16. Financial Impact of a System Deficiency

Comment: A respondent took exception to DoD's response to a public comment from the second proposed rule, that in most cases, the financial impact of a system deficiency cannot be quantified because the system produces unreliable information. A respondent stated that contractors have fiduciary responsibilities to produce reliable information and make bona fide efforts to quantify everything that Government officials request.

Response: DoD relies on the information produced by contractor business systems unless those systems are found to contain significant deficiencies. Contractors have fiduciary responsibilities to produce reliable information. However, if a system is determined to have a significant deficiency, in most cases, DoD is unable to rely on that system to provide a reliable, quantifiable financial impact of that deficiency.