Defense Agency Initiatives (DAI) - Financial System

Mission — Defense Agencies Initiative (DAI) - Financial System source

The Defense Agencies Initiative (DAI) program, a Category I Defense Business System, is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) based program originally created to solve Defense Agency financial management problems through standard end-to-end business processes delivered by commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software. DAI’s mission is to provide an auditable, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act compliant business environment for the Defense customer organizations with accurate, timely, and authoritative financial data. DAI supports continued development and fielding of its current Increment 3 baseline. Previous funding for DAI Increments 1 and 2 were documented in the Defense Enterprise Business Systems program element 50605070S00. Increment 3 will deliver new financial capabilities including Defense Working Capital Fund (DWCF) and Re-Sale accounting plus a major application upgrade.

Mission — Defense Agencies Initiative - Financial System source

DAI's mission is to deliver an auditable, CFO Act compliant business environment for Defense customer organizations providing accurate, timely, authoritative financial data supporting the DoD goal of standardizing financial management practices, improving financial decision support, and supporting audit readiness. DAI has replaced multiple non-compliant financial management systems supporting diverse operational functions and the warfighter in decision-making and financial reporting. DAI currently provides the capability to produce timely, auditable reports as noted in eight consecutive annual unmodified System and Organization Controls report (SOC-1). The primary goal is to deploy a standardized system solution to improve overall financial management and comply with Business Enterprise Architecture (BEA), Standard Financial Information Structure (SFIS)/Standard Line of Accounting (SLOA), and Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) requirements. Common business functions within budget execution include the Department’s BEA End-to-End (E2E) business processes: Cost Management; Budget to Report (B2R); Procure to Pay (P2P) with enhancements facilitating SFIS/SLOA and DoD procurement data standards and direct Treasury disbursing; Acquire to Retire (A2R) (real property lifecycle accounting only); Hire to Retire (H2R) (Time and Labor reporting and absence management only); Order to Cash (O2C); Proposal to Reward (P2R) (Grants financial management and accounting only; and a phased implementation of Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GCR) capabilities supporting audit readiness). Future Defense Working Capital Fund accounting, and Re-Sale Accounting (for Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA). The DAI program modernizes the Defense Agencies’ financial management processes by streamlining financial management capabilities, addressing financial reporting material weaknesses, and supporting financial statement auditability for the majority of agencies, field activities and non-Service organizations across the DoD. DAI supports a transformation of budget, finance, and accounting processes across participating defense agencies to help improve the quality of financial information, supporting financial auditability and decision-making. The DAI business solution, once fully implemented, will provide a near real-time, web-based system from a “.mil” environment of integrated business processes that will enable in excess of 84,000 Defense Agency financial managers, program managers, auditors, and Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) representatives to make sound financial business decisions. The DAI implementation approach deploys a standardized system solution that is consistent with requirements in the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA) and the DoD Business Enterprise Architecture (BEA), while leveraging the out-of-the-box capabilities of the selected Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) product, Oracle e-Business Suite (EBS), Release 12.2.8 (R12). DAI implemented an Oracle Office of Management and Budget Financial Systems Integration Office (FSIO) qualified COTS financial management business solution with common business processes and data standards. The Program Management Office (PMO) will not develop any objects that are included in core COTS software or services (i.e. vendor data from Federal authoritative sources). DAI supports the FY 2022- 2026 Department of Defense Financial Management Strategy. Strategic Goal 2, Optimize taxpayer dollars for the highest value outcomes; Strategic Goal 3, Increases the integrity of financial results; Strategic Goal 4, Simplify and optimize our end-to-end business environment; and Strategic Goal 5, Empower data-driven, fiscally informed decision making. DAI is currently implemented at 30 Defense organizations and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller (OUSD(C)). The program office is also responsible for operational sustainment of the system. The funding requested here is for additional government and contractor support, licenses, maintenance, and hardware to accomplish the remaining capability developments and organizational implementations. From 2017- 2024 DAI received unmodified audit opinions with no comments. The benefits of DAI are: • Labor efficiencies (entering data once) and shared across all business processes (modules), workflows and lifecycle in a modern system; • Reduction in contractor support; • Financial visibility (Access to real-time financial data transactions); • Enabling agility and resilience in execution (No silos – anyone/anywhere can backfill and work continues); • Retiring legacy systems; • Shared common business processes and employment of Federal/DoD Enterprise data standards (i.e., SFIS, SLOA, Procurement Data Standard (PDS) and Procurement Request Data Standard (PRDS)); and United States Standard General Ledger (USSGL) Chart of Accounts to resolve DoD material weaknesses and deficiencies. • Reducing reliance on custom Reports, Interfaces, Conversions, Extensions, Forms and Workflows by leveraging application upgrades • Enhanced Internal controls to ensure accurate data, regulatory compliance and ensuring segregation of duties • Significantly reduced data reconciliation requirements; and • Enhanced analysis and decision support capabilities. The DAI PMO also provides system integration services that include: acquisition/financial management, project management; configuration management; developing required Reports, Interfaces, Conversions, Extensions, Forms and Workflows (RICE-FW) objects; testing (cyber security, integration, functional, performance, conversion, user acceptance, operational); training (train the trainer/change management preparing the users for the cross functional skills and awareness needed to perform well with an integrated enterprise resource planning system); system deployment; data conversion; information assurance; database administration; as well as studies, coordination/analysis support. DLA Acquisition (J7) serves as the DAI Milestone Decision Authority (MDA), and DLA Information Operations (J6) provides the Program Executive Officer (PEO), program manager, and PMO staff. The DAI PMO relies on J7 for most contracting support. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) data centers provide production, test and development, as well as Continuity of Operations (COOP) hosting, and the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) provides interoperability and performance testing. The DAI PMO serves as systems integrator.

Accomplishments & Planned Programs (1)