THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE (GAO) REVIEWED THE AUDITING PROCEDURES OF GPO AND CONCLUDED THAT THE PUBLIC PRINTER SHOULD ENSURE THE INDEPENDENCE OF AUDIT SELECTION AND COVERAGE. GPO'S PAST AUDITS HAVE TENDED TO BE NARROW IN SCOPE, WITH THE GREATEST CONCENTRATION ON FINANCIAL AUDITS. THUS, THE PUBLIC PRINTER SHOULD DIRECT THE OFFICE OF AUDITS TO PROCESS ALL SPECIAL MANAGEMENT REQUESTS THROUGH HIS OFFICE SO THAT HE CAN BE AWARE OF THE EFFECT OF SUCH REQUESTS ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF FULL-SCOPE AUDITING. GAO ALSO FOUND THAT THE 5-YEAR AUDIT PLAN FOR FISCAL YEARS 1973 TO 1977 CONTAINED NO PRIORITY RANKINGS AND NO ASSURANCES THAT RESOURCES WOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE MOST IMPORTANT AREAS. HOWEVER, THE DIRECTOR OF AUDITS HAS TAKEN STEPS TO IMPROVE LONG-RANGE PLANNING AND REPORT FOLLOWUP PROCEDURES. GAO ALSO RECOMMENDS THAT THE PRINTING OFFICE COORDINATE ITS PLANNING WITH THE DATA SYSTEMS SERVICE MANAGEMENT REVIEW GROUP TO AVOID POTENTIAL DUPLICATE EFFORTS. SOME TABULAR DATA AND AN ORGANIZATIONAL CHART FOR GPO ARE PROVIDED. (PRG)