Fuel Expenses, Cash, Stamps and Money Orders – Charlotte, NC, Ballantyne Station Post Office
Background
This report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of fuel expenses, cash, stamps, and money orders at the Charlotte, NC, Ballantyne Station Post Office (PO) (Project Number 22-018). This site is in the North Carolina District of the Atlantic Area. This audit was designed to provide U.S. Postal Service management with timely information on potential financial control risks at Postal Service locations.
Management assigns every Postal Service-owned vehicle a Voyager Fleet card (Voyager card) to pay for its commercially purchased fuel, oil, and routine maintenance. U.S. Bank operates the Postal Service fleet card program and Voyager provides a weekly electronic transaction detail file of all Voyager card transactions to the Postal Service’s Fuel Asset Management System (FAMS) eFleet application. Site managers are responsible for monitoring Voyager card transactions in the FAMS eFleet application.
The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) used data analytics to identify that the Ballantyne Station had a large number of expenses recorded to account identifier code (AIC) 594, Vehicle Supplies Expense, which were paid by cash or money order. This unit had $14,283 — or 35 percent of the North Carolina District’s total — for the period October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021.
A postal retail unit (PRU) is the initial level where the Postal Service recognizes revenue from operations and they include post offices, stations, and branches. Postmasters or installation heads are responsible for collecting all receipts for revenue to which the offices are entitled, accounting for all funds entrusted to them, and ensuring that the offices meet all accounting objectives.