A new review says IRS business cases did not report costs accurately or comply with federal requirements and agency guidelines.
The tax agency disagreed, saying auditors did not accurately portray some agency actions that played only a minor role in decision-making. IRS said it has started to fix reporting problems, which it will complete later this year when fiscal 2007 budget submissions are due. "Inaccurate information in business cases can distort viable analysis and provide IRS executives with a false assessment of the actual progress and costs of projects," said Pamela Gardiner, deputy inspector general for audit at the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, in a report released this week.
Auditors evaluated business cases from June through December 2004 for four major IT projects for the fiscal 2005 and 2006 budget years. IRS makes about 30 business cases for IT investments each year to meet requirements of the Office of Management and Budget and the 1996 Clinger-Cohen Act.
The report found that IRS omitted $38.5 million in labor costs in one project and in another did not report project-specific security costs, such as for systems administrators and background checks.
Earned-value management data for two projects under development was incomplete, inaccurate and outdated, making it difficult for senior IRS, Treasury Department and OMB officials to assess overall progress, the auditors said. "Budgeted costs were inaccurate, baseline information changed from one year to the next, project teams could not provide supporting documentation and IT project costs were outdated," the report said.
In addition, the capital planning and investment control office did not always provide adequate guidance to project managers, who did not ensure business cases were prepared accurately and in compliance with OMB and IRS rules.
"Insufficient effort was made to prepare accurate business cases that could be relied upon to better manage IT projects," the report said.
IRS Exhibit 300 business case submissions, however, have shown consistent progress over the past two years, said the tax agency's CIO, Todd Grams. "The outcome of our increased project manager support and improved governance is evidenced by the substantial progress IRS has made from fiscal 2005 to 2006," Grams wrote in a response last month.
At the time of the review, IRS had not defined clear lines of project management responsibility. "Today each project manager is solely accountable for the Exhibit 300 content," Grams said.
IRS is also establishing audit trails for business-case calculations. To improve governance, IRS also has incorporated the business cases into its quarterly reviews and other system management requirements, Grams said.
Autor: Mary Mosquera
Quelle: Government Computer News, 04.05.2005
