Defense Contract Audit Agency
The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) is a DOD agency that advises other agencies on finance and auditing.
Composition
The agency is overseen by the undersecretary of Defense Comptroller.
The agency is led by a director and deputy director.
History
Prior to the establishment of a centralized agency, the service branches were independently responsible for auditing their own contracts.
The agency was founded in 1965 to take on that role for the entirety of the DOD.
Over time the agency extended its auditing services to non-DOD agencies, notably NASA. This was banned by the National Defense Authorization Act in 2016.
Programs
The agency executes audits for the DCMA. Upon receipt of a contractor's final submission, agents either determine that the contract must be audited, or place the contract into a pool from which random contracts are selected for auditing. These audits must be completed within 12 months of receipt.