Audit Report on the New York County District Attorney’s Office’s Inventory Practices over Its Office Equipment

Executive Summary

The objective of this audit was to determine whether the District Attorney for New York County (DANY) has adequate controls over its inventory of office equipment.  DANY is one of New York City’s (the City’s) five District Attorneys who are responsible for enforcing the penal law and other criminal statutes in their respective counties.

DANY’s Procurement and Contracts Management Unit and its Information Technology Procurement Unit are responsible for the maintenance and inventory of all office equipment that is purchased and maintained by DANY. DANY uses an asset management system called WiseTrack to maintain and track its inventory.

DANY’s actual spending for Fiscal Year 2021 was $132 million, of which $12.8 million was spent on Other Than Personal Services (OTPS). The inventory listing obtained from DANY on August 13, 2021, contained 21,391 office equipment items with a purchase price totaling $13.1 million.

This audit was suspended on October 30, 2020, due to restrictions that were in effect to reduce the impact of COVID-19. Prior to that suspension, a management letter that contained a summary of the audit’s preliminary findings up to that point was sent to DANY. The audit was resumed on July 12, 2021.

Audit Findings and Conclusion

Weaknesses were identified in DANY’s oversight of its office equipment inventory. Specifically, DANY performed periodic counts of only those items purchased with federal funds rather than its entire inventory, did not consistently assign its asset tags in sequential order, and did not ensure that all tagged assets were recorded in its inventory records.

After sharing these matters with DANY in the above-referenced management letter, the agency took corrective action. The agency developed protocols for annual counts of its entire inventory and completed one in August 2021. Auditors also conducted an inventory count of DANY’s office equipment and were generally able to account for the sampled items, although some items observed by auditors were not recorded in WiseTrack. DANY has also updated its asset tagging procedures and formalized the requirement that tags are to be ordered and distributed in sequential order.

Audit Recommendations

The audit makes several recommendations that will improve DANY’s controls over its office equipment inventory. These appear in the body of this report.

Agency Response

DANY agreed with four of the audit’s recommendations and did not directly address one recommendation.