The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management & Comptroller (OASA (FM&C)) hosted the Army Annual Audit Summit at the Mark Center in Washington Dec. 13-14, 2023.
The two-day summit featured audit-related presentations, training sessions, technology demonstrations and employee recognitions from leaders across the DoD including U.S. Army Materiel Command (USAMC), OASA (FM&C), and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
“This is our annual event to, not only recognize what we’ve accomplished in the past audit cycle, but also set the conditions for the next audit cycle,” said Michael Ramsey, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, Financial Operations & Information (DASA-FOI). “It brings people together to be able to share lessons learned, share insight into the new technologies we’re introducing and the priorities that the Army leadership and FOI folks are trying to execute this year in order to support the work that the community is doing to gain audit readiness for the Army.”
Speakers included the Honorable Gabe Camarillo, Under Secretary of the Army; Honorable Caral Spangler, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller (ASA (FM&C)); Mr. Robert Cook, Principal Deputy ASA (FM&C); Mr. Michael Ramsey, DASA-FOI; and Mr. Mike Cook, Assistant Deputy G-8, USAMC.
Army leadership considers achieving a favorable audit opinion a top priority. In his keynote address, Camarillo emphasized the connection between accurate financial and property accountability, and Army readiness.
"It's important from a readiness perspective, in real time, to know where your assets are, and ultimately what resources you have,” said Camarillo. “This is also critical for successfully dealing with emerging and unfunded requirements."
In fiscal year 2023, the Army implemented its Audit Acceleration Program. The program utilizes audit acceleration teams to facilitate assessments and process reengineering to rapidly reduce Army operations and readiness risks, which is critical to closing auditor findings at a faster rate than before.
"The goal for fiscal year 2024 and beyond is to continue and expand the audit acceleration team approach across all of the areas that are going to be driving our audit timelines,” Camarillo said.
Nearly 1,000 soldiers and civilians joined the summit’s breakout sessions, either in-person or virtually. These sessions delved into Risk Management and Internal Controls, the Army Process Portal and leveraging the latest technology. All these tools play a critical role in building efficiency and audit readiness.
The Army’s recent fiscal year 2023 Annual Financial Report showed that the Service’s efforts are paying off. In fiscal 2023, the Army successfully achieved two of its Working Capital Fund Audit Roadmap goals – the downgrade of its fund balance with treasury material weakness to a significant deficiency, and the correct realignment of general ledger findings to the financial reporting material weakness.
These material weaknesses are the first of many the Army is addressing through its Audit Roadmap, including the material weaknesses expected for downgrade in fiscal 2024. OASA (FM&C) developed the roadmap to assist in passing the financial statement audit. The Audit Roadmap provides an executable path for successfully reaching a clean audit opinion for its working capital fund and general fund.
The Army financial management community serves the warfighter and their families by effectively resourcing the Army to accomplish its mission and care for its people.
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