Independent Auditors’ Report on SBA’s Compliance with DATA Act Reporting

OIG contracted with the independent certified public accounting firm KPMG LLP (KPMG) to perform a performance audit as required by the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act). The objectives of this engagement were to assess (1) the completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and quality of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) fiscal year (FY) 2019, first quarter financial and award data submitted for publication on USASpending.gov, and (2) SBA’s implementation and use of the governmentwide financial data standards established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury). KPMG conducted the engagement in accordance with consulting services standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the standards applicable to performance audits contained in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO’s) Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, and guidance as defined by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)/Federal Audit Executive Council (FAEC) Inspectors General Guide to Compliance Under the DATA Act (the Guide).

KPMG reported the following:

• The data submission was of higher quality; however, SBA did not submit certain data completely, accurately, or timely. Overall, for the 385 sampled transactions, KPMG tested 14,262 individual data elements and identified 628 errors. Those errors resulted in the following error rates: completeness 0.01%, accuracy 2.35%, and timeliness 2.03%.

• SBA implemented and used the governmentwide financial data standards established by OMB and Treasury under the DATA Act.

Details regarding KPMG’s conclusions are included in the results and conclusions and findings sections of this report. KPMG did not report any instances or matters regarding noncompliance. The report includes nine recommendations that SBA officials agreed to implement.