Departmental Accountable Officials (DAOs) are supporting officials who can be held personally (pecuniarily) liable, but they do not automatically have full pecuniary liability.
Core facts
- DAOs are designated in writing (for example, in the Department of Defense, by the Secretary of Defense) and are responsible for providing information, data, or services that a certifying official relies on to certify payments.
- They are not the same as certifying or disbursing officers; rather, they support those officers by supplying the underlying information used in payment certification.
Pecuniary liability
- Federal law allows DAOs to be held personally (pecuniarily) liable for illegal, improper, or incorrect payments when those payments result from their negligent performance of DAO duties.
- In DoD policy discussions and training materials, DAOs are described as having limited, not automatic, pecuniary liability; their liability arises when fault or negligence is established in connection with an erroneous payment.
