Defense Primer: FY2024 Department of Defense Audit Results (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 25, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF12627 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Raj Gnanarajah; Cameron M. Keys |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
-
Premium April 5, 2024 (3 pages, $24.95)
add
|
Summary:
The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-576)
requires annual audits of financial statements for federal
executive agencies, among other requirements. Under the
act, audits of federal agencies are the responsibility of each
agency’s inspector general (IG), but the IG may contract
with one or more external auditors to perform the audit.
The Department of Defense (DOD) released the results of
its seventh annual audit, FY2024, on November 15, 2024.
DOD received a disclaimer of opinion, meaning auditors
could not express opinions on the financial statements
because the financial information was not sufficiently
reliable. DOD’s IG coordinated the agency-wide financial
audit, covering $4.1 trillion in assets and $4.3 trillion in
liabilities. The agency-wide audit was conducted by
independent public accounting (IPA) firms contracted by
DOD IG. The IPAs conducted 28 separate entity-level
audits within the DOD. The entities receiving disclaimers
of opinion combined accounted for 44% of DOD’s total
assets and at least 68% of DOD’s total budgetary resources.
Generally, the process and standards used to audit DOD are
the same as those used to audit other federal agencies.
Understanding why and how the DOD audit was conducted
may help Congress evaluate the audit results and usefulness
of the audit.
