 $ 121,793,860 $ 26,796,857 $ 22,263,829 

See Note 20 – Restatements for additional information on the restatement.
64 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

NOTE 6 – STEWARDSHIP PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

Physical counts for collection-type heritage assets as of September 30, 2014 and 2013:

Hertiage Assests 2013 Additions Withdrawals 2014

Artwork 323 11 - 334 

Artifacts 5,189 548 6 5,731 

Total 5,512 559 6 6,065 

The House’s heritage assets are directly related to its 

mission to document and preserve the legislative integrity 

and traditions of the institution. Permanent authority for 

the Clerk of the House originated in the opening days of the 

First Congress, when John Beckley was elected Clerk on 

April 1, 1789, pursuant to Article I of the Constitution: “The 

House of Representatives shall chuse (sic) their Speaker and 

other Officers....” The Clerk’s responsibilities to document 

and preserve the activities of Congress have grown over the 

centuries, and are found in Rules VII and XI of the House, 

and by the Rules of the House of Representatives Fine Arts 

Board, established via 40 USC Sec. 188c (Public Law 100-

696 [Title X]). 

The House’s stewardship responsibility for its heritage 

assets includes those in or associated with the House, its 

legislative history, Members and institutional heritage. 

Under the provisions of the House of Representatives Fine 

Arts Board, the Clerk is responsible for the administration, 

maintenance, and display of the works of fine art and other 

similar property of the Congress for display or for other 

use in the House wing of the Capitol, the House Office 

Buildings, or any other location under the control of the 

House in accordance with Public Law 100-696. The House’s 

heritage assets are curated by the House Curator in the 

Clerk’s Office of History and Preservation. The House 

Curator maintains records, both paper and electronic, for 

works of art and artifacts. Staff and resources are devoted to 

the conservation and preservation of heritage assets, using 

professional standards established by the American Institute 

for Conservation and the National Archives and Records 

Administration. These standards provide for cleaning, 

storing, displaying, handling and protecting the House’s 

heritage assets. 

The House acquires heritage assets by purchase, transfer 

from Federal entities, gift, or by provision of federal law. 

Prior to acquiring these assets, the House Curator, on behalf 

of the Clerk and the House of Representatives Fine Art 

Board, ensures they meet minimum standards as required 

by the American Association of Museum’s ethics guidelines 

and standards and best practices for accessioning of objects 

into museum collections. The House’s collections continue 

to increase as it acquires additional assets and few items 

have been retired or disposed of to date. 

Deaccessioning of objects and related withdrawals 

or disposals will only occur if the House Curator, in 

accordance with the American Association of Museum’s 

guidelines and best practices, determines the asset is 

in irretrievable condition; does not meet the needs of 

the collection; or withdraws due to exchange or gift of 

unwanted or duplicate copies. Staff ensure that heritage 

assets remain in good condition, carefully preserving and 

saving these treasures for present and future generations. 

The Required Supplementary Information section of this 

report provides additional information on the condition of 

stewardship heritage assets.

Descriptions of the types of heritage assets are:

Artwork

The House’s artwork encompasses oil and acrylic paintings, 

works on paper, and sculpture in bronze, marble and other 

media.

Artifacts

The House’s historical artifacts include objects in all media, 

including but not limited to paper, metal, plaster, wood, 

textile and stone.
Notes to the Financial Statements | 65

NOTE 7 – ADVANCES AND PREPAYMENTS

Status of Fund Balance with Treasury as of September 30, 2014 and 2013: 

Advances and Repayments 2014 2013

Intragovernmental $ 169,759 $ 10,733 

Public 4,639,201 5,839,165 

Total $ 4,808,960 $ 5,849,898 

NOTE 8 – LIABILITIES 

Liabilities are classified as either current or non-current. 

Current liabilities refer to liabilities that are expected to 

settle within 12 months of the Balance Sheet date. 

Non-current refers to liabilities that are expected to settle 

more than 12 months of the Balance Sheet date.

