Purchase Cards: Steps Taken to Improve DOD Program Management, but Actions Needed to Address Misuse
GAO-04-156
Published: Dec 02, 2003. Publicly Released: Dec 02, 2003.
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Highlights
This study responds to a legislative mandate, which directs the Comptroller General to review the actions taken by the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement provisions included in the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2003 (Public Law 107-314) concerning management of the purchase card program. This study also discusses DOD efforts to implement provisions in the DOD Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2003 (Public Law 107-248) as well as recommendations and the status of disciplinary actions taken against individuals identified in prior GAO reports as having used the government purchase card for potentially fraudulent, improper, and abusive or questionable purposes.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | To help provide reasonable assurance that DOD holds cardholders and approving officials accountable for improper and abusive purchase card acquisitions, the Secretary of Defense should direct the service secretaries and the heads of DOD agencies to establish procedures to monitor the results of purchase card reviews conducted by the military services and the DOD agencies. |
Closed – Implemented
Beginning in fiscal year 2004, DOD established procedures to monitor progress towards improved controls over its Government Card Program, (including its purchase cards). DOD also established procedures to report on progress in this area as part of its Performance and Accountability (P&A) reporting. In this regard, DOD's fiscal year 2005 P&A report provided it had implemented the use of on-line statement review, approval, and certification. These actions are consistent with the DOD Government Charge Card Task Force recommendations on the use of on-line approval and certification processes to help resolve problems with late payment, while reducing interest penalties and loss of rebates. Implementing such an on-line approval process should provide the capability for review of transactions in near real-time and permit approving officials to perform continuous reviews during the billing cycle. On-line review also allows visibility into cardholder accounts throughout the billing cycle.
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| Department of Defense | To help provide reasonable assurance that DOD holds cardholders and approving officials accountable for improper and abusive purchase card acquisitions, the Secretary of Defense should direct the service secretaries and the heads of DOD agencies to establish procedures to track whether the major commands and units are consistently applying DOD's disciplinary guidelines to those who made and/or authorized improper or abusive acquisitions. |
Closed – Implemented
DOD reported, in their 2005 Performance and Accountability Report, that it completed and implemented new disciplinary guidelines specifically targeted to purchase card misuse and aggressively pursuing prosecution of identified fraud cases. DOD also reported that it had increased awareness concerning the usage of purchase cards through training forums and enhanced training materials. Combined, these new initiatives will help DOD agencies track whether the major commands and units are consistently applying DOD's disciplinary guidelines to those who made or authorized improper acquisitions.
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| Department of Defense | To help provide reasonable assurance that DOD holds cardholders and approving officials accountable for improper and abusive purchase card acquisitions, the Secretary of Defense should direct the service secretaries and the heads of DOD agencies to establish procedures to notify the appropriate officials at the major commands or units if DOD's disciplinary guidelines are not being consistently applied. |
Closed – Implemented
As part of DOD's 2005 Performance and Accountability report, it highlighted its efforts to implement new disciplinary guidelines specifically targeted to card misuse and aggressive pursuit and prosecution of identified fraud cases. These new guidelines include a notification process to alert officials at the major commands of inconsistent application of disciplinary guidelines. DOD also reported that they increased awareness concerning the proper usage of purchase cards through training forums and enhanced training materials.
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Topics
Credit salesDefense procurementFraudInternal controlsProgram abusesProgram managementDisciplinary actionsU.S. NavyU.S. ArmyU.S. Air Force