Description
The "Acquisition Date" field in DPAS is inconsistent with the definition of the term in DPAS, "The date of fund approval / obligation". As the field is titled, "Acquisition Date", most users record the date the asset was received or even ordered. Very few people inherently equate the acquisition date to be the fund obligation date. Because of the ambiguous nature of this term, and the fact that users typically do not use the DPAS glossary to find out what each field is actually requesting, it has resulted in multiple inconsistencies which have basically made this field misused from a data management perspective.
Recommended
Change the "Acquisition Date" field in DPAS to "Funds Obligation Date". This change would align the existing definition of the field to the name of the field and reduce confusion for users.
Mission Critical
No.
Benefits
Improves data accuracy of financial reporting and identifies the funds obligation date from the funding documents, showing auditors the true date when the government committed funds to the order. This would also provide a much clearer understanding for the users out in the field.
Users
This affects all DPAS PA module users.
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