Liabilities covered and not covered by budgetary resources as of September 30, 2014: 

Liabilities

Liabilities Covered by 

Budgetary Resources

Liabilities Not Covered by 

Budgetary Resources

Current Non-Current Current Non-Current 2014

Intragovernmental Liabilities

Accounts Payable $ 4,529,826 $ - $ - $ - $ 4,529,826 

Advances from Others 603,219 - - - 603,219 

Capital Lease Liability - - - - - 

 5,133,045 - - - 5,133,045 

Other Liabilities

Accrued Benefits 1,462,263 - - - 1,462,263 

Accrued Workers’ Compensation 556,003 - - - 556,003 

Unemployment Compensation 200,000 - - - 200,000 

Deposit Liability - Federal (15,526) - - - (15,526)

Liabilities for Non-Entity Assets 158,858 - - - 158,858 

Total Other Liabilities 2,361,598 - - - 2,361,598 

Total Intragovernmental Liabilities 7,494,643 - - - 7,494,643 

Public Liabilities

Accounts Payable 23,158,599 - - - 23,158,599 

Actuarial FECA Liability - - - 35,349,785 35,349,785 

Accrued Payroll and Benefits 6,522,459 - - - 6,522,459 

Unfunded Accrued Annual Leave - - - 7,125,969 7,125,969 

Other Liabilities 77,556 - - - 77,556 

Total Public Liabilities 29,758,614 - - 42,475,754 72,234,368 

Total $ 37,253,257 $ - $ - $ 42,475,754 $ 79,729,011 
66 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

Liabilities covered and not covered by budgetary resources as of September 30, 2013: 

Liabilities

Liabilities Covered by 

Budgetary Resources

Liabilities Not Covered by 

Budgetary Resources

Current Non-Current Current Non-Current 2013

Intragovernmental Liabilities

Accounts Payable $ 4,476,022 $ - $ - $ - $ 4,476,022 

Advances from Others 197,209 - - - 197,209 

Capital Lease Liability 72,862 - - - 72,862 

 4,746,093 - - - 4,746,093 

Other Liabilities

Accrued Benefits 1,679,783 - - - 1,679,783 

Accrued Workers’ Compensation 487,583 - - - 487,583 

Unemployment Compensation 887,040 - - - 887,040 

Liabilities for Non-Entity Assets (888,752) - - - (888,752)

Total Other Liabilities 2,165,654 - - - 2,165,654 

Total Intragovernmental Liabilities 6,911,747 - - - 6,911,747 

Public Liabilities

Accounts Payable 23,997,401 - - - 23,997,401 

Actuarial FECA Liability - - - 38,506,935 38,506,935 

Accrued Payroll and Benefits 6,989,142 - - - 6,989,142 

Unfunded Accrued Annual Leave - - - 7,919,488 7,919,488 

Other Liabilities 261,983 - - - 261,983 

Total Public Liabilities 31,248,526 - - 46,426,423 77,674,949 

Total $ 38,160,273 $ - $ - $ 46,426,423 $ 84,586,696 
Notes to the Financial Statements | 67

NOTE 9 – LEASE COMMITMENTS 

CAPITAL LEASES: Assets Under Capital Lease as of September 30, 2014 and 2013:

Summary of Assestes Under Capital Lease 2014 2013

Buildings Structures $ - $ 1,354,473 

Accumulated Depreciation - (1,320,611)

Total $ - $ 33,862 

CAPITAL LEASES: Future Capital Lease Payments Due as of September 30, 2013:

Year Building Structures

2014 $ 75,154 

2015 - 

2016 - 

2017 - 

Thereafter - 

Total Future Capital Lease Payments 75,154

Less: Imputed Interest (2,292)

Less: Executory Costs - 

Net Capital Lease Liability $ 72,862 

The House’s capital leases for building structures expired in 

December 2013. Pursuant to terms negotiated in FY 2014, 

the House classified the new lease as an operating lease. 

