Title 7

SECTION 1773.39

1773.39 Utility plant and accumulated depreciation.

§ 1773.39 Utility plant and accumulated depreciation.

(a) General. The audit of these accounts shall include tests of additions, replacements, retirements, and changes. The auditor's audit documentation shall support that the auditor:

(1) Examined direct labor and material transactions to determine whether the auditee's accounting records reflect a complete accumulation of costs;

(2) Examined indirect costs and overhead charges to determine if they conform to the Uniform System of Accounts or the Federal Acquisitions Regulations as required under the RUS Security Agreement;

(3) Reviewed the costs of completed construction and retirement projects to determine if they were cleared promptly from the work in progress accounts to the classified plant in service accounts and the related depreciation accounts;

(4) Examined direct purchases of special equipment and general plant;

(5) Determined the degree of accuracy and control of costing retirements, including tests of salvage and removal costs;

(6) Reviewed the auditee's work order procedures; and

(7) Reviewed depreciation rates for adequate support, and compared them to RUS guidelines to determine that they were in compliance.

(b) Construction work in progress. (1) The audit documentation shall include a summary of open work orders reconciled to the general ledger and note on the summary any unusual or atypical projects.

(2) The auditor's audit documentation shall support that the auditor:

(i) Reviewed equipment purchases charged to work orders, including payments and receiving reports;

(ii) Reviewed contracts showing the scope of the work, the nature of the contract, the contract amount, and scheduled payments and reviewed supporting documents to determine that services contracted for were in fact rendered;

(iii) Reviewed time cards and pay rates for a sample of employees who allocate their time to work orders;

(iv) Reviewed the nature of material and supplies issued to the project, traced amounts and quantities to supporting documents, and reviewed the reasonableness of clearing rates for assignment of stores expense to the work order;

(v) Reviewed the accuracy of the computation of overheads applied to the work order; and

(vi) Reviewed other costs charged to the work order for support and propriety.

(3) The auditor's audit documentation shall support that the auditor:

(i) Scheduled payments to contractors and traced to verify payments and supporting invoices;

(ii) Traced contract costs to final closeout documents, to the general ledger, and to the continuing property records; and

(iii) Verified the costs of owner furnished materials, if applicable.

(4) The auditor shall review the auditee's procedures for unitization and classification of work order and contract costs. The auditor's audit documentation shall support that the auditor:

(i) Reviewed the tabulation of record units for construction from the work order staking sheets to the tabulation of record units, to the unitization sheets, and to the continuing property records;

(ii) Reviewed the procedures for unitizing and distributing costs of completed construction to the plant accounts;

(iii) Verified that standard costs were being used;

(iv) Evaluated the basis for development of standard costs; and

(v) Determined that costs of completed construction were cleared promptly from work in progress accounts.

(1) Determined whether the subsidiary plant records agree with the controlling general ledger plant accounts;

(2) Noted differences in the audit documentation; and

(3) Commented, in the report on compliance with aspects of contractual agreements and regulatory requirements, on any discrepancies.

(d) Retirement work-in-progress. The auditor's audit documentation shall support that the auditor:

(1) Determined that plant retirements are currently and systematically recorded and priced on the basis of the continuing property records, and determined that costs of removal have been properly accounted for;

(2) Explained the method used in computing the cost of units of plant retired if continuing property records have not been established and determined whether costs appeared reasonable; and

(3) Determined the manner in which net losses due to retirements were accounted for and traced clearing entries to the depreciation reserve, the plant accounts, and the continuing property records.

(e) Provision for accumulated depreciation. The auditor's audit documentation shall support that the auditor:

(1) Verified the depreciation accruals for the period, including the depreciation base;

(2) Reviewed the basis of the depreciation rates, any change in rates and the reason for the change, and, if appropriate, determined whether the rates are in compliance with RUS requirements or with the requirements of the state regulatory body having jurisdiction over the auditee's depreciation rates;

(3) Reviewed salvage and removal costs; and

(4) Searched for unrecorded retirements.

(f) Other reserves. The auditor's audit documentation shall include an account analysis for all other material plant reserves, such as the reserve for the amortization of plant acquisition adjustments. The auditor's audit documentation shall support that appropriate tests of transactions were performed.

(g) Narrative. The auditor shall include in the audit documentation a comprehensive narrative on the scope of work performed, observations made, and conclusions reached. Matters covered in this narrative shall include:

(1) The nature of construction and other additions;

(2) The control over, and the accuracy of pricing retirements;

(3) The accuracy of distributing costs to classified utility plant accounts;

(4) An evaluation of the method of:

(i) Capitalizing the direct loadings on labor and material costs;

(ii) Distributing transportation costs and other expense clearing accounts; and

(iii) Capitalizing overhead costs;

(5) The tests of depreciation;

(6) A review of agreements such as those relating to acquisitions, property sales, and leases which affect the plant accounts; and

(7) Notations, if applicable, of RUS approval of property sales and the propriety of the disposition of the proceeds.