management and oversight staff: control environment questions documents/exhibit 6i 2... · sarasota...

INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT SARASOTA COUNTY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT AND COUNTY COMPTROLLER

Management and Oversight Staff: CONTROL ENVIRONMENT Questions 1. Other than the cardholders, which employees in Public Works have P-card

responsibilities? (list names and what they are responsible for) Name Responsibility 2. When an employee is hired, are they informed that part of their job responsibility will be

the proper use of a P-card?

Before an employee gets a P-card, does he or she sign an Acceptance form? Where are these forms kept? Does the employee sign that he or she understands his or her responsibilities for the card?

3. Is there required training that the employee receives before they are issued the card?

Is there a log stating the date of training and the date of issuing the card? Is there any follow-up to the initial training? (for example, a report to the unit supervisor of transaction documentation that was filed timely and transaction documentation that was not filed timely?)


4. Do P-card holders in Public Works seem to be willing to follow the P-card policy and

procedures?

If yes, are they able to do so?

If no, why not? 5. In your opinion, do you know of any P-card procedures (from management) that are not

reasonable for Public Works employees to follow?

If so, what are they? why are they not reasonable? Do you think that the time requirements for turning in receipts are reasonable?

6. Does it seem to you that there are any strong temptations for P-card holders to misuse or

abuse the County P-card? 7. Are there any incentives established for Public Works P-card users to provide all the

necessary documentation for all their monthly P-card purchases timely?

8. Are employees encouraged to report suspected violations? If so, is there a mechanism whereby an employee could report a suspected violation anonymously?


Management and Oversight Staff: RISK ASSESSMENT Interview Questions 1. Has Public Works management established specific objectives in Facilities Services or

Mobility for the use of the P-card? (such as: all purchases of a certain nature or under a certain dollar amount should be bought on the card?)

Is so, what are they? how are the objectives communicated to Public Works employees?

How is feedback obtained from managers and employees to determine the effectiveness of the communication of the objectives?

2. Are there key strategies that have been established to achieve the specific objectives (in #1

above)? 3. Changing Conditions: There have been several changes in the P-card program over the past

year—using Works software, changing from account managers being in Public Works to OFP, scanning documents into OnBase. With these changing conditions and personnel, is there anything in particular (any event) that management should be aware of, and have plans to deal with in advance, if such an event should occur related to problems that might arise due to the changing conditions?


4. Do you know of any other significant risks with a high likelihood of occurrence that exist

related to use of the P-card, given how the program is currently being administered? 5. Is it possible that a cardholder could make a purchase by P-card that appears to be

legitimate but yet it would not be legitimate? If so, how could it happen? how could it be prevented?

If it could not be prevented, then how could it be detected?

INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT SARASOTA COUNTY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT AND COUNTY COMPTROLLER Management and Oversight Staff: CONTROL ACTIVITIES Questions (based on P&P manual) 1. What documentation is required from a cardholder for each P-card purchase--is there a

written list? (Is a receipt required? Is a signature required?) 2. What approvals are required for a purchase to determine whether it was necessary,

reasonable, and for an official use?

Cardholder judgment alone? Cardholder judgment and supervisor’s approval?

3. Does the account manager have an approval of purchase role or it is just an approval of payment role (that the supportive documentation exists to pay)?

4. Is a supervisor’s approval to purchase ever needed in advance of making a purchase? If so, under what conditions or circumstances?

5. What is the process whereby personnel in Public Works ensure that P-card purchases

are completely and accurately reported on a monthly basis for each cardholder?

INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT SARASOTA COUNTY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT AND COUNTY COMPTROLLER 6. Does each cardholder get to see his or her monthly statement to verify that the charges

made on their card are ones they actually made?

If not, could someone else make charges on a person’s card and submit them for payment without the cardholder knowing?

7. There is a form called the “Purchasing Card Transaction Log”--why is it optional instead of required?

8. Why is Public Works not collecting data on the number of “send-backs” or failures in

processing (either documentation failing the processing criteria or late submissions of documentation)?

If data was collected, could there be efforts made from the analysis of the data to

streamline processing for efficiency?

