Thanks to the hard work of DHS employees, we reached a significant milestone this year with the release of the DHS Annual Financial Report. For the first time in its history, DHS received a “qualified audit opinion” on all five statements of financial management. This achievement is a result of our ongoing commitment to instituting sound business practices to safeguard taxpayer dollars.
In 2012, Secretary Janet Napolitano established a goal of obtaining an opinion on a full-scope financial statement audit (i.e., all financial statements). All DHS components supported this goal by improving financial reporting and working to eliminate material weaknesses and significant deficiencies. Together, we have built strong policies, processes, and controls to ensure consistent operations.
Over the past four years, we have made significant improvements to Departmental management, developing and implementing a comprehensive, strategic management approach to enhance Department-wide maturation and integration. This year’s qualified audit opinion is an important milestone and a pivotal step towards increasing transparency and accountability for the Department’s resources.
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