The schedules in Note 9 have been updated to reflect this 

action. The occupancy agreement for the building structures 

lease includes multi-year funding obligations of the tenant 

that state the agreement is cancelable upon 30 days written 

notice. Space relinquishment rights and obligations state 

the agreement is cancelable by providing 30 days written 

notice to the U.S. General Services Administration. The 

House also agrees that its right to not renew the lease for a 

fiscal year is limited solely to the House not obtaining an 

appropriation for the year in an amount equal to or in excess 

of lease payments for the year. The House may terminate 

the agreement in whole or in part as prescribed in the agreed 

upon settlement methodology.
68 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

OPERATING LEASES: Future Operating Lease Payments Due as of September 30, 2014: 

Year Building

Structures Vehicles Office Space Parking Total

2015 $ 494,406 $ 243,824 $ 5,709,802 $ 80,395 $ 6,528,427 

2016 505,445 47,073 259,992 32,003 844,513 

2017 516,740 4,361 44,717 4,078 569,896 

2018 528,299 - - - 528,299 

2019 540,127 - - - 540,127 

Thereafter 2,429,685 - - - 2,429,685 

Total $ 5,014,702 $ 295,258 $ 6,014,511 $ 116,476 $ 11,440,947 

OPERATING LEASES: Future Operating Lease Payments Due as of September 30, 2013: 

Year Building

Structures Vehicles Office Space Parking Total

2014 $ - $ 500,467 $ 21,507,323 $ 154,120 $ 22,161,910 

2015 - 110,789 5,829,720 72,072 6,012,581 

Total $ - $ 611,256 $ 27,337,043 $ 226,192 $ 28,174,491 

The House maintains operating leases for building 

structures, vehicles and district office space and parking. 

The lease agreements are in accordance with House 

rules and regulations and agreed upon vendor terms and 

conditions. In accordance with the Members’ Congressional 

Handbook, the House requires that leases entered into by 

Members for space be no longer than the elected term of the 

Member. Members and Officers also enter into leases to rent 

vehicles for official business purposes. A Member may lease 

a vehicle for a period that exceeds the current congressional 

term, but the Member remains personally responsible for 

the lease liability if service to the House concludes prior to 

lease termination.

The House enters into operating leases for building 

structures, temporary usage of office space, vehicles, 

software, computers and other equipment. Leases that 

convey the benefits and risks of ownership, but do not 

meet House capitalization criteria are also recognized as 

operating leases. Operating lease payments are recorded as 

expenses. Future operating lease payments are not accrued 

as liabilities. Members may lease office space in their 

districts through the U.S. General Services Administration 

or may directly lease space from the private sector. 

NOTE 10 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Contingencies should be recognized as a liability when a 

past transaction or event has occurred, a future outflow 

or other sacrifice of resources is probable, and the related 

future outflow or sacrifice of resources is measurable. 

The House is currently involved in one legal matter where 

the sacrifice of resources is probable and the range of the 

loss cannot be estimated; and six legal matters where the 

sacrifice of resources are reasonably possible, but the Office 

of General Counsel cannot predict the likelihood of an 

unfavorable outcome or the range of the loss. 
Notes to the Financial Statements | 69

NOTE 11 – INTRAGOVERNMENTAL COSTS AND EXCHANGE REVENUE 

Intragovernmental Costs and Exchange Revenue as of September 30, 2014 and 2013: 

Intragovernmental Costs and Exchange Revenue 2014 2013

Legislative Activities

Intragovernmental Costs $ 522,658,990 $ 525,236,959 

Public Costs 962,568,515 995,029,611 

Total Costs 1,485,227,505 1,520,266,570 

Intragovernmental Earned Revenue (4,808,424) (3,142,500)

Public Earned Revenue (554,109) (414,767)

Total Earned Revenue (5,362,533) (3,557,267)

Net Program Costs 1,479,864,972 1,516,709,303 

Revolving Funds

Intragovernmental Costs 152,393 159,284 

Public Costs 1,812,658 5,423,654 

Total Costs 1,965,051 5,582,938 

Intragovernmental Earned Revenue (1,957,655) (2,005,370)

Public Earned Revenue (2,778,807) (3,261,381)

Total Earned Revenue (4,736,462) (5,266,751)

Net Program Costs (2,771,411) 316,187 

Total

Intragovernmental Costs 522,811,383 525,396,243 

Public Costs 964,381,173 1,000,453,265 

Total Costs 1,487,192,556 1,525,849,508 

Intragovernmental Earned Revenue (6,766,079) (5,147,870)

Public Earned Revenue (3,332,916) (3,676,148)

Total Earned Revenue (10,098,995) (8,824,018)

Net Cost of Operations $ 1,477,093,561 $ 1,517,025,490 
70 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

