The Department of Defense needs to improve the accountability of its inventory of contracted services, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report.
Since 2008, DOD is required to compile and review an annual inventory of contractors working under contracts and services, but the GAO found limitations in the approach DOD has taken to do that.
The report says DOD made a number of changes to improve the utility of the fiscal year 2010 inventory, such as centrally preparing contract data to provide greater consistency among DOD components and increasing the level of detail on the services provided.
DOD, however, continued to rely primarily on the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation for the inventory for most defense components other than the Army. As such, DOD acknowledged a number of factors that limited the utility, accuracy and completeness of the inventory data.
For example, FPDS-NG does not identify more than one type of service purchased for each contract action, provide the number of contractor full-time equivalent personnel, or identify the requiring activity. As before, the Army used its Contractor Manpower Reporting Application to compile its fiscal year 2010 inventory.
GAO recommends that the military departments and components develop guidance that provides for clear lines of authority, responsibility and accountability for conducting an inventory review and that the Army and Air Force resolve known instances of contractors performing inherently governmental functions. DOD largely agreed with GAO’s recommendations.
