DOD Financial Management: Reported Status of Department of Defense's Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

• Main Authors: Khan, Asif A, Jackson, Cynthia, LaForge, Michael, Alff, Beatrice, David, Bruce, Freeman, LaTasha, Frey, Patrick, Kernen, James
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: ACCOUNTING; Administration and Management; BUSINESS SYSTEM MODERNIZATION; COST ESTIMATES; DEFICIENCIES; DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE; Economics and Cost Analysis; ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEMS; FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT; LIFE CYCLE COSTS; LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT; Logistics, Military Facilities and Supplies; MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS; MANAGEMENT PLANNING AND CONTROL; MILITARY BUDGETS; Military Forces and Organizations; PAYROLL MANAGEMENT; PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT; Personnel Management and Labor Relations; SALARIES; SCHEDULING; SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

In October 2010, we reported on the status of the Department of Defense's (DoD) enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. In that report, we noted that several of these systems were not being implemented on schedule and within budget, necessitating the extended use and funding of existing, duplicative, stove-piped systems. DoD considers the successful implementation of these systems critical to transforming its business operations and addressing long-standing weaknesses in areas such as financial and supply chain management. DoD officials also stated that these systems are critical to ensuring the department meets its mandated September 30, 2017, goal to have auditable consolidated financial statements. As agreed with your staff, our objective was to provide updated information on DoD's reported status for each of these ERP systems as of December 31, 2011. To address the objective, we obtained and reviewed data and supporting documentation on the updated status of each ERP provided by DoD for completeness and consistency. In certain instances, we compared the information to what we previously reported in October 2010 to identify inconsistencies, if any, and contacted DoD officials to reconcile any identified discrepancies. We did not validate the data provided by the department, nor evaluate the implications of any changes in DoD's reported status information on its ability to achieve its September 30, 2017, auditability goal. We conducted our work from December 2011 through March 2012. We requested DoD provide an update as of December 31, 2011, on specific data elements -- such as the current life-cycle cost estimate and the number of system users -- for each ERP system that DoD identified as essential to transforming its business operations identified in our October 2010 report. A list of the ERPs is provided in enclosure I and a list of these data elements is included in enclosure II. DoD's reported status of each ERP system is provided in enclosure III.