NOTE 12 – PERSONNEL AND BENEFITS COMPENSATION

Personnel and Benefits Compensation as of September 30, 2014 and 2013:

Member and Employee Personnel and Benefits Compensation 2014 2013

Personnel Compensation $ 731,485,118 $ 752,241,955 

Retirement Plan Contributions 140,066,298 147,373,582 

Social Security 50,799,657 51,614,809 

Health Insurance 46,845,084 53,400,316 

Student Loan/Fitness Center Programs 14,542,300 14,168,844 

Unemployment and Workers’ Compensation 2,718,388 6,449,496 

Transit Benefits 2,322,577 2,392,215 

Life Insurance 1,081,786 1,131,527 

Death Benefits 901,349 1,495,249 

Annual Leave (793,519) 527,985 

Allowances 25,000 25,000 

Workers' Compensation Actuarial Adjustment (3,157,150) 12,537,701 

Total $ 986,836,888 $ 1,043,358,679 

NOTE 13 – EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

The House continues to develop contingency plans and 

capabilities to ensure the continuation of essential House 

Operations in the event of a disruptive event. Approximately 

$16 million and $15 million were expended in 2014 and 

2013, respectively.

NOTE 14 – EXCHANGE REVENUES

In certain cases, the prices charged by the House for the 

sale of goods and services are set by House rules and 

regulations, which for program and other reasons may not 

represent full cost. In other cases, prices set for goods and 

services are intended to recover the full costs incurred by 

these activities (e.g., child care fees, postal fees, and Gift 

Shop sales to the public).
Notes to the Financial Statements | 71

NOTE 15 – IMPUTED FINANCING FROM COST ABSORBED BY OTHERS

The House must recognize an imputed cost and imputed 

financing source for costs associated with the occupancy 

of the U.S. Capitol, House office buildings, and the O’Neill 

Federal building; and Federal Employee and Veterans’ 

Benefits. During FY 2014, the House offices expanded to 

the O’Neill Federal building due to planned renovations in 

the Cannon office building. The imputed cost is recognized 

in the Statement of Net Cost and the imputed financing 

source is recognized in the Statement of Changes in Net 

Position.

Imputed Financing from Cost absorbed by Others as of September 30, 2014 and 2013:

Imputed Cost and Financing Source 2014 2013

Occupancy Costs $ 176,042,979 $ 164,853,737 

Federal Employee and Veteran’s Benefits

Current Service Cost - Federal Employees Health Benefits 33,783,292 40,474,215 

Current Service Cost - Federal Pensions 28,764,007 25,950,416 

Current Service Cost - Federal Employees Group Life Insurance 106,693 110,414 

Total Federal Employee and Veteran’s Benefits 62,653,992 66,535,045 

Claims to be Paid by the U.S. Treasury’s Judgment Fund on behalf of the House 2,500,000 - 

Total $ 241,196,971 $ 231,388,782 

NOTE 16 – UNDELIVERED ORDERS AT THE END OF THE PERIOD

Undelivered Orders represent the amount of paid and 

unpaid orders for goods and/or services ordered which have 

not been received.

Undelivered Orders as of September 30, 2014 and 2013:

Undelivered Orders at the End of the Period 2014 2013

Undelivered Orders, Unpaid $ 49,275,328 $ 38,709,374 

Undelivered Orders, Paid 4,808,960 5,849,898 

Total $ 54,084,288 $ 44,559,272 
72 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

NOTE 17 – PERMANENT INDEFINITE APPROPRIATIONS

A permanent and indefinite appropriation is a standing 

appropriation which, once made, is always available for 

specified purposes and does not require repeated action 

by Congress to authorize its use. Legislation authorizing 

an agency to retain and use offsetting receipts tends to be 

permanent; if so, it is a form of permanent appropriation. 

This appropriation is for an unspecified amount of money; 

and may appropriate all or part of the receipts from certain 

sources, the specific amount of which is determinable only 

at some future date, or it may appropriate “such sums as 

may be necessary” for a given purpose. 

The House has two permanent and indefinite appropriations. 

These appropriations include the Compensation of Members 

and Related Administrative Expenses and Congressional 

Use of Foreign Currency.

Compensation of Members and Related Administrative 

Expenses is maintained and administered by the House. 

