High Risk Series: Defense Contract Management: HR-95-3 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781289051617)

GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) contract management, focusing on the significant risks it faces as a result of defective pricing and weak controls over unallowable overhead costs and contractor payments. GAO found that: (1) although defective pricing has been reduced by 86 percent to 125.5 million in fiscal year 1993, significant financial risks remain; (2) DOD contractors' performance in correcting significant cost-estimating system deficiencies has been mixed; (3) recently DOD contractors identified and returned $75 million in apparent overpayments to the government; (4) DOD financial control weaknesses in identifying and excluding unallowable contractor overhead costs result in large, frequent, and numerous erroneous and fraudulent payments to defense contractors; (5) DOD needs to correct its long-standing contractor cost-estimating problems and address very serious weaknesses in its financial controls so that it can reduce contractor overpayments and fraudulent activities; (6) DOD contractors need to improve their procedures for identifying and excluding unallowable costs from overhead submissions; and (7) acquisition reform and streamlining legislation are positive steps toward strengthening DOD acquisition and contracting processes and properly protecting the government's and taxpayers' interests.

Author: U. S. Government Accountability Office (
ISBN-10: 1289051615
ISBN-13: 9781289051617
Publisher: Bibliogov
Language: English
Published: 06/27/2013
Pages: 38
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.19lbs
Size: 9.69h x 7.44w x 0.08d