Global Army Audit begins at Fort Belvoir to verify real assets

Fort Belvoir, VA – The Department of the Army opened its books for inspection in April, as global services firm KPMG visited Fort Belvoir for the first of 17 installation audits this year.

Given the massive quantity of Army holdings, this year’s audit is focused on real property assets with valuation greater than $1 million, according to Irfan Satriadhi, managing director with KPMG, who was coordinating the gathering, as they inspected General Property, Plant and Equipment (PP&E), which comprises buildings, structures and facilities, software and general equipment.

DeAnna Nix, Fort Belvoir’s Master Planning Division Chief Supervisory Community Planner with the Garrison Directorate of Public Works, said it was a day-long sprint that had been preceded by lengthy preparation.

“The audit visit was accomplished in one day to physically observe facilities, and in several, go inside to inspect and ensure that the category codes in the system of record matchedthe actual use of the facility on the day of the visit,” Nix said. “Months of work [preceded] the visits as real property teams validated the inventory to comply with regulatory and fiscal responsibilities to continue to receive construction and sustainment dollars.”

Fort Belvoir properties chosen for the audit included 49 active structures, ranging from Child Development Centers to gas stations, baseball fields and hospital parking garages.

With guidance from Garrison experts, the team conducted its site visit of each location to see whether the facilities were fairly presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The emphasis was on evaluating facility cost, and on whether each asset had sufficient documentation to support its valuation.

Zachary Lawrie, the Audit Acceleration Lead, at the Assistant Secretary of the Army Financial Management and Comptroller, said the Army approach is to audit one section at a time. He said last year, the focus was on ammunition, and this year it is on real property.

“What most people forget, is that the Army has been collecting real property for 250 years. So, when this post was built in World War I, how many times has it been refurbished, depreciated and later refurbished,” Lawrie said, pointing to the complexity involved in proving a building’s worth, based on replacement value. “This is the first year the Army said, ‘we assert these are our numbers.’”

Nix said the visit concluded with an audit team out-brief, where the Fort Belvoir Team was commended for its commitment to executing the visit as well as for the process already in place to ensure audit compliance now and in the future.

This process will help Fort Belvoir’s directorates ensure accountability and transparency, while aligning with the priorities of the Secretary of Defense on installation support and the Army mission of fighting America’s wars.

Lawrie said it was a good start to a very long process.

“At Fort Belvoir, with their leadership present, this is exactly what we were looking for,” said Lawrie. “The fact that they had their leadership here speaks highly of the tone at the top for audit readiness.”