Public Law 97-51, Sec. 130(c), Oct. 1, 1981, 95 Stat. 966, 

“Appropriation of funds for Compensation of Members 

of Congress and for Administrative Expenses at Levels 

Authorized by Law and Recommended by the President for 

Federal Employees”. The appropriation funds the payroll 

and benefits compensation for Members of Congress and 

related administrative expenses in support of administering 

the fund.

Congressional Use of Foreign Currency is maintained 

and administered by the Department of State on behalf of 

the House. This account, which was established in 1948 

and made permanent in 1981, is authorized by legislation 

codified in Title 22, Sec. 1754 of the United States Code. 

The funds are available to Congressional Committees and 

delegations to cover local currency expenses incurred while 

traveling abroad. Use of the foreign currency account for 

Congressional delegations and other official foreign travel of 

the House is authorized by either the Speaker of the House 

or the chairman of a Standing, Special and Select, or Joint 

Committee. 

NOTE 18 – EXPLANATION OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE STATEMENT OF 

BUDGETARY RESOURCES AND THE BUDGET OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

The Budget of the U.S. Government with actual amounts for 

the year ended September 30, 2014 has not been published 

as of the issue date of these financial statements. This 

document will be available in February 2015.

Differences between the Statement of Budgetary Resources and the Budget of the

U.S. Government as of September 30, 2013: 

Differences between the Statement of Budgetary Resources 

and the Budget of the U.S. Government Budgetary Resources Net Outlays

Statement of Budgetary Resources $ 1,275,626,467 $ 1,268,487,234 

Difference 373,533 512,766 

Budget of the U.S. Government $ 1,276,000,000 $ 1,269,000,000 

The House deems the variances between the amounts 

reported in the Statement of Budgetary Resources and 

the actual amounts reported in the Budget of the U.S. 

Government for budgetary resources and net outlays to be 

immaterial and/or insignificant. As such, reconciliation of 

this item is not necessary and therefore not included.
Notes to the Financial Statements | 73

NOTE 19 – RECONCILIATION OF BUDGETARY RESOURCES OBLIGATED TO 

NET COST OF OPERATIONS

2014 2013

Resources Used to Finance Activities

Budgetary Resources Obligated

Obligations incurred $ 1,268,889,233 $ 1,284,277,661 

Spending Authority from Offsetting Collections and Recoveries (27,342,224) (27,044,717)

Obligations Net of Offsetting Collections and Recoveries 1,241,547,009 1,257,232,944 

Net Obligations 1,241,547,009 1,257,232,944 

Other Resources

Imputed Financing from Costs Absorbed by Others 241,196,971 231,388,782 

Net Other Resources Used to Finance Activities 241,196,971 231,388,782 

Total Resources Used to Finance Activities 1,482,743,980 1,488,621,726 

Resources Used to Finance Items not Part of the Net Cost of Operations

Change in Budgetary Resources Obligated for Goods, Services, and 

Benefits Ordered but not Yet Provided (9,119,006) 2,150,395 

Resources that Finance the Acquisition of Assets (9,046,039) (11,887,622)

Other Resources or Adjustments to Net Obligated Resources 

that do not affect Net Cost (332,963) 297,604 

Total Resources Used to Finance Items not Part of the

Net Cost of Operations (18,498,008) (9,439,623)

Total Resources Used to Finance the Net Cost of Operations $ 1,464,245,972 $ 1,479,182,103 

Components of Net Cost of Operations that will not Require or 

Generate Resources in the Current Period

Components Requiring or Generating Resources in Future Periods:

Increase/(Decrease) in Actuarial Liability $ (3,157,150) $ 12,537,701 

Increase/(Decrease) in Annual Leave Liability (793,519) 527,985 

Other 111,038 (34,335)

Total Components of Net Cost of Operations Requiring or 

Generating Resources in Future Periods (3,839,631) 13,031,351 

Components not Requiring or Generating Resources

Depreciation and Amortization 15,557,009 22,263,829 

Revaluation of Assets or Liabilities 155,897 (46,722)

Other 974,314 2,594,929 

Total Components of Net Cost of Operations not Requiring or 

Generating Resources 16,687,220 24,812,036 

Total Components of Net Cost of Operations that will not 

Require or Generate Resources in the Current Period 12,847,589 37,843,387 

Net Cost of Operations $ 1,477,093,561 $ 1,517,025,490 
74 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

NOTE 20 – RESTATEMENTS

Note 5 – General Property 

and Equipment, Net

The House restated the following lines in Note 5 - General 

Property and Equipment, Net for FY 2013 to accurately 

reflect the acquisition cost and accumulated depreciation as 

of September 30, 2013.

