United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office National Security and International Affairs Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-06-16 monographic deposited born digital 16 p. GA 1.13:T-NSIAD-99-193 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-NSIAD-99-193 P0b002ee18038b570 f:ns99193t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-T-NSIAD-99-193 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-NSIAD-99-193 T-NSIAD-99-193 Overpayments Internal controls Federal agency accounting systems Department of Defense contractors Contract oversight Defense cost control Contractor payments Defense procurement Financial management Refunds to government Testimony NSIAD Unless the Pentagon gains control over its payment process, it will continue to risk erroneously paying contractors hundreds of millions of dollars and perpetuating other financial management and accounting control problems. Improving the efficiency of the payment process could save millions of dollars each year. Although the Defense Department (DOD) is trying to improve its payment process and controls, it will likely take many years before DOD gets its payment problems under control. DOD needs to make better use of technology to improve and integrate its payment systems and to streamline and simplify its payment requirements. These actions will require sustained attention from top management. DOD also needs to concentrate on reducing overpayments and to adopt best practices to quickly identify and recover them. Contractors do not have to notify the government when they have been overpaid. GAO believes that contractors should be required to do so. Also, it may be time to raise the minimum dollar threshold required by the Prompt Payment Act. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service now sends out interest payments whose processing costs total more than the face value of the checks. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-NSIAD-99-193/html/GAOREPORTS-T-NSIAD-99-193.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-NSIAD-99-193/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-NSIAD-99-193.pdf GAO/T-NSIAD-99-193 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-NSIAD-99-193 Testimony GAO/T-NSIAD-99-193; Department of Defense: Improving the DOD Payment Process,; Overpayments Internal controls Federal agency accounting systems Department of Defense contractors Contract oversight Defense cost control Contractor payments Defense procurement Financial management Refunds to government