9. There are 11 groups of P-card holders in Public Works. Do all the groups follow the

exact same processes for “purchase to pay”? 10. Are any WORKS reports routinely run by Public Works personnel related to monthly or

quarterly P-card activity for Public Works? Which ones?

INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT SARASOTA COUNTY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT AND COUNTY COMPTROLLER 11. Are any WORKS report routinely run by OFP personnel related to monthly or quarterly

P-card activity for Public Works? Which ones? 12. In what types of situations would management overrule prescribed policies or

procedures regarding P-card purchases and/or documentation?

(ex. need to split a purchase to get the work done asap, need to have someone other than the cardholder use the card, purchase above the authorized limit, etc.)

13. Are employees permitted to make P-card purchases from business owned by relatives

and/or County employees who have personal businesses? If not, is this stated in an Acceptance form or elsewhere? 14. Has management ever used a Self-Assessment Control Questionnaire with cardholders

to uncover any control weaknesses that should be addressed? (if so, obtain results) 15. Has management ever used a Quarterly P-Card Program Certification Report to monitor

the number of cards, active accounts assigned, purchase limits, ratio of account managers to cardholders, training needs, etc.?

(if so, obtain results) 16. Has management ever used a quarterly Survey to monitor the number of transactions

processed and approved per account manager? (if so, obtain results)

INTERNAL AUDIT DEPARTMENT SARASOTA COUNTY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT AND COUNTY COMPTROLLER 17. Given the current changes in the P-card program administration (OFP), which office

will be enforcing the disciplinary procedures for cardholders who fail to provide the required supportive documentation in a timely manner for their purchases? How will this change in enforcement be communicated to the Public Works cardholders?

18. Do Public Works managers and/or supervisors obtain and review the total amounts and

summary descriptions of the P-card purchases made by their work groups on a routine and regular basis?

19. Have there been any cases where the County has paid the Bank for expenditures that

were charged, but found not to have been made by County employees?

If this occurred, what was the process whereby it was fixed?


Management and Oversight Staff: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION Interview Questions 1. Is there a flowchart showing the process from purchase to payment (P2P)? 2. Do the cardholders receive an e-mail to approve their own purchases in WORKS?

If not, does each cardholder have access to see their own monthly statement of purchases?

3. Do the supervisors (in Public Works) have access to WORKS to look up the details for

the purchases that were made by each cardholder? 4. What P-card information does OFP routinely give to Public Works, if any? 5. Does the bank send the monthly bill to A/P, A/P pays it, and then receipts from the

department come in later? 6. Is it possible for Public Works to monitor the number of P-card transactions that are

rejected the first time for processing by the account managers?

If so, is this being done? 7. Do the account managers use a checklist of criteria for processing a P-card transaction? 8. When a Public Works P-card holder terminates employment, how is this communicated

to the person responsible for deactivating the VISA?


Management and Oversight Staff: MONITORING Interview Questions 1. Do employees get evaluated on compliance with P-card policy & procedures as part of

their performance evaluations?

If so, how is this done? How much of an impact is it on the overall evaluation? Is a sample of the evaluation item available?

2. Are there account managers in Public Works? If so, how are they held accountable for

their processing of P-card documentation and approvals for payment? 3. Are P-card issues discussed in meetings with cardholders?

Does Public Works solicit recommendations from P-card users in ways (other than in meetings) to improve processes and/or reporting requirements?

If so, have there been any shortcomings identified in the internal control system that have

been identified and addressed? 4. What monitoring of P-card activity in Public Works is done as a normal, recurring activity

of the department?

Is the monitoring of P-card use for Public Works that Bruce Begany is going to do next in March 2008 going to be done on an “as-needed” basis or will it be a routine process every so often? Have there been any deficiencies that have surfaced from monitoring procedures?

5. Upward reporting of deficiencies: Other than lateral reporting in the organization of

regular operating activities, what alternative communications channels would be used for reporting sensitive information such as illegal or improper acts?

management and oversight staff: control environment questions documents/exhibit 6i 2... · sarasota...

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