(a) Financial Improvement and Audit Remediation Plan.—

(1) In general.—The Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense ¹ shall, in consultation with the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), maintain a plan to be known as the “Financial Improvement and Audit Remediation Plan”.

(2) Elements.—The plan required by paragraph (1) shall—

(A) describe specific actions to be taken, including interim milestones with a detailed description of the subordinate activities required, and estimate the costs associated with—

(i) correcting the financial management deficiencies that impair the ability of the Department of Defense to prepare timely, reliable, and complete financial management information;

(ii) ensuring the financial statements of the Department of Defense go under full financial statement audit, and that the Department leadership makes every effort to reach an unmodified opinion as soon as possible;

(iii) ensuring the audit of the financial statements of the Department of Defense for each fiscal year after fiscal year 2020 occurs by not later than March 31 following such fiscal year;

(iv) achieving an unqualified audit opinion for each major element of the statement of budgetary resources of the Department of Defense; and

(v) addressing the existence and completeness of each major category of Department of Defense assets; and

(B) systematically tie the actions described under subparagraph (A) to business process and control improvements and business systems modernization efforts described in section 2222 of this title.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(b) Report and Briefing Requirements.—

(1) Annual report.—

(A) In general.—Not later than June 30, 2019, and annually thereafter, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the status of the implementation by the Department of Defense of the Financial Improvement and Audit Remediation Plan under subsection (a).

(B) Elements.—Each report under subparagraph (A) shall include the following:

(i) An analysis of the consolidated corrective action plan management summary prepared pursuant to section 240c of this title.

(ii) Current Department of Defense-wide information on the status of corrective actions plans related to critical capabilities and material weaknesses, including the standard data elements recommended in the implementation guide for Office of Management and Budget Circular A-123, for the armed forces, military departments, and Defense Agencies.

(iii) A current description of the work undertaken and planned to be undertaken by the Department of Defense, and the military departments, Defense Agencies, and other organizations and elements of the Department, to test and verify transaction data pertinent to obtaining an unqualified audit of their financial statements, including from feeder systems.

(iv) A current projected timeline of the Department in connection with the audit of the full financial statements of the Department, to be submitted to Congress annually not later than six months after the submittal to Congress of the budget of the President for a fiscal year under section 1105 of title 31, including the following:

(I) The date on which the Department projects the beginning of an audit of the full financial statements of the Department, and the military departments, Defense Agencies, and other organizations and elements of the Department, for a fiscal year.

(II) The date on which the Department projects the completions of audits of the full financial statements of the Department, and the military departments, Defense Agencies, and other organizations and elements of the Department, for a fiscal year.

(III) The dates on which the Department estimates it will obtain an unqualified audit opinion on the full financial statements of the Department, the military departments, the Defense Agencies, and other organizations and elements of the Department for a fiscal year.

(v) A current estimate of the anticipated annual costs of maintaining an unqualified audit opinion on the full financial statements of the Department, the military departments, the Defense Agencies, and other organizations and elements of the Department for a fiscal year after an unqualified audit opinion on such full financial statements for a fiscal year is first obtained.

(vi) A certification of the results of the audit of the financial statements of the Department performed for the preceding fiscal year, and a statement summarizing, based on such results, the current condition of the financial statements of the Department.

(vii) If less than 50 percent of the auditing services under contract, as described in the briefing required under paragraph (2), are being performed by professionals meeting the qualifications described in section 240d(b) of this title, a detailed description of the risks associated with the risks of the acquisition strategy of the Department with respect to conducting audits and an explanation of how the strategy complies with the policies expressed by Congress.

(viii) If less than 25 percent of the auditing services under contract, as described in the briefing required under paragraph (2), are being performed by professionals meeting the qualifications described in section 240d(b) of this title, a written certification that the staffing ratio complies with commercial best practices and presents no increased risk of delay in the Department’s ability to achieve a clean audit opinion.

(ix) If less than 50 percent of the audit remediation services under contract, as described in the briefing required under paragraph (2)(B), are being performed by individual professionals meeting the qualifications described in subsection (c), a detailed description of the risks associated with the risks of the acquisition strategy of the Department with respect to conducting audit remediation activities and an explanation of how the strategy complies with the policies expressed by Congress.

(x) If less than 25 percent of the audit remediation services under contract, as described in the briefing required under paragraph (2)(B), are being performed by individual professionals meeting the qualifications described in subsection (c), a written certification that the staffing ratio complies with commercial best practices and presents no increased risk of delay in the Department’s ability to achieve a clean audit opinion.

(xi) A description of audit activities and results for classified programs, including a description of the use of procedures and requirements to prevent unauthorized exposure of classified information in such activities.

(xii) An identification of the manner in which the corrective action plan or plans of each department, agency, component, or element of the Department of Defense, and the corrective action plan of the Department as a whole, support the National Defense Strategy (NDS) of the United States.

(xiii) A description of the incentives available pursuant to the guidance required by section 1004(a) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, including a detailed explanation of how such incentives were provided during the fiscal year covered by the report.

(C) Additional requirements.—

(i) Unclassified form.—A description submitted pursuant to clause (vii) or (ix) of subparagraph (B) or a certification submitted pursuant to clause (viii) of such subparagraph shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex.

(ii) Delegation.—The Secretary may not delegate the submission of a certification pursuant to clause (viii) of subparagraph (B) to any official other than the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Chief Management Officer,¹ or the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller).

(2) Semiannual briefings.—(A) Not later than January 31 and June 30 each year, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and the comptrollers of the military departments shall provide a briefing to the congressional defense committees on the status of the corrective action plan. Such briefing shall include both the absolute number and percentage of personnel performing the amount of auditing services being performed by professionals meeting the qualifications described in section 240d(b) of this title.

(B) Not later than January 31 and June 30 each year, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and the comptrollers of the military departments shall provide a briefing to the congressional defense committees on the status of the corrective action plan. Such briefing shall include both the absolute number and percentage of personnel performing the amount of audit remediation services being performed by professionals meeting the qualifications described in subsection (c).

(3) Critical capabilities defined.—In this subsection, the term “critical capabilities” means the critical capabilities described in the Department of Defense report titled “Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) Plan Status Report” and dated May 2016.

(c) Selection of Audit Remediation Services.—The selection of audit remediation service providers shall be based, among other appropriate criteria, on qualifications, relevant experience, and capacity to develop and implement corrective action plans to address internal control and compliance deficiencies identified during a financial statement or program audit.