Those unused accounting modules …Auditor General has an obligation to probe harder

Jun 12, 2014 News

– “He is behaving like a Sunday school teacher when he makes casual statements on the unused modules,”- Anti Corruption Advocate, Goolsarran

The Auditor General has been highlighting for several years in his reports that two modules of the Integrated Financial

Former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran

Management and Accounting System (IFMAS) have not been used.
Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran, said that his approach to underlining the importance, as well as the effects, of not using the modules can be likened to that of a “church boy approach”.
The anti corruption advocate said, “To me [the Auditor General] is just going through the motions and saying well we have the IFMAS system. There are several modules; five have been activated and two have not.
“He just reports the fact that two have not been used and what does the Accountant General say? The Accountant General says well we are taking steps and that has been happening for several years…”
The IFMAS system has seven features; the Appropriation, Expenditure, General Ledger, Budget Preparation & Reporting System (BPRS), Purchasing, Revenue and Asset & Inventory Modules.
The Purchasing and Asset and Inventory Modules are the ones that have not been implemented for over ten years.
According to Goolsarran, the AG “has not assessed the implications of the failure of the government to have those modules operationalized and what it means to us as taxpayers if we don’t have these two modules activated.”
He said that the IFMAS is an automated system pulling together all the financial management activities from budget right down to financial reporting. “So you have budget preparation, budget execution, expenditure which involves payments, bank reconciliation and all those things; the whole package fits neatly into seven modules and it is an integrated package.
“For example, if you write a cheque to purchase a vehicle, the Asset Module is supposed to be activated. Since it’s a car and it’s an asset, therefore the Asset Module is to be updated. Now if you don’t have an Asset Module, if you write a cheque for the car what will happen?” Goolsarran questioned.
He continued that it means the Asset Module has to be done manually and therefore it is not going to make the system more comfortable. “In other words, you have a combination of the automated system and manual system, where as if all the modules were fitting nicely then you would have one flow and everything is updated.”
Goolsarran stressed that the IFMAS “improves efficiency, improves accountability, improves everything and if within those seven modules two of the most critical ones have not been activated, then what have we really done?
“The Auditor General has an obligation to come down very hard and not make a church boy statement. He is behaving like a Sunday school teacher when he makes casual statements like ‘the two modules have not been implemented’.”
The former Auditor General said, “I don’t want to be critical of him but he has not probed a finding. It is not just saying this has not happened and the two modules have not been implemented. So what?
“An Auditor has to go beyond that and tell the public why it has not happened and if it continues to happen what are the implications. He needs to probe more.”
While President Donald Ramotar and Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Juan Edghill, hold firm to the effectiveness of their “manual systems”, the Auditor General reports reveal a different “truth”. It exposes the weaknesses of the manual alternative.
A look at the various Ministries reveals the weakness of the manual system.
The manual systems cannot adequately keep track of Government assets and expenditure until it’s almost too late.