Department of Defense: Actions Needed to Improve Accounting of Intradepartmental Transactions

Abstract

DHS plans to spend more than $7 billion on its portfolio of major acquisition programs - with life-cycle costs over $300 million - in fiscal year 2021 to help execute its many critical missions. The Explanatory Statement accompanying the DHS Appropriations Act, 2015, included a provision for GAO to review DHS's major acquisitions on an ongoing basis. This report, GAO's sixth review, assesses the extent to which (1) DHS's major acquisition programs are meeting baseline goals, (2) DHS's guidance for developing acquisition documentation is consistent with DHS acquisition policy, and (3) DHS is reporting relevant information to Congress on its portfolio of major acquisition programs. GAO assessed 24 acquisition programs, including DHS's largest programs that were in the process of obtaining new capabilities as of April 2018, and programs GAO or DHS identified as at risk of poor outcomes. GAO assessed cost and schedule progress against baselines; assessed DHS's congressional reporting requirements; and interviewed DHS officials and congressional appropriations committee staff. What GAO Recommends GAO is making one recommendation for DHS to align acquisition guidance with policy, and one matter for Congress to consider determining what additional information it needs to perform oversight. DHS concurred with our recommendation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2021
Accession Number
AD1147479

Entities

People

  • Anne Thomas
  • Benjamin Durfee
  • Dacia Stewart
  • Jason D Kelly
  • Juan A. Garay
  • Kimberly Mcgatlin
  • Kristen Kociolek
  • Matthew C. Gardner
  • Patrick Frey
  • Rathi Bose

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accountability
  • Accounting
  • Acquisition
  • Agreements
  • Air Force
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Finance
  • Financial Management
  • Governments
  • Life Cycles
  • Marine Corps
  • Materials
  • Money
  • Standards
  • United States
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management