Audit Standards/Delegation Committee Meeting Notes

Transcription

1 Logistics Meeting Date: 4/28/2004 Meeting Time: Notes Compiled by: At Attendance: 1:30 P.M. 3:00 P.M. Jose A. Carus, Jr. See attached list (Excel 2000 Document) Handouts: : Information distributed to Committee member included Name Tags Meeting Agenda Draft ground rules for the Committee Appropriations and Budget Management section sections (20.915)(20.916)(20.917) Travel Definitions Accounting Service Web document How To Document Airfare, Lodging or Registration Fee Payments Made Over the Web ( PPP 17 (Purchasing Policy and Procedure on Vehicle, Purchase /Lease, New/Used, Replacement and Disposal) PPP29 (Purchasing Policy and Procedure on Educational Travel Tours) FPPP 36 (Travel Regulations) Appendix A Accounting Services Policy and Procedure Index sections 201 on Travel ( Only the following subsections were distributed: A-G, J, and L. Auditing Standards/Best Business Practice Recommendations Checklist for the Audit Standards/Delegation Committee. Introductions At the start of the meeting the group went around the table and everyone introduced themselves (name and area they represent). Page 1 of 6

2 Future Meeting Locations Future meetings will be held at the Union. Thank you to Sue Domini for making the arrangements. The room being use at today s meeting is small but future meeting will be at the Inn Wisconsin room, which has enough room to accommodate the full Audit Standards/Delegation Committee. See room specifications at and below: Room Name Lecture Classroom Herringbone Square Conference U-Shaped Dining Inn Wisconsin The dates will remain the same and are posted at the project web page. Ground Rules Ground rules were again handed out. An additional ground rule was added at the suggestion of Jim Keach ( 11. Have meeting begin and end on time. ). Web Page The web page is up and running in a user-friendly format. The committee co-manager will continue to post items on the web page as needed. WI State Statute reference information is currently posted on the web page for member reference. Web comments were solicited but the members did not have any. General Notes/Comments Reviewed agenda items and materials handout Need to review definitions to fit our institutional needs. The SPC and Al Benzschawel suggested splitting the Audit Standards Committee into sub-committees. This will be done but only for certain areas as deemed necessary. Will split up and report back to larger group. Presented the Auditing Standards/Best Business Practice Recommendations Checklist, which was developed for the Audit Standards/Delegation Committee to use so we can support and document our findings. This will also assist with presentations to the SPC and in note-taking efforts. Any comments on the checklist should be brought up to Terri or Jose. The members agreed that the checklist was a great idea. Page 2 of 6

3 Travel related documents from web site and statutory related documents were handed out. Discussed the travel definitions, which are the same as the UW-System definitions and the State Travel Guidelines (Section F-Uniform Travel Schedule Amounts). Define employee, true receipt, lowest appropriate airfare, etc. State side definitions are different. Need to get appropriate definitions for our institution. Sub-Groups Split Committee into sub-groups that will take the assigned areas and work on them. For example, the definitions group will work on redefining travel definitions to reflect the UW s environments. These sub-groups will then report at the next full meeting on the progress of their group. Also need to get other department people involved go back to departments to get their input. Definition Group: Terri Mills, Jose Carus, Dennis Manthey, Rose Budig, and Jim Keach (Not present but members thought Jim would be good for this subgroup) The committee members suggested that the definitions group might want to include a definition for employee (UW vs state definitions), non-employee, quote (as in e-quotes, etc.), headquarter city as it relates to how we do business here (i.e., people change headquarter city in the nature of business), headquartered someplace else (i.e., send someone to east coast to live for 6 months what is the headquarter city), etc. Jan Richardson asked the definitions group to keep in mind that definitions need to take into account the impact on other areas like human resources, personnel, and risk management. Keep personnel rules in mind and risk management implications (i.e., headquarter city in terms of risk). At some point the group would need to run the definitions by these areas to get their comments. For example, Risk Management (Jeanine Critchley should look at them to comment on any impact on the risk area. Note: Per section 3 of the State Travel Guidelines (Section F-Uniform Travel Schedule Amounts) they address/split the sections into different areas/transportation modes (see agenda for sections). A subgroup should be established to address each of these areas. The groups are listed below: Airfare: Jeri Byrne, Sue Dolan, Mark Inman, and Steve Sauer. Probably most labor intensive because they have to address areas like receipting need for e-bookings, travel agency invoicing, domestic vs foreign travel, etc. Train/Bus/Cab/ Shuttle/Limo Travel: Shantara Glenn, Medical School (Julie Turk, Cindy Blewett). Privately owned Vehicles/Aircraft Page 3 of 6

