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3 golden objects Minnesota Legislature

Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

Report Summary
Department of Management and Budget
Statewide Integrated Financial Tools (SWIFT)

 

Financial Audit Division Report 12-23 Released November 16, 2012

Conclusion

In developing and implementing the state’s new accounting system, Statewide Integrated Financial Tools (SWIFT), the Department of Management and Budget designed internal controls that were generally adequate to ensure that the department:

  • accurately processed and recorded financial transactions and data;
  • protected not public data and limited unnecessary and incompatible access; and
  • monitored and limited changes to SWIFT server security and databases to ensure changes were authorized.

However, some internal controls were not functioning as expected.

The Department of Management and Budget designed internal controls that were generally adequate to ensure compliance with applicable selected finance-related legal requirements. However, for the items tested, the department did not comply with some specific requirements.

The department resolved two of the four prior audit findings relevant to this audit. The two findings not resolved are included in this report.

Key Findings

  • Prior Finding Not Resolved: The Department of Management and Budget did not sufficiently identify and communicate risks created by incompatible duties.
  • The Department of Management and Budget did not adequately restrict employees from processing payments to vendors who were not subject to the department’s vendor validation process.
  • The departments of Management and Budget and Administration allowed employees who had SWIFT security access to create and maintain vendor data to make changes without adequate oversight and to have unmitigated incompatible access or unnecessary access.
  • The Department of Management and Budget did not implement internal controls to prevent or detect unauthorized access to not public data in the databases.

Audit Objectives and Scope

To review the design of selected internal controls for the new accounting system the Department of Management and Budget placed in operation in July 2011.

More Information

Office of the Legislative Auditor, Room 140, 658 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55155 : legislative.auditor@state.mn.us or 651‑296‑4708