Report Summary
Financial-Related Audit
Department of Administration
July 1, 1998, through December 31, 2001
Overall Conclusions:
Except as noted below, The Department of Administration's internal controls provided reasonable assurance that it safeguarded public funds and accurately recorded financial activity for the department's payroll expenditures, Minnesota Statewide 911 Program activity, and surplus services operations. For the items tested, the department complied with significant finance-related legal provisions.
Key Findings:
- The department did not review the payroll register report to ensure that payroll transactions were accurately entered on the State Employment Management System (SEMA4).
- The Department of Administration did not always verify that it received the correct Minnesota Statewide 911 Program fees from the telecommunication companies. The telecommunication companies remitted the fees to the department along with a report detailing the number of assessed lines used to calculate the fee. The department reviewed the reports, but it did not always verify or confirm the number of lines reported on the form.
- We noted several weaknesses in the internal controls over the department's surplus services' expenditures. The Surplus Services Unit did not properly separate the procurement and payment functions, and the unit did not document expenditure approvals. In addition, the Surplus Services Unit inappropriately used field purchase orders to purchase certain goods or services.
- The Surplus Services Unit did not always deposit certain receipts in a timely manner.
Financial-Related Audit Reports address internal control weaknesses and noncompliance issues found during our audits of state departments and agencies. The scope of our work at the Department of Administration included payroll expenditures, Minnesota Statewide 911 Program activity, and selected surplus services operations.
