AUDITING OUR BUDGETARY RESOURCES... An Opportunity and a Responsibility

On October 13, 2011, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta directed the DoD to accelerate its efforts to achieve audit readiness on its Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR) for General Funds from 2017 to 2014. It's easy to think of the audit as the real goal when, in reality, the audit is merely...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Armed Forces Comptroller 2012-07, Vol.57 (3), p.16
Main Authors: Easton, Mark, Quinn, Joe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Audited financial statements
Audits
Defense spending
Federal budget
Government agencies
Opportunity
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:On October 13, 2011, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta directed the DoD to accelerate its efforts to achieve audit readiness on its Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR) for General Funds from 2017 to 2014. It's easy to think of the audit as the real goal when, in reality, the audit is merely an assessment of the overall strength of our business. The real payoff of an audit is its confirmation of the overall strength of the business processes used to produce financial information. The Department's FY 2012 budget proposed $150 billion in efficiencies, and audit readiness is crucial to giving the DoD greater insight into how these efficiencies are applied. More disciplined business processes help to reduce excess overhead, eliminate waste, and increase efficiency and productivity. As we implement more capable, better integrated systems to sustain auditability, we should begin to see less of a need for costly and time-consuming data calls. More disciplined business operations can give commanders robust business intelligence with which to make better decisions.
ISSN:0004-2188