Justice officials want new financial system

Top Justice Department officials Wednesday blamed their agency's financial reporting problems largely on the fact that multiple systems control disparate parts of the department's financial data.

Paul R. Corts, Justice's chief financial officer, and Glenn A. Fine, inspector general, told a House Government Reform subcommittee that seven different systems currently hold financial data and that plans for a unified system are under way. Corts said, however, that the unified system could not be implemented without additional funding from Congress.

Justice did not receive a clean audit for its fiscal 2004 statements, and its 2003 clean audit was rescinded based on new information uncovered during 2004. The Office of Justice Programs, which administers grants, received the lowest audit grade, which affected the rest of the department.

Corts said he is unable to access most of the seven financial systems, which prevents his team from exploring data and controls without asking subagencies to provide specific reports. "The big weakness with us is getting the information we need on our own," he said.

He added that the seven systems are outdated and require personnel to manually collect the data, which he called "an inefficient and unsatisfactory way to manage a $22 billion organization."

He said that the new unified system, which would allow him to access the various subagencies' data, is ready to go, except for one problem: Money. "We do not currently have sufficient funds for the integration work required to configure and implement the system," he said.

Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Tenn., expressed skepticism: "I get sick and tired of agencies when they foul up to say they're underfunded," he said.

The subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Todd Platts, R-Pa., said that although he is not an appropriator, he can voice support for Justice's funding needs.

Corts said he hoped Justice could ultimately save money by implementing a new system. Fine was more cautious, suggesting it would take time before any savings were generated.

Fine and Corts said the accelerated deadline for turning in financial statements to the Office of Management and Budget adversely affected last year's audit, because there was less time to manually clean up problems.

Fine also said he was concerned that contractors were working on financial statements without the proper qualifications, and said the department should work harder to check up on them.