Management Action Plan
| Recommendations | Priority | Response and Planned Actions | Responsi-bilities (position title responsible for the action) | Timelines (actual planned dates of implementation) | Subsequent Action/ Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1) CanNor should develop and implement a financial management framework which includes, but is not limited to, processes and controls over forecasting, PAYEs, and financial reporting. | HIGH | In 2011-12 CanNor Finance has begun to develop and implement a financial management framework to include a regular monthly process for forecasting allowing Responsibility Center (RC) managers to plan for their requirements for the fiscal year and remain within their budget authorities. The process includes a monthly call and financial templates that include the budgets, actual expenditures to date, and commitments with a requirement to establish a forecast to year-end. Finance has created a Monthly Financial Situation Report Calendar for 2011-12 to help managers understand the timelines to meet regular Executive Committee financial reporting. PAYE procedures were followed at Year End (YE) using AANDC's instructions and timelines. All timelines were met and the 2010-11 PAYEs were properly established within these procedures. | CFO-Finance | The first monthly financial situation report was May 31, 2011 and was presented to EXCOM on June 15, 2011. This is an ongoing process with a predetermined calendar establishing the reporting timelines. |
OCG carried out a subsequent review of our budgeting/forecasting on October 17: Verbal briefing provided on the following issues: initial base salary deficit, lack of commitments and MOU with AANDC. OCG returned in December for further on-site review. Consultant engaged and working with CFO and VP for design and implementation of remediation processes, control framework and active monitoring. Complete: Financial Management Framework drafted and approved by SMC. |
| 2) CanNor should revise the Fiscal Year 2009-10 financial statements in a timely manner. | HIGH | CanNor will restate the comparative figures for 2009-2010 during the preparation of the 2010-2011 financial statements; these financial statements will be posted with the 2011 DPR. | CFO-Finance | December 2011 | Complete: Financial Statements have been restated and posted on CanNor internet site. |
| 3) CanNor should obtain all necessary financial system training and access, to FNITP and OSMS. | HIGH | In May 2011, CanNor Finance coordinated multiple training sessions to be delivered by AANDC to CanNor's corporate services employees. Financial system training has been delivered to CanNor's corporate services staff over a two week period to three AS-3s (general administration and finance), an AS-5 (accommodations and corporate services), an FI-03 (Finance) in the northern regions and FIs in the Ottawa region. The training was specifically focused on FNITP, OSMS and the financial system. | CFO-Finance | Completed in May 2011 |
This learning requirement is to be incorporated in the learning plan process to ensure that employees receive the required training. Complete: Training for ongoing now needs to be planned for 2012/2013. |
| 4) CanNor should design effective business processes for financial management for its head office in Iqaluit. This should include consideration of the most effective MOUs or service agreements with other federal entities to support CanNor's operations. | HIGH | The CFO, CanNor will contact other Regional Economic Development Agencies and other government departments of similar size to get their documented internal control processes and associated checklists. These documents will be reviewed and customized to CanNor's required business processes for financial management. | CFO-Finance | October 2011 – March 2012 |
Various documentation and checklists received from AANDC, OCG and PWGSC. A draft of the Policies has been completed and is being presented to SMC on a chapter by chapter basis. Under the project plan, all drafts will have been reviewed by SMC by March 2012. By May 2012, the entire procedures will be translated and posted on CanNor's intranet. Complete: MOU finalized and signed in January 2012. Additional clauses added for creating of oversight committee. For 2012/2013: A working group has been established to clarify roles and responsibilities and document service standards to prepare for the next fiscal year MOU. |
| CanNor is negotiating the 2011-12 Corporate Services' MOU with AANDC and is emphasizing the areas of service in financial management requiring attention that have been noted in the OCG core controls' audit. Our objective is to have a revised MOU in place well before the end of the fiscal year. | |||||
| 5) CanNor should ensure managers and executives receive the required training and validate their knowledge as required prior to exercising their delegated authority. CanNor should also maintain a record of completion of all training by individuals with delegated authority. | HIGH | In March-April 2011, CanNor Finance undertook a detailed review of existing CSPS certification for delegated financial authorities. The RC structure was amended in 2011-12 and as a result, financial delegated authorities were reviewed for all proposed delegated managers to ensure that Finance has an official record of certification (G126-G127 course) and the CSPS' notification of successfully passing the tests. These documents have been compiled in binders by RC and distributed to the 3 regions with a copy in Ottawa. In this context, all signature specimens have also been resigned by both the delegation manager and delegated RC manager and sent to AANDC. | CFO-Finance | Action completed in April 2011 |
HR ends out reminders to managers for which 5 year period is expiring. HR to control and keep list of mandatory training; Finance to control SSR's and review regularly Complete: Procedure completed and approved. |
| For items 6, 7, 8. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. | December 2011 to March 2012 |
The VP established a working group made up of 9 employees to develop processes and procedures for Procurement, Travel and Hospitality. Procedures were also developed for the following: delegations, chart of accounts, account verification, salary management, forecasting, PAYE, petty cash. A training strategy will be developed for 2012/2013. A draft of the Policies has been completed and is being presented to SMC on a chapter by chapter basis. Under the project plan, all drafts will have been reviewed by SMC by March 2012. By May 2012, the entire procedures will be translated and posted on CanNor's intranet. |
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| 6) CanNor should ensure that expenditure initiation and individual commitments are approved by an individual with the delegated authority to do so before expenses are incurred and recorded in the financial system. | HIGH | In March-April 2011, the process supporting FAA section 32 (commitments) and section 34 (payment for the performance of work, supply of goods or the rendering of services) was reviewed by CanNor Finance and corrective action was implemented by ensuring proper delegations and paper trails to support section 32 and 34. | CFO-Finance | March-April 2011 and ongoing |
The Administrative Services team will develop and document, in collaboration with Finance and the Regional Administrative Coordinators, processes and procedures in support of processing sec.32 and sec. 34. This internal control document will form part of a suite of administrative policies and procedures to be adhered to and adopted by all CanNor employees, included those exercising services on its behalf. Complete: Procedure completed and approved. |
| This will be reflected in the documented internal control processes that will be adopted by March 2012. | March 2012 | ||||
| 7) CanNor should ensure that expenses are certified by an individual with the delegated authority to do so on a timely basis, and by someone who does not directly or indirectly benefit from the expenditure. | HIGH | In March-April 2011, the process supporting FAA section 32 (commitments) and section 34 (payment for the performance of work, supply of goods or the rendering of services) was reviewed by CanNor Finance and corrective action was implemented by ensuring proper delegations and paper trails to support section 32 and 34. | CFO-Finance | March-April 2011 and ongoing |
The Administrative Services team will develop and document, in collaboration with Finance and the Regional Administrative Coordinators, processes and procedures in support of processing sec.32 and sec. 34. This internal control document will form part of a suite of administrative policies and procedures to be adhered to and adopted by all CanNor employees, included those exercising services on its behalf. Complete: Procedure completed and approved. |
| This will be reflected in the documented internal control processes that will be adopted by March 2012. | March 2012 | ||||
| 8) CanNor should ensure that proof of execution and cost are retained, and if missing, justification for purchase is clearly documented on file. | HIGH | In March-April 2011, the process supporting FAA section 32 (commitments) and section 34 (payment for the performance of work, supply of goods or the rendering of services) was reviewed by CanNor Finance and corrective action was implemented by ensuring proper delegations and paper trails to support section 32 and 34. | CFO-Finance | March-April 2011 and ongoing |
The Administrative Services team will develop and document, in collaboration with Finance and the Regional Administrative Coordinators, processes and procedures in support of processing sec.32 and 34. This internal control document will form part of a suite of administrative policies and procedures to be adhered to and adopted by all CanNor employees. Complete: Procedure completed and approved. |
| This will be reflected in the documented internal control processes that will be adopted by March 2012. | March 2012 | ||||
| 9) CanNor should ensure that CFO approval, whether case by case or by approving general limits, is sought prior to distributing acquisition cards to individuals. | HIGH | Requests for acquisition cards are now sent to Finance for CFO sign-off. All acquisition cards will be closely scrutinized for spending limits. | CFO-Finance | April 2011 and ongoing |
For 5 of the 10 current acquisition cards, limits have been decreased to correspond better to current spending levels. Complete: Procedure complete and approved. |
| 10) CanNor should obtain written acknowledgement of responsibilities and obligations from acquisition card holders prior to issuing an acquisition card and keep documentation on file. | HIGH | CanNor Finance has implemented the same acknowledgement form used by AANDC. All acquisition card holders are required to read and sign the form that presents their responsibilities and obligations. New card holders are required to sign such a form before receiving their card. | CFO-Finance | April 2011 and ongoing |
The CFO will implement an annual review process to obtain written acknowledgement of responsibilities and obligations from all card holders. Complete: Procedure complete and approved. Complete: Acknowledgements of responsibilities were obtained from all active card holders in March 2012. |
| 11) CanNor should ensure that acquisition cards are used solely for authorized government business related to purchases of goods, services and pre-approved hospitality expenses. | HIGH |
Card holders have been informed and reminded of the specific use of the card. Transactions using an acquisition card will be reviewed on a regular basis in both the regions and Ottawa to ensure appropriate use of the cards. |
CFO-Finance | April 2011 and ongoing |
Complete: A review of card usage was done in March 2012 and the results will be presented to FMC (Financial Management Committee) in April as part of the Active Monitoring Program. Complete: Procedure complete and approved. |
| This will be reflected in the documented internal control processes that will be adopted by March 2012. | March 2012 | ||||
12) CanNor should develop business processes and keep documentation to ensure that:
|
HIGH |
For 2010-2011, CanNor had an MOU with AANDC for corporate services. This includes material management services for procurement/ contracts/ assets. AANDC provides material management services to CanNor according to Treasury Board (TB) policies and legislation. In addition, AANDC has an internal policy suite related to procurement policies found on their website "Perspectives". AANDC has developed business processes that CanNor implements for procurement, contracting and asset management. CanNor will work with AANDC to clarify the roles and responsibilities for procurement and contracting to ensure that all appropriate documents supporting the procurement process and associated policies and procedures are signed by authorized managers and filed with all required paperwork. Managers will closely scrutinize the process to ensure that appropriate actions are taken and documented according to TB policies and AANDC's internal policies. CanNor will ensure that all contracts over $10,000 continue to be proactively disclosed on their website. |
CFO-Finance | April 2011 and ongoing |
Complete: MOU finalized and signed in January 2012. Additional clauses added for creating of oversight committee. A working group has been established to clarify roles and responsibilities and document service standards to prepare for the next fiscal year MOU. The Contract Review Committee currently reviews all proposed contracts to ensure compliance with contracting processes including the prevention of contract splitting. The Committee has met on a regular basis during 2011-2012. Complete: Procedure complete and approved. |
| 13) CanNor should ensure that contracting officers are aware of contracting rules so that contract splitting does not occur. | HIGH |
The Agency relies on AANDC for procurement and contracting services CanNor staff will work with AANDC to scrutinize all practices and processes related to contracts to ensure that contract splitting does not occur. |
CFO-Finance | April 2011 and ongoing | Complete: The Contract Review Committee currently reviews all proposed contracts to ensure compliance with contracting processes including the prevention of contract splitting. The Committee has met on a regular basis during 2011-2012 and reviewed major contracts and no contract splitting issues were identified. |
| 14) CanNor should document and keep on file the purpose of business travel so that it is fully justifiable. | HIGH |
An approved Travel Authorization Form is required prior to any travel being initiated. The form includes the purpose of the travel. A copy / original of the form is kept in the employee's travel file and the original / copy is presented with the travel claim. |
CFO-Finance | April 2011 and ongoing | Procedure complete and approved. |
15) CanNor should develop business processes and keep documentation to ensure that:
|
HIGH |
Completed Travel Authorization forms are required prior to all travel. The use of the automated Travel Expense Management Tool will be evaluated. Employees have been informed that government suppliers are to be used. If not, justifications are required. Employees traveling are required and/or advised to get a travel card and use it while on travel status. Travel by the Deputy Head is being disclosed on a quarterly basis. |
CFO-Finance | May 2011 and ongoing | CanNor is implementing the Travel Expense Management Tool in January 2012 with training to start in December 2011. The use of this took will improve business processes on the following: Section 32 pre-approval, Section 34 approval, reimbursement of appropriate amounts per NJC rates, correct calculations applied, and supporting documentation. |
| The above requirements will be reflected in the documented internal control processes that will be adopted by March 2012. | March 2012 | Complete: Procedure on travel complete and approved. Travel Expense Management Tool implemented in February 2012. | |||
| 16) CanNor should ensure that requests for travel cards and card holder agreements acknowledging responsibilities and obligations are kept on file. | MEDIUM | Requests for travel cards and agreements signed by card holders are now being filed appropriately. New card holders must sign an agreement form before receiving their card. | CFO-Finance | May 2011 and ongoing |
The CFO will implement an annual review process to obtain written acknowledgement of responsibilities and obligations from all card holders. Procedure complete and approved. Complete: Acknowledgements of responsibilities were obtained from all active card holders in March 2012 and a number of cards were cancelled. |
| This will be reflected in the documented internal control processes that will be adopted by March 2012. | March 2012 | ||||
| 17) CanNor should ensure that funds commitment for all membership and registration fees are pre-approved by the appropriate delegated authority. | MEDIUM | As part of the process supporting FAA section 32 (commitments) reviewed by CanNor Finance, corrective action has been implemented to ensure proper authorization by delegated authority is obtained for this type of expenses. | CFO-Finance | May 2011 and ongoing |
The Administrative Services team will develop and document, in collaboration with Finance and the Regional Administrative Coordinators, processes and procedures in support of processing sec.32 and 34. Complete: Approval of memberships included in delegated financial authorities. Procedures on delegation and account verification complete and approved. |
| This will be reflected in the documented internal control processes that will be adopted by March 2012. | March 2012 | ||||
| 18) CanNor should retain written documentation to support that departure procedures have been followed to certify that all money owing to the Crown, or any other assets, and are accounted for before an employee leaves the agency. | MEDIUM | Corrective action has been implemented. Prior to departure, all employees are required to complete a departure form and get signatures confirming all assets have been accounted for and no money is owed to the Crown. The completed form is kept/filed with CanNor HR departure files in Iqaluit. | CFO-Finance | May 2011 and ongoing | The departure form process is in place. |
| This will be reflected in the documented internal control processes that will be adopted by March 2012. | March 2012 | Procedure complete and approved. | |||
| 19) CanNor should take the necessary steps to ensure that all leave requests are pre-authorized by someone with the delegated authority. | LOW | Regular reminders regarding leave authorization process requirements are sent out to all managers and CanNor-HR will monitor every six months. | Corporate Services - HR | May 2011 and ongoing | Procedure complete and approved. |
| This will be reflected in the documented internal control processes that will be adopted by March 2012. | March 2012 |