AG wants unused IFMAS modules implemented

Oct 01, 2014 News

“Office currently auditing around the computer system” – Sharma

Auditor General Deodat Sharma is recommending that the powers that be implement the two modules of the Integrated Financial Management and Accounting System that have never been used.

Auditor General
Deodat Sharma

The report was handed over to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, yesterday, but it will not be made public until the House resumes following October 10.
This publication was, however, reliably informed that one of the key recommendations emanating from that 2013 Audit of Government’s expenditure is that the unused modules be implemented.
The Auditor General’s Reports, year after year, have continued to highlight the weaknesses of government’s manual system, which is said to be an alternative for the unused modules.
Various ministries are still unable to provide evidence to the Auditor General, accounting for millions expended.
According to Sharma, “at present what we are doing is auditing around the computer system, not through the system itself.” He observed that with the Information Technology auditing “we will be able to assess the modules…We will be able to try to see if there are proper controls in all the modules and ensure that there is no fraud.”
Sharma, following the handover of the 2013 report, hinted that the recommendation for the implementation of the two outstanding IFMAS modules is included.
“I have always recommended that the additional two modules are implemented.”
The actual 2013 report is in the possession of the Clerk of the National Assembly and will be made public once it is laid in Parliament.
Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Carl Greenidge, has in the past lamented the fact that had the two IFMAS modules been operationalised, a lot of the missing monies, assets and consumables cited in the Auditor General’s Reports would have been avoided.
The IFMAS system was designed with seven aspects, namely, 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.
The Purchasing Module provides the ability to create purchase requisitions and purchase orders with self-creating commitments to reserve the necessary funds; provides the ability to record the receipts and return of goods and automatically update the purchase order to reflect the transactions; completes integration with the payment process to reflect payment for goods ordered and received; and