GAO's Views on the Military's Financial Management ADP Systems

Recent progress by the Department of Defense in automated accounting systems has reduced problem areas from the 17 identified a year ago to two major areas. These two areas, pertaining to the lack of accrual accounting and the accounting for property are holding up approval of 16 systems for which evaluations have been completed. Standardized systems that are centrally developed and maintain provide many advantages for management. The Air Force and Army have design centers for automated systems, and the Navy whose present system lacks centralization, is in the process of developing its center. Improvements have been made in standardizing civilian and military pay systems, but there are still several military pay systems requiring modification. Proper documentation is essential for evaluation of systems, but in operational systems it is difficult to extract pertinent information. There is a need for more complete, current, and dynamic documentation.