Deputy Assistant Secretary, Financial Operations—Mr James E. Short

Air Force Comptroller,  July, 2004  

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The Roadmap to Achieving an Unqualified Audit Opinion on the Air Force Financial Statements

The President's Management Agenda (PMA) identifies five Government-wide initiatives designed to improve management and service to our citizens. Improved Financial Management is one of the initiatives that the Secretary of Defense measures and reports the Department's progress to the President. The financial management measurement criterion is to obtain an unqualified (clean) opinion on audited financial statements by FY 2007. In order to achieve this goal, the Air Force has developed the Air Force Information Reliability and Integration (AFIR&I) Action Plan which serves as the roadmap to achieving a clean audit opinion by FY 2007.

Last June, 26 functional experts throughout the Air Force, as well as representatives from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) met at a contractor's facility in Fairfax VA to draft a plan that would satisfy one of the major themes of our Financial Management (FM) Strategic Plan to help financial managers provide relevant and reliable financial information that supports decision making. The ouput from the meeting has evolved into the AFIR&I Action Plan which also supports the FM strategic objective to achieve an unqualified (clean) audit opinion each and every time, signifying that our books are in order and enhancing public trust. The AFIR&I Action Plan identifies the steps each organizational element must take to fully integrate all financial and non-financial processes and systems that impact or involve Air Force fiscal resources into a CFO compliant environment. It contains over 1600 specific tasks, 25 responsible organizations, and hundreds of completion dates required to fulfill applicable Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board and DoD requirements for each line item on each financial statement for both Air Force General Funds and Working Capital Funds. By successfully accomplishing the goals, objectives, and tasks in the AFIR&I Action Plan and achieving financial compliance confirmed by audit, the Air Force will be able to provide its leaders and managers with quality financial information enabling effective business decisions.

A governance structure has been established to monitor the AFIR&I Action Plan and ensure its successful implementation. The AFIR&I Steering Committee, chaired by the Honorable Michael Montelongo, SAF/FM, is responsible for the oversight of the AFIR&I Action Plan goals and objectives. The Accountability and Financial Management Integrated Process Team (A&FM IPT) coordinates USAF accountability and financial management efforts to ensure that functional systems and business processes support the production of auditable financial statements. The A&FM IPT supports the AFIR&I Action Plan initiative by monitoring all specific activities that are required to complete each AFIR&I task.

In order to report progress on the PMA Balanced Scorecard, the Air Force will utilize the AFIR&I Action Plan to ensure that material line items on each financial statement are auditable by specific dates established by the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller). In addition, there are seven FM Strategic Plan Measures used to track progress of the AFIR&I Action Plan. These measures are reported on a monthly basis to SAF/FM:

1. Percent of Critical Feeder Systems deemed to be substantially compliant.

2. Percent of Critical Feeder Systems interfaced with the DFAS-DE accounting systems.

3. Percent of General Fund Financial Statement lines ready for internal review.

4. Percent of Working Capital Financial Statement lines ready for internal review.

5. Percent of General Fund Principal Statements ready for external audit.

6. Percent of Working Capital Principal Statements ready for external audit.

7. Percent of AF CFO Reporting Entity Financial Statements receiving an opinion.

The Air Force's ability to produce quality financial information will increase the confidence of Congress and the American taxpayer in the Air Force's stewardship of fiscal resources. Achieving an unqualified audit opinion is an indication that our enterprise processes and systems can produce information that is reliable, relevant, accurate, and timely. Reliable and relevant financial information will also increase the Air Force's credibility in the eyes of Congress as they deliberate budget issues.

The AFIR&I Action Plan is a living document that is updated each month. To learn more about the AFIR&I Action Plan or to view the most current version, please visit the SAF/FM website.

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