Deficiencies in Journal Vouchers that Affected the FY 2009 Air Force General Fund Statement of Budgetary Resources

Abstract

During FY 2009, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Columbus (DFAS Columbus), accountants prepared 6,117 journal vouchers, amounting to approximately $2 trillion, to produce the Air Force General Fund Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR) and other budgetary reports showing the sources and status of $201.6 billion of available general funds. Our objective was to review the journal vouchers DFAS prepared and used to produce the FY 2009 Air Force General Fund SBR and other budgetary reports for proper support and approval. DFAS Columbus did not always support journal vouchers related to the FY 2009 Air Force General Fund SBR and other budgetary reports with appropriate and sufficient audit evidence, adequately detailed audit trails, or proper management approvals. Specifically, DFAS made 1,680 journal vouchers, amounting to $538 billion, to force agreement of certain financial report totals and did not provide adequate support, such as transaction details or reconciliations; did not maintain an adequate detailed audit trail for 89 sample journal vouchers amounting to $169.7 billion; and did not properly approve 870 journal vouchers amounting to $877.5 billion. These deficiencies occurred because DFAS Columbus did not have adequate accounting processes to effectively reconcile the related budgetary accounts or to document an adequate detailed audit trail. Additionally, DFAS Columbus policies for approving journal vouchers did not meet the requirements of the DoD Financial Management Regulation (DoD FMR). As a result, DFAS did not ensure the accuracy and reliability of the Air Force General Fund SBR, continuing to delay its audit readiness. DFAS Columbus took corrective actions to address some of these weaknesses.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA555636

Entities

People

  • Amy J. Frontz
  • Mark Starinsky

Organizations

  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accounting
  • Accuracy
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Budgets
  • Air Force Personnel
  • Best Practices
  • Business Administration
  • Catalogs
  • Deficiencies
  • Department Of Defense
  • Finance
  • Financial Management
  • Governments
  • Law
  • Management Personnel
  • Payment
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.