THE COST ACCOUNTING SYSTEM REVIEWED IS OPERATING IN CONFORMITY WITH THE GAO-APPROVED SYSTEM DESIGN. HOWEVER, INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER RESIDUAL MATERIAL TRANSFERS COULD BE IMPROVED. FURTHER, CIVIL ENGINEERING OFFICIALS AT THE BASE LEVEL COULD IMPROVE THEIR MANAGEMENT OF PERSONNEL RESOURCES BY ANALYZING ANY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PLANNED AND ACTUAL LABOR HOURS ON CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECTS, AS SHOWN ON COMPUTER-GENERATED SYSTEM REPORTS. THE AIR FORCE AUDIT AGENCY'S 1977 AUDIT OF THE TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE COST ACCOUNTING SYSTEM WAS ALSO REVIEWED, AND THE SCOPE OF THE AUDIT WAS FOUND INADEQUATE. THE AUDIT WAS INSUFFICIENT TO CONCLUDE WHETHER THE SYSTEM WAS OPERATING IN CONFORMITY TO THE DESIGN APPROVED BY GAO. INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER THE COST OF RESIDUAL MATERIAL TRANSFERRED FROM THE HOLDING AREA TO WORK ORDERS SHOULD BE IMPROVED, ALONG WITH THE FLOW OF MATERIAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS. THE AIR FORCE AUDIT AGENCY SHOULD EXPAND THE SCOPE OF ITS REVIEWS OF GAO-APPROVED ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS IN OPERATION WHEN THEY ARE NOT DONE IN CONJUNCTION WITH FULL-SCALE SYSTEM AUDITS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--RCB)