Management Advisory: Improvements Needed in the DoD’s Planning for and Use of SSAE 18 Engagements

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Date Issued

Friday, November 22, 2024

Submitting OIG

Department of Defense OIG

Agencies Reviewed/Investigated

Department of Defense

Report Number

DODIG-2025-044

Report Type

Audit

Agency Wide

Yes

Questioned Costs

Funds for Better Use

Report updated under NDAA 5274

Open Recommendations

This report has 5 open recommendations.

Recommendation Number	Significant Recommendation	Recommended Questioned Costs	Recommended Funds for Better Use
D-2025-0044-D000FI-0001-0001.a	No	$0	$0
Rec 1.a: We recommend that the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, DoD: Develop and implement policies and procedures to coordinate with, monitor, and hold the user entities accountable for identifying the service organizations which the user entities rely on and develop and implement procedures to communicate with their service organizations, including development of service-level or equivalent agreements that detail roles and responsibilities for each party.
D-2025-0044-D000FI-0001-0001.b	No	$0	$0
Rec. 1.b: We recommend that the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, DoD: Develop and implement policies and procedures to coordinate with and hold accountable the user entities and prioritize timely completion of corrective 7actions on open recommendations related to the design and implementation of complementary user entity controls required by their service organizations
D-2025-0044-D000FI-0001-0001.c	No	$0	$0
Rec: 1.c: We recommend that the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, DoD: Identify user entities that are effectively implementing complementary user entity controls requirements and share best practices to assist the user entities that need improvement
D-2025-0044-D000FI-0001-0001.d	No	$0	$0
Rec 1.d: We recommend that the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, DoD: Develop a procedure to gather data and feedback from the DoD financial management and audit communities and re-evaluate the Service Provider Working Group meeting dates each year to ensure user auditors obtain information in time to best plan the financial statement audits to meet planning, testing, and reporting phase timelines, and implement changes as determined appropriate.
D-2025-0044-D000FI-0001-0001.e	No	$0	$0
Rec. 1.e: We recommend that the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer, DoD: Identify the service organizations that have the biggest impact across the DoD and establish specific forums for the service organizations to work with user entities and user auditors to discuss updates, complementary user entity controls, and best practices to provide continuous improvement toward achieving the congressional mandate of an unmodified financial statement opinion by FY 2028.