Effective Date: April 1, 2016

Applicable FAM Policies: 130 - Approval Authorities

Applicability: GNWT Departments and Public Agencies

Interpretation

Specific internal policies and procedures should be developed for staff to follow for the verification of accounts. These policies should take into consideration the organization environment including factors such as the level of decentralization.

Deputy Heads should ensure that the responsibilities of each officer related to account verification and quality assurance processes are clearly documented and understood.

Account Verification

As part of the account verification process, transactions should be reviewed for accuracy such as ensuring that the payment is not a duplicate, that discounts have been deducted, that any charges not payable have been removed and that the amount has been calculated correctly.

Payments that may be made in advance of the completion of the verification process may, for example, include the following:

1.    regular utility invoices such as telephone, heat and hydro where the invoice amount may vary from month to month;

2.    invoices covering numerous small value items, with regular suppliers where the individual transaction amounts are considered low risk such as taxis, and

3.    periodic invoices with established suppliers for services, such as maintenance or equipment rental, where the periodic invoice is normally the same amount each month.

Documentation that provides evidence of the extent of the commitments involved, the agreed prices for the services and supplies, the precise specifications and requirements, and the agreed payment terms should be maintained as required to support the verification process for each type of payment. An adequate audit trail must be maintained.

Quality assurance of the adequacy of account verification

The quality assurance review performed by Accounting Officers is in addition to the above requirements, which can be achieved by using sound sampling techniques. IB 130.10 provides additional information regarding the implementation of sampling.

If the errors discovered through the quality assurance review of the account verification are frequent and serious, a complete review of the particular organization's account processing practices should be carried out and the findings reported to the responsible center’s manager for corrective action.

When the account verification and certification are continually inadequate or otherwise unsatisfactory, withdrawing approval authority is preferable to duplicate checking.