DOD Financial Management Improvements Needed in Prompt Payment Monitoring and Reporting.

摘要

The Prompt Payment Act, as amended, requires executive-branch agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD), to pay late-payment penalties when they do not pay their invoices for commercial payments on time. DODs Prompt Payment Act implementing regulations provide that DOD components should take advantage of discounts offered when a contract or invoice allows an economically justified discount for early payment. Given concern that DOD sometimes incurred late-payment penalties and had not taken full advantage of prompt-payment discounts, the committee report accompanying the 2012 national defense authorization legislation directed that GAO review and report on the issue. To address this requirement, and as agreed upon with your offices, our objectives were to (1) determine whether DODs process for monitoring and reporting on its late-payment penalties and discounts lost accurately reflected the extent of such penalties paid and discounts lost and (2) report on any causes DOD identified for incurring late-payment penalties and forgoing prompt-payment discounts.