Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness

The Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) Directorate of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), in collaboration with the DoD Components through the FIAR Committee, is managing DoD-wide financial improvement efforts and integrating those efforts with transformation activities across the Department. These efforts will result in the FIAR Plan, which will create and communicate a DoD-wide strategy and systematic approach for making improvement to financial and business operations within the Components (below the DoD Enterprise level), while also prioritizing and synchronizing efforts to achieve clean audit opinions. These efforts underscore the Department’s commitment to fiscal stewardship and accountability.

The FIAR Plan, when published and released, will illustrate the coordination and prioritization of policy, process, internal controls, systems, human resources, and organization corrective actions and activities to improve financial and business operations. The resulting improvements will enhance capabilities – the same capabilities addressed by Defense Business Modernization. The FIAR Plan will ensure that Component requirements and plans for the deployment of modern financial and business systems are consistent with the Enterprise Transition Plan. In addition, the FIAR Plan will ensure that Component’s actions are consistent with financial improvement and audit readiness priorities and objectives established by the FIAR Committee.

The FIAR Plan is focused on the Department’s near-term objectives in five major areas: Military Equipment, Military Retiree Eligible Health Care Fund, Real Property, Environmental Liabilities, and Fund Balance with Treasury. These areas comprise some of the most significant balance sheet categories, and therefore will enable financial improvement and auditability. The approach for achieving progress is through focused management efforts that are incrementally executed. The picture below depicts the relationships between the Component Financial Improvement and Transition Plans to the FIAR Plan, the ETP and BEA Initiatives. For more information, please contact the FIAR Directorate at (703) 607-0300 Ext. 138.