Powell-Hodge
When our young people achieve great feats, it is only natural that, out of a sense of pride and admiration, we applaud their stellar efforts. When our young men and women play exceptionally on the stage of successful careers, as a community we compliment their accomplishments. Such is the affirmation being paid here to the noble career of Mr. Malik Powell-Hodge, a son of Anguillian heritage.
Mr. Powell-Hodge is the son of Mr. Seymour Hodge, and the nephew of Dr. Brett Hodge. He is a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) by profession, and he is a manager of William Adley’s Assurance and Advisory practice in Washington, DC. He has over ten years of federal auditing experience, working on compliance, contract, performance and financial statement audits. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration.
Recently, Malik was part of a team of three auditors who carried out examinations on the financial standing of the US Department of Defense, in collaboration with the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS), and they wrote about their findings.
The report appeared in the Fall 2018 edition of the Armed Forces magazine entitled Comptroller: The Journal of the American Society of Military Comptrollers. The exposè, captioned “Audit Findings – Now What” was written by Jessica McClain, Malik Powell-Hodge, and Rebecca Beck. It drew attention to the fact that it was the very first time that the Department of Defense underwent a department-wide financial audit. It further acknowledged that the department should not have been expecting a clean bill of health through an unmodified opinion on its financial statement, but that Notices of Findings and Recommendations would be the major outcome of the Audit.
Mr. Powell-Hodge and his team wrote: “As it is required by Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, when an auditor identifies a deficiency, non-compliance with the law or regulation, fraud, or abuse, it is the responsibility of the auditor to communicate the issue to the auditee via findings. The elements of findings are condition, cause, effect and criteria.
“The first step in remediating a finding is performed prior to the finalization. The auditor and agency should work collaboratively to identify the root cause(s) of the deficiency and ensure that remediation actions and recommendations are developed to achieve the intended best results.”
The tone of the article captures the notion that there were financial issues at the Department of Defense which required remedial action.
In light of the work of Mr. Powell-Hodge, The Anguillian wishes to congratulate him and his father Seymour for the excellent strides he has made in his noble profession as a federal auditor.
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
