The Department of Defense is behind schedule reviewing data provided by contractors to help the agency avoid fraud, waste and abuse in military contracts, according to the Government Accountability Office. GAO issued a report Thursday showing that DoD is lacking the mechanism to monitor reviews and ensure the process is being conducted in a timely manner.Â
Federal and defense acquisition regulations and policies require DoD to review the adequacy of contractor business systems that provide data on accounting, estimating and purchasing, among other systems. The Pentagon intends to catch up on the delayed reviews over the next three years, however, GAO has questioned the sufficiency and consistency of the defense agencies responsible for the reviews.
The Defense Contract Management Agency failed to monitor whether the reviews are being conducted consistent with current policies, while the Defense Contract Audit Agency conducted few business system audits than required since 2013. GAO recommended that DoD require the directors of DCMA and DCAA to collaborate and create a mechanism to monitor and assess whether contractor business systems reviews are completed on time.
