Our audit reports discuss the findings and results of our work and make recommendations to NSF to improve operations and internal controls, recover questioned costs, and put funds to better use. These recommendations generally move through the following process:
- NSF submits a corrective action plan to our office with proposed actions and milestone dates. At this stage, the recommendations are considered Open-Unresolved.
- We review the plan and work with NSF to ensure the proposed corrective actions are timely and responsive to the report’s recommendations. Once NSF and our office agree, the recommendations are considered Open-Resolved.
- NSF then works to implement the corrective actions, and keeps us apprised of any changes to the milestone dates.
- NSF notifies us once it completes the corrective action and provides evidence that shows the work is done. We review this information, and once we confirm, the recommendation is considered Closed.
We post open recommendations (both unresolved and resolved) in a searchable format on Oversight.gov.
NSF shares its decisions on external audits of awardees on its website.