The military’s money managers last year made almost $7 trillion in adjustments to their financial ledgers in an attempt to make them add up, the Pentagon’s inspector general said in a report released yesterday. The Pentagon could not show receipts of $2.3 trillion of those changes, and half a trillion dollars of it was just corrections of mistakes made in earlier adjustments.. The magnitude of accounting entries required to compile the financial statements highlights the significant problems [the Pentagon] has producing accurate and reliable financial statements with existing system and process..The military can’t measure the results of closing a base; can’t rationally decide whether to contract out a service or keep it in government hands; and may inaccurately peg the cost of programs under debate, from national missile defense to retires’ health care.
REQUIRED:
Discuss problems that might arise due to the significant weaknesses of the Pentagon’s accounting systems.