 • Computer Software and Hardware 

Acquisition cost was restated from 

$86,972,382 to $77,832,439

Depreciation was restated from 

$76,558,970 to $67,419,027

 • Equipment

Acquisition cost was restated from 

$63,069,518 to $44,291,945

Depreciation was restated from 

$52,118,129 to $33,340,556

In FY 2014, the House performed an inventory of CAO 

property and equipment and identified property records 

totaling approximately $10 million that were physically 

disposed prior to FY 2013. The House also performed 

an evaluation of infrastructure wiring in FY 2014 and 

determined that wiring with an acquisition cost of 

approximately $18 million had been upgraded or replaced 

and the old wiring was no longer in service as of September 

30, 2013. As a result of the inventory of CAO property and 

equipment and the evaluation of infrastructure wiring, the 

House determined the itemized computer software and 

hardware, and equipment acquisition cost and accumulated 

depreciation were overstated. Since the CAO property and 

equipment and infrastructure wiring were fully depreciated 

and had no net book value, the Property and Equipment, Net 

line item was shown correctly on the Consolidated Balance 

Sheet for FY 2013 and there was no effect on the total assets, 

net cost of operations or net position. 
Required Supplementary Information (unaudited) | 75

Required Supplementary 

Information
76 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Required Supplementary Information (unaudited) | 77

REQUIRED SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Stewardship Property and Equipment

The U.S. House of Representatives (House) collection of 

heritage assets includes historical artwork and artifacts that 

reflect the rich heritage and evolving nature of the House. 

The institution mirrors the changing face and history of 

the nation. These ideals and trials of our history are also 

expressed in the heritage assets whose subject matter 

includes prominent Americans and other distinguished 

individuals, significant moments in history, and symbolic 

representations of the nation’s rich and diverse history.

The House’s Curator manages and cares for the House’s 

collection of works of art and artifacts under its jurisdiction 

which are located throughout the U.S. Capitol complex 

including House office buildings and other locations under 

the control of the House. Since these locations are not in a 

museum setting, works of art and artifacts may be subject 

to damage from contact and surface deposits. However, it is 

the House’s goal to preserve its heritage assets and manage 

the condition in accordance with the intended usage of the 

collection. The House conducts periodic assessments to 

monitor, inspect and evaluate the condition of the heritage 

assets to determine the current condition for preservation 

or restoration efforts. These assessments are performed 

in accordance with House established practice and 

professional standards. General conditions are categorized 

as excellent, good, fair and poor. The House has determined 

its heritage assets to be in good to excellent condition. 

The following tables present the general condition of the 

House’s heritage assets and indicate an aggregate condition 

of the collection as of September 30, 2014.

Heritage Asset Collection - Artwork

General Condition 2013 Increase Decrease 2014

Good to Excellent 323 11 - 334

The works of art include oil and acrylic paintings, works on 

paper, and sculpture in bronze, marble and other media. 

These items range from portraits and historical documents 

to statues and other works of art.

Examples of the House’s collection of works of art include:

Oil Paintings

The House’s collection of oil paintings primarily consists 

of the portraits of House of Representatives’ Speakers and 

Committee Chairmen. An example includes that of Speaker 

Henry Clay by Guiseppe Fagnani in 1852. His portrait was 

the first of what became the Speaker’s portrait series in 

the House Collection. This portrait series became official 

with House Resolution 164 in 1910, which decreed that the 

service of every speaker be commemorated with an oil 

portrait. All Speaker portraits hang in the Speaker’s Lobby 

and in the East and West Chamber stairways that adjoin it. 

Acrylic Paintings

The House’s collection of acrylic paintings includes 

Committee portraits painted in acrylic on canvas. One 

such example is the portrait of former Chairman of the 

Committee on Appropriations, George Mahon.

