Upcoming Audit Work

The Postal Service operates approximately 31,000 retail units. Management at these retail units must provide adequate security for all accountable items such as USPS funds, accountable paper, and equipment and report their financial activity at the close of each business day. This audit will determine compliance with policies and procedures regarding financial controls and safeguarding of assets at selected Postal Service retail units.

The Postal Service has been transporting live, day-old chicks since 1918. As the only shipper that accepts day-old chicks, the Postal Service provides an essential service for hatcheries, farmers, and backyard hobbyists. Last year, the Postal Service handled over 40-million-day-old chicks. The Postal Service requires mailers of live animals to comply with set guidelines to ensure safe, effective, and efficient transportation. In turn, the Postal Service prioritizes them through their processing and logistic networks. This audit will assess the effectiveness of the Postal Service’s procedures for acceptance, handling, and delivery of day-old chicks.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Postal Service has an obligation to provide its employees with a safe and healthful place to work. The Postal Service proactively meets its obligations to the Act by implementing policies, procedures, special teams, and reporting tools for workplace violence at facilities. The established zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence outlines no employee should have to work in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation and the organization will address every threat or act of inappropriate behavior with an immediate and firm response. These threats or acts can result in corrective action up to removal from the Postal Service.  Our objective is to assess the effectiveness of the Postal Service's Workplace Violence Prevention Program from fiscal year 2022 through 2024. 

The In-office Cost System (IOCS) is the primary probability sampling system used to attribute and distribute labor costs of clerks, mail handlers, city carriers, and supervisors to those employees’ activities, particularly those activities relating to handling mail of all classes and rate categories and to providing extra services. IOCS provides a mechanism for attributing certain labor costs to activities performed within the Postal Service’s network. Our objective is to assess select internal controls over the Postal Service’s IOCS sampling processes. The scope of our audit is from fiscal year (FY) 2020 through FY 2024. The estimated report release date is March 2025.

The Postal Service has service standards for delivering mail after receiving it from the customer. These standards identify the number of days a customer can expect it take to receive their mail. Service standards are one of the primary operational goals, or benchmarks, against which the Postal Service measures its performance. The Postal Service has recently implemented various operational initiatives as part of its 10-year strategic plan, impacting service standards and mail processing, transportation, and delivery operations. Our objective is to assess the Postal Service’s First-Class and Priority Mail service performance, trends, changes to standards, and common service failure points.