Hotline Complaint Involving Auditor Independence at a Field Audit Office in the Defense Contract Audit Agency Western Region

Abstract

We reviewed a DoD Hotline complaint concerning the relocation of an auditor in the Defense Contract Audit Agency's (DCAA) Western Region for independence reasons. According to the complaint, the auditor's independence was not impaired, and management should not have acted on a DoD contractor's request to relocate the auditor. We determined that the relocation of the auditor was justified. However, our review disclosed that DCAA field audit office management failed to take measures necessary to eliminate the auditor's independence impairment in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. DCAA did not reassign three audits affected by the independence impairment to another auditor for completion. In addition, DCAA field audit office management did not initiate an investigation of DoD contractor complaints made against the auditor, even though some of the complaints would have constituted misconduct. In May 2011, we issued a Notice of Concern to the Director of DCAA, recommending several corrective actions for eliminating the independence impairment and improving related controls. In response to our Notice of Concern, DCAA took several actions. Among them, DCAA management rescinded an audit report issued on one of the audits affected by the impairment, and assigned the audit to another field audit office to redo and supervise; assigned the other two audits affected by the impairment to another field audit office for completion; issued an alert to all DCAA employees which emphasized the need to fully eliminate independence impairments in a timely manner; and revised its training on the identification and removal of auditor independence impairments.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 06, 2011
Accession Number
ADA555172

Entities

People

  • Carolyn R. Davis
  • Randolph R. Stone

Organizations

  • Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Auditing
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Electronic Mail
  • Governments
  • Guidance
  • Human Resources
  • Law
  • Network Protocols
  • Personnel Management
  • Relocation
  • Standards
  • Supervisors
  • Training
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Business

Readers

  • Auditory Neuroscience/Auditory Physiology.
  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.