Works on Paper

The House’s collection of works on paper includes items 

such as an early 19th century sketch of Speaker Jonathan 

Dayton. 

Sculptures

The House’s collection of sculptures includes items such 

as several marble busts of former Speakers of the House, 

including Speakers Thomas B. Reed, Joseph G. Cannon, 

James Beauchamp Clark, and Nicholas Longworth.
78 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014

Heritage Asset Collection - Artifacts

General Condition 2013 Increase Decrease 2014

Good to Excellent 5,189 548 6 5,731

The artifacts include items in various types of media, 

including but not limited to paper, metal, plaster, wood, 

textile and stone. These items range from photographs 

and other historical images, literature (e.g., newspapers, 

magazines, and handbills), and political campaign 

buttons to engravings, furniture, and other types of 

historical artifacts.

Examples of the House’s collection of artifacts include:

Paper

The House’s collection of paper artifacts include items 

such as photographs of the House of Representatives 

Chamber in 1937; Visitor’s Gallery passes from various 

Representatives from the early 1900’s; detail of a tally 

sheet of the February 9, 1825 Electoral College vote from 

the records of the U.S. House of Representatives with the 

names of Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, John Quincy 

Adams of Massachusetts, William H. Crawford of Georgia, 

and Henry Clay of Kentucky appearing written in longhand; 

and Campaign Cards and other memorabilia of various 

Representatives dating back to the early 1900s. 

Metal

The House’s collection of metal artifacts includes items 

such as an artifact of the House Chamber, the historic 

inkwell that sits on the Speaker’s desk when the House is in 

session, which dates back to the 19th century. The inkwell 

is known to have been used as long ago as 1821 in the Old 

Hall of the House before the Members moved to the present 

chamber.

Plaster

The House’s collection of plaster artifacts include items 

such as several small 1932 busts of George Washington, 

presented to Members of Congress on the bicentennial of 

the first president’s birth. 

Wood

The House’s collection of wood artifacts includes items 

such as the gavel used by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to open the 

110th Congress as the first woman to serve as the House’s 

presiding officer; and an 1819 desk and chair from the 

House Chamber. 

Textile

The House’s collection of textile artifacts includes items 

such as a recent House Page uniform, donated to the 

collection by a former Page.

Stone 

The House’s collection of stone artifacts includes items such 

as a small piece of the U.S. Capitol East front stairs.
Other Information (unaudited) | 79

Other Information
80 | UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUDIT REPORT 2014
Other Information (unaudited) | 81

SCHEDULE OF SPENDING

For the Years Ended September 30, 2014 and 2013

2014 2013 

(Restated)

What Money is Available to be Spent?

Total Resources $ 1,461,745,293 $ 1,425,159,947 

Less Amount Available but Not Agreed to be Spent (182,011,041) (138,724,631)

Less Amount Available to be Spent (10,845,019) (2,157,655)

Total Amounts Agreed to be Spent $ 1,268,889,233 $ 1,284,277,661 

How was the Money Spent/Issued?

Personnel Compensation & Benefits $ 994,059,412 $ 1,030,746,973 

Contracts 76,111,096 71,732,837 

Other 198,718,725 181,797,851 

Total Amounts Agreed to be Spent $ 1,268,889,233 $ 1,284,277,661 

Who did the Money go to?

Federal $ 321,143,770 $ 325,774,256 

Non-Federal 947,745,463 958,503,405 

Total Amounts Agreed to be Spent $ 1,268,889,233 $ 1,284,277,661 

The FY 2013 Schedule of Spending was restated for the 

following sections: 

How was the Money Spent/Issued? - to accurately reclassify approximatley $76M of transactions that were 

initially recorded in the ‘Contracts’ line item, but were later 

discovered to be ‘Personnel Compensation & Benefits’ and 

‘Other’ type items based on the nature of the transaction and 

misinterpretation of the original data.

Who did the Money go to? - to accurately re-classify 

approximately $22M of transactions that were initially 

recorded in the ‘Federal’ line item, but were later discovered 

to be ‘Non-Federal’ type items based on a review of the 

supporting documentation while performing a similar 

analysis for the FY 2014 Schedule of Spending.
U.S. House of Representatives

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL