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Section 1: Internal Control

Monitoring Plan for Segregation of Duties and Reconciliation of Accounts

Effective Date:

03/26/09

Approved By:

Kerry L. Kennedy, Vice President, Business Affairs

Last Revised On:

06/22/11

For Assistance Contact:

Associate Vice President for
Financial Affairs
(210)458-4210

Assistant Vice President for Financial Affairs & Controller
(210)458-6914

PURPOSE/scope

To establish the monitoring plans for internal controls to ensure that funds are expended and recorded appropriately on the UTSA Annual Financial Report (AFR).

AUTHORITY

Required by UT System policy - UTS142.1- Policy on the Annual Financial Report.


UNIVERSITY GUIDELINES

Table of Contents

A. Responsibilities

Chief Administrative Officer: The Vice President for Business Affairs is the Chief Administrative Officer, and is responsible for certifying to the UT System Administration that The University of Texas at San Antonio’s financial statements are presented fairly, are materially accurate, and that any significant internal control deficiencies, material weaknesses and all known frauds have been reported and addressed.

Financial Reporting Officer: The Associate Vice President for Financial Affairs is the Financial Reporting Officer and is responsible for the development and update of a Monitoring Plan for Segregation of Duties and Reconciliation of Accounts (the Monitoring Plan). The Monitoring Plan should be risk-based but also include random monitoring of low-risk departments for the fiscal year. The Financial Reporting Officer, after consultation with the Institutional Audit Director, will provide the Monitoring Plan and any updates to the UT System Financial Reporting Officer by February 28 each year. The Financial Reporting Officer will certify annually that the Monitoring Plan was completed as approved. For more information on segregation of duties and reconciliation of accounts see UTSA Financial Management Operation Guidelines (FMOGs) Internal Control Overview, Statement of Accounts (SOA) Reconciliation Process, and Reconciliation of Student Financial Data.

University Controller: The University Controller is responsible for certifying to the Financial Reporting Officer that the financial statements have been prepared accurately and that any significant internal control deficiencies, material weaknesses and all known frauds have been reported and addressed. The University Controller is also responsible for implementation of the Monitoring Plan.

Account Administrators: See section C, Management Certification and Fiscal Management Sub-Certification. For more information, see FMOG Fiscal Accountability and Stewardship of University Resources.

Institutional Audit Director: The Executive Director for Audit, Compliance, and Risk Services is the Institutional Audit Director. The Institutional Audit Director performs annual testing, within 60 days of the fiscal year end, of the Monitoring Plan and the Fiscal Management Sub-Certifications, and validates the assertions on segregation of duties and account reconciliations.

B. Monitoring of Key Financial Business Processes

The following systems and business processes are monitored and controlled to manage risk to an acceptable level:

1. Segregation of Duties

Certain duties should be performed by separate individuals to reduce the risk of fraud or concealment of errors, and no one individual should have responsibility for all aspects of a transaction.

In general, the following transaction-related duties are considered incompatible and should be performed by separate individuals:

EXAMPLE: An individual should not initiate an order for equipment and also approve the payment; or an individual depositing cash should not also perform the related bank account reconciliation.

Managers should be aware of duties that are potentially incompatible and arrange assignments so that no employee has incompatible duties. Managers of smaller departments where segregation of some duties may not be feasible must implement compensating controls such as detailed management review of reconciliations.

The chart below identifies some examples of transactions with guidelines for segregation of duties.

Type of Transaction

Initiates

Approves

Records

Reconciles

Custody

Purchase of Goods/Services

Purchase Request

 

 

 

Person A

Approves Payment for Request

 

Payment B

Accounting Records

 

Accounting Services

Statement of Account

 

 

Person C

Receives Goods

 

 

Person A

Cash/Check Receipts

Opens mail (with a second employee to provide assurance that all cash/checks received by mail are properly logged and deposited), logs receipts, and endorses checks

 

Person A

Makes deposit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Person B

Account Records

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounting Services

Statement of Account

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Person C

Instructs Bank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UTSA
 
2. Security Access to Administrative Systems for Transaction Approval

Various financial transactions require a minimum of one reviewer and one approver at the departmental level and at least one approver at the central office. This requirement is hardcoded in the current administrative system (DEFINE) and facilitated through workflow routing to ensure proper segregation of duties.

The following parties are involved in assuring internal controls are in place:

3. Receipt of Goods and Services

Goods received are matched on-line or manually with purchase order details and/or invoices; outstanding goods, receipt notes, purchase orders and/or invoices are investigated timely and accrued as appropriate; documents are canceled once matched or on payment of the invoice to prevent reuse. Services provided must be noted by the department, as required, prior to the payment of invoices.

On-the-job training is provided to all newly hired staff or position changes for purchasing and inventory. The Purchasing Office offers an online Purchasing Training course. Ad hoc training is also provided as issues arise. For more information on the Purchasing Training Course see the Purchasing Office website.

The following parties are involved in assuring internal controls are in place:

4. Review of Budget and Expenditures

Management is required to review actual expenditures compared to budget on a regular basis to help ensure fiscal accountability and solvency. Management is also expected to demonstrate fiduciary responsibility and to act in the best interest of UTSA.

Each month, Account Administrators receive Statement of Accounts reports (SOAs) which include detailed account transactions for all accounts within their responsibility. This information can also be accessed electronically by logging into DEFINE or UTDirect. UTDirect download instructions are available on the Accounting website.

Reconciliation of all SOAs must be completed each month. Evidence of the review or reconciliation must be supported by the signature of both the preparer and Account Administrator.

The following parties are involved in assuring internal controls are in place:

Statement of Accounts and reconciliation instructions are available on the Accounting Services website and in FMOG Statement of Accounts (SOA) Reconciliation Process. A training class is also available (AM 506 - Understanding the Statement of Accounts) through Human Resources Training and Development.

5. Cash Handling and Security

Departments must follow all requirements listed in FMOGs Cash Handling and Management and Processing Cash Payments.

The following parties are involved in assuring internal controls are in place:

On-the-job training is provided to all newly hired staff or position changes for cash handling. Ad hoc training is also provided as issues arise.

C. Management Certification and Fiscal Management Sub-Certification

All Account Administrators are required to complete the Management Certification and Fiscal Management Sub-Certification. For more information see FMOGs Internal Control Overview and Fiscal Management Sub-Certification Work Plan.

Account Administrators failing to submit a completed Management Certification and Fiscal Management Sub-Certification Survey are reported to the respective VP, Audit Director, the Financial Reporting Officer, and the Assistant VP/Controller.

Responses in these certifications are included in the criteria used to select the Account Administrators who will undergo a Quality Assurance Review.

D. Quality Assurance Reviews

Quality Assurance Reviews (QARs) are performed by the Office of Institutional Compliance and Risk Services, and are intended to provide management with assurance that departmental internal controls are in place and are operating effectively. For more information see the FMOG Internal Control Overview.

QARs also verify the integrity of responses to the annual Management Certification and Fiscal Management Sub-Certification Survey and help ensure that responses are in accordance with UT System financial accountability mandates.

Areas included in the QAR are:

A sample of Account Administrators from each Vice President (VP) area is selected annually to undergo a QAR. Account Administrators are selected based on a risk assessment including several criteria:

With approximately 80 Account Administrators selected annually, all Account Administrators will receive a QAR at least once every five years.

QAR results are provided to the Account Administrator and their immediate supervisor. Vice Presidents are provided a final overall summary report of all QARs in their area.

Institutional Compliance will perform on-site follow-ups for QARs with a significant overall risk level 90 days after the respective VP is notified. Institutional Compliance will contact the Office of Auditing and Consulting Services for further action if deficiencies noted in the original report are not corrected.

Reports of all significant findings and related follow-up activities are given to the Institutional Fraud Officer (VP for Business Affairs) and the Financial Reporting Officer (Associate VP for Financial Affairs).

A summary report of all QARs is provided annually to the President.


definitions

Term

Description

Account Administrator

An individual with fiscal responsibility and decision-making authority for UTSA resources who has approval access to commit funding using the institutional financial accounting system. This is typically the department head for non-grant accounts and the principal investigator for grant accounts.

 

references/links

related forms/worksheets

Forms and worksheets currently not available for this guideline.


revision history

Date

Description

06/22/11

Added subsection Segregation of Duties to section Monitoring of Key Financial Business Processes. Revised the Review of Budget and Expenditures subsection as the SOA reconciliation process must be completed monthly and added links to the Accounting Services website and Statement of Accounts (SOA) Reconciliation Process FMOG for instructions.

03/22/11

Conducted minor edits for consistency and provided links to referenced FMOGs.

01/28/11

Conducted document clean-up for consistency and removal of duplicate information found in other FMOGs.

10/18/10

Added revised copies of the Management Certification and Sub-Certification survey samples.

11/10/09

Guideline published.

 

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Designed & maintained by Financial Affairs—Last update: October 14, 2011