GAO: Navy, Marines have $22 billion in accounting errors

{mosads}The accounting system was not able to reconcile basic
accounting and financial operations, the report found.

“The Department of Defense is trying to modernize its
financial systems, as mandated by Congress, to finally become audit-ready by
2017,” Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), one of the senators who requested the GAO
report, said in a statement Wednesday.

“This is a critical goal, and considering the amount of
time and money that’s gone into this effort, it’s one that should have been met
years ago,” Carper said. “While troubling, it is not surprising that the Navy
and the Marine Corps are far from being audit-ready.”

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in October that the Pentagon
is preparing to be audit-ready by 2014. The Senate passed an amendment in the defense authorization bill from Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) that would have required
the 2014 Pentagon audit, but the amendment was stripped out of the final
legislation.

The GAO report recommended that the Navy and Marines improve
testing of their accounting systems, develop an operating procedure to handle
discrepancies and address the issues that currently prevent a successful audit.

The Pentagon responded to the report by saying the Marines
were able to account for all balances in their accounting system. Still, the Pentagon
concurred with all of the GAO recommendations.