4 Group: Fleet Vehicles Group: Vehicle Rentals Group: Judy Tonstad, Jill Wolff, Margie Burris. Sally Hansen, Sue Domini, Boni Kuenzi, Sandy Baumel. Wes Meixelsperger, Jeri Byrne, Dan Catlin (Not present but members thought Dan would be good for this subgroup), Mary Dodd (Not present but members thought Mary would be good for this subgroup).. Open Discussion on Transportation Related Cost Issues Open Discussion Receipts Steve Sauer: Definitions are an integral part of looking at each of the sub-group areas. For example, receipts are part of definitions group and also a big part of travel group. Terri stated that as we move forward definitions can be defined by type of travel expense. The group needs to talk to travelers for input on what is feasible to obtain for each type of expense. For example, look at hotel and air receipts in blocks, express checkout, and e- receipts look at by types. Shantara: Shantara: Methods of payment hard to confirm because of the variety of security measures. For example, some receipts do not include parts of the information on the receipt. Per Terri this committee needs to determine what is realistic without having to spend hours getting the information. Terri need to establish bare minimum of needed receipts and that determines if they can t get this bare minimum then what do we do next. Currently airfare receipts are all over the map. Might need some credibility statement (i.e., what was spent) by the traveler. Need to determine compliance and documentation level. Need to determine risk acceptability. Terri mentioned that the committee needs to determine where things can pass-through and where we can cut corners. Rules for rental cars risk of rental vs fleet (insurance, etc.) Mentioned that a definition for logical should be developed. Develop a logical definition based on expenses types. Can we Change/Reword Regulations Asked whether we can reword regulations. Per Terri this committee has latitude to present a proposal/recommendation for change in regulations, which will be presented to the SPC and see how far the UW will back us. Terri also mentioned that this is a chance to live outside the legislature/regulations as long as we have adequate support for the changes from the SPC and the UW. Automated Forms/Tools or Interactive Tools/Forms On-line Would like to see an automated travel TER so that the process can be moved more into the traveler s hands. This should include checks and balances to make sure that all applicable regulations are being adhered to. Terri said that the Page 4 of 6

5 $ to do this are always a problem but considering the resource and possibility for pooling and sharing resources this would be a great opportunity to achieve some progress in these areas. Group: Sue Dolan: Should get WISDM Add-On Tools Group to do an add-on for the travel issue as Manthey mentioned. Needed campus-wide support. Sue Dolan, Cindy Blewett, and Dennis Manthey volunteered to put together a draft proposal for presentation to SPC. This is out-of-scope of the Audit Standards Committee but the committee felt it is a good idea that should be investigated. Described and reviewed the automated system they are working on for improving/automating TER s. They will use an Oracle database to get/capture the data. Users submit the information, check on system whether they want to book it or not. If DoIT books it then done through pro-card. The traveler then submits the request and then gets a trip number and a page of the receipts that are needed and limits based on the information entered. The system sends an to manager, director, and CIO for all three approvals. Once approved the request is sent back to Sue or other travel administrators for booking. After the trip the traveler enters the trip number then the system will auto-fills all expenses that have been paid for todate. Driven by class codes as amounts for expense. The traveler then completes other necessary information (for example, is the traveler being reimbursed for actual meals or per diem, etc.). This is then automatically filed. The system has links to limits. DoIT has a centralized travel office since budgets and travel became more restrictive. Most of the time DoIT makes the reservations for the traveler. Engineering has a system but it is more in question/answer form that the traveler completes. Form sent electronically for review. Suggested limit checks on system are a good idea. System saves processor time (typist). Routine regulations should be automated. Need standard protocols for rentals vs. fleet vehicles. Need defaults on deviation allowances (i.e., when are travelers allowed to use each type of vehicle--fleet and rentals). Exceptions, etc. need to be addressed. Terri said that maybe a chart should be developed for a traveler to look at to determine what will be paid for. Second-guessing with traveler is a problem as to what is more cost effective. Other issues also needed to be taken into account like insurance, etc. Terri mentioned that it would be nice to have a built in part to inform the users but we don t have an automated system to do this so we need to provide this through training, etc. Dennis mentioned that we all have different systems and processes so it is hard to do! Fleet Vehicle s New System Sally Hansen: Terri asked Sally to get Jim Bogan involved to find out how widely the new system is used for reserving fleet vehicles. Sally described Fleet s new system, which is modeled after the physical plant system and has on-line work orders and billing. This will incorporate into the FP&M system. Web site for fleet reservations and statements will be on the web. It is similar to FP&M system for those that are familiar with the FP&M system. The system is not publicized or announced but people have been wandering into it probable because it is evolving. If you are calling Fleet for reservations the person you are calling is Page 5 of 6

6 Training Issues probably sitting on the web using this new system, which ultimately users will be using directly. The system is supposed to be seamless if no Fleet vehicle is available then it automatically goes to DOA to check. Terri asked the Fleet sub-group to maybe check the system out and provide the committee more information in the future. As part of these subgroups and other subgroups the committee needs to keep the whole process in mind including how are we going to educate/train to understand these areas. Dennis asked if the new Fleets system issues a non-availability slip. Terri said that her understanding is that it does. Does slip and changes funding string associated with your logon this is the same for DOA fleet car. Will eliminate the central DOA bill for vehicles. With the new system DOA can now direct charge instead of always having to go through a requisition. A problem that Sue Domini encountered is that the charge goes to the original departments that authorized the person and set them up at Risk Management. This is even though the person might be at another department. The group agreed that training the travelers, especially the faculty, will be a big issue/concern. Terri this will be addressed in the training piece for the delegated person/auditor. Maybe something to think about is a training piece for travelers? Culture difficult to break through. New faculty easier to train but older faculty harder. Faculty normally don t want to get receipts and have very few receipts. Next Meeting Progress reports from the sub-groups Page 6 of 6