2025 audit award winners

2025 audit award winners

By DCAA Staff Writer

DCAA recently announced the audit award winners for 2025. Awardees accomplish major contributions to DCAA's mission, exemplify DCAA values and demonstrate outstanding expertise in their field.

Taylor Corbett announced as DCAA's Auditor Trainee of the Year

Ms. Taylor Corbett is this year's DCAA Auditor Trainee of the Year award recipient for her work exemplifying technical expertise, leadership and a commitment to excellence. She created monthly training sessions to improve her team's data analytics proficiency and enhanced audit outcomes. Her collaboration with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) and the U.S. Navy technical experts directly resulted in over 30 percent of reported questioned costs and strengthened the relationships between the teams and DCAA.

Corbett's professionalism and autonomy have set her apart, earning praise from customers for her clear communication and steady contributions during audit meetings. Her attention to detail uncovered contractor errors during incurred cost adequacy reviews, and her ability to prioritize and meet deadlines ensured timely and accurate reports.

Auditor of the Year

Ms. Brooke Fraser, Senior Auditor, is DCAA's Auditor of the Year for her exceptional contributions to audit efficiency, innovation and collaboration. Since joining DCAA in September 2022, Fraser has consistently identified new approaches to streamline processes and create innovative solutions. Her achievements include developing business analytics systems to enhance audit efficiency, such as creating a method for analyzing risk in adjusting journal entries and establishing a streamlined approach for judgmental selections in incurred cost audits. In 2024, Fraser led the Real Time Testing Materials audit, guiding her team to complete the audit 500 hours faster than the prior year. Her innovative sampling techniques and documentation templates have been adopted by other offices, further amplifying their impact.

Additionally, Fraser played a key role in a $9.4 billion incurred cost audit, significantly reducing hours and improving accuracy by leveraging her self-developed vendor comparison database. Her work on the 2022 incurred cost audit identified $355,000 in questioned costs, all of which were sustained during negotiations. Her contributions extend beyond her technical expertise, and she regularly demonstrates exceptional communication and collaboration skills, working closely with the contractors and the customer to ensure audit findings are clearly presented and fully sustained.

Kirsty Bishop named Supervisory Auditor of the Year

Ms. Kirsty Bishop was selected as DCAA's Supervisory Auditor of the Year for her exceptional leadership, innovative problem-solving and dedication to improving processes and work environments. As the lead supervisory auditor for her office's forward pricing rate proposals, Bishop oversaw four audits in 2024 and ensured timely delivery while strengthening collaboration with the DCMA and other partners. Her proactive approach reduced duplicative work, expanded communication and leveraged the strengths of everyone involved. Bishop created data analytic models to enhance audit tools, including a rate monitoring model that identifies variances in seconds, a process that originally took weeks. Her innovations have been adopted across DCAA, improving efficiency and accuracy in forward pricing rate audits.

Bishop's work extends beyond audits to broader agency initiatives and team development. She led efforts on a challenging Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) project, coordinating procedures across multiple offices. She helped eliminate duplicated work in over 1,800 contracts in the first phase and more than 13,000 in the second. She also developed a quick reference tool, documenting the contractor's complex organizational structure, ensuring alignment and clarity for all auditing offices.

John Hinton is DCAA's Audit Manager of the Year

This year's Audit Manager of the Year recipient is Mr. John Hinton, a Branch Manager in the Air Directorate, recognizing his exceptional leadership and innovative problem-solving. Hinton has made significant contributions to DCAA's mission by ensuring accountability and transparency in government contracting. As a leader, he transforms the culture of his office by encouraging open and active communication to reduce ambiguity and improve response times. His proactive approach has boosted morale and strengthened the team's ability to deliver timely and high-quality audit services.

His work streamlined processes and reduced duplication by combining audits for similar proposals from the same contractor. Hinton's system deficiency audits guidance has led to significant findings, enhancing DCAA's oversight capabilities and ensuring compliance with government contracting standards.