DHS Earns an Audit Opinion on its Financial Statements

Posted by Under Secretary for Management Rafael Borras

This month, the Department achieved a milestone that is a pivotal step towards increasing transparency and accountability and accurately accounting for the Department’s resources. I am happy to report that, for the first time since FY 2003, DHS has earned a qualified audit opinion on its FY 2011 balance sheet -- highlighting the significant progress we have made in improving our financial management in the eight years since DHS was founded.

Since the beginning of this Administration, Secretary Napolitano stressed the importance of sound financial management and committed the Department to obtaining an audit opinion. Across the Department, the dedicated men and women of DHS answered the call. This year’s audit is the result of management improvements throughout DHS, which we will continue to build upon as we strengthen and mature management processes and standards across the Department.

Since DHS was established in 2003, Departmental Management and Components have significantly improved the processes and structures in place to help ensure consistent operations for each of our financial accounting centers and financial management offices.

Our success would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of the financial management teams within the DHS Office of the Chief Financial Officer and throughout components across the Department. Improvements made by the U.S. Coast Guard and other components ultimately enabled the Department to obtain a qualified opinion this year.

This opinion is a significant step toward obtaining a clean audit opinion on all of our financial statements. Looking forward, we will continue to work to sustain prior-year progress and to anticipate and mitigate any additional audit risks.

Through these and other efforts across the Department, we will continue to ensure taxpayer dollars are managed with integrity, diligence and accuracy, and that the systems and processes used for all aspects of financial management demonstrate the highest level of accountability and transparency.

Read the Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2011.