U.S. Navy: Financial Operations Improvement

The Department of the Navy’s Financial Improvement Program (FIP) is a multi-year, department-wide effort to strengthen Navy-Marine Corps business processes, internal controls and systems. With Accenture’s help, the Navy is transforming the department’s financial management to better serve worldwide operations and produce financial information with greater accuracy, timeliness and reliability in an environment of changing and evolving systems.

The United States Navy is the largest in the world. With 328,516 personnel on active duty and 101,689 in the Navy Reserve, the U.S. Navy is a key player in U.S. foreign and defense policy, maintaining a global presence in peacetime and prepared to respond rapidly to regional crises. The Navy’s Office of Financial Operations is responsible for managing the Navy’s $150 billion annual budget, helping to ensure the nation’s defense with the efficient and effective use of tax dollars.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered a review of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) financial controls and a speed-up of preparations for a military-wide audit, steps needed to assure the public that his department is accountable and minimizing waste. In October 2011, the DoD expedited its timeline to be ready for an audit of its “Statement of Budgetary Resources” by 2014.

The U.S. Navy’s finance organization faces a rapidly changing environment that requires improved performance while also lowering costs. Both the administration and Congress are demanding more value-added insight, and regulatory bodies and the public want greater transparency and accountability about how tax dollars are being spent. The challenge is even more difficult in the current economic climate.

To meet the challenge, the Navy needs to transform its financial operations. Its goal: enable faster, better decision making and more effective oversight of taxpayer dollars with more timely, reliable and accurate financial information.

The U.S. Navy awarded Accenture a multiple year, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to oversee the department’s implementation of FIP. The Navy turned to Accenture because of our relationship as a trusted federal defense contractor over four decades.

Accenture’s finance offerings have a proven track record. They provide tightly integrated, highly scalable accounting processes through leading practices, leading-edge technology and competitive operating models that employ shared services and business outsourcing. By combining industry-leading practices with an emphasis on workforce training and development, Accenture helps DoD finance organizations achieve high performance.

Working closely with the Navy, Accenture is leading the transformation of financial operations with the implementation of FIP. The implementation employs Accenture’s integrated suite of strategies, enabling a comprehensive review of the department’s financial management and accounting operations as well as the validation and strengthening of internal controls.

A major aspect of the transformation is improving the Navy’s audit readiness to meet more stringent requirements under the Chief Financial Officers Act and aligning audit readiness with Office of Management and Budget Circular A-123. Accenture helped document processes, validate internal controls, verify financial reports and underlying data, and support other audit readiness activities.

Accenture is also supporting the Navy’s Business Process Standardization Effort, which is focused on creating standard processes across the Navy to reduce variations and improve audit readiness.

Accenture helped the Navy identify key performance gaps and develop solutions, including system improvements, process reengineering and leading business practices. Throughout the implementation, Accenture’s training and change management processes ensured the effective transfer of knowledge to Navy personnel, enabling a smooth transition and sustained change.

The Navy’s transformation is modernizing and streamlining financial management, allowing the operation to better serve worldwide operations and produce financial information with greater accuracy, reliability, timeliness and accessibility. More efficient, fully integrated systems and processes also allow greater accountability and transparency of taxpayer dollars. The benefits of state-of-the-art capabilities and processes are far-reaching even as the FIP implementation continues.

With Accenture’s help, the U.S. Navy is building a world-class financial operation, equipped to support the growing needs of a 21st century defense organization. The world’s largest navy is on the path to achieving its financial management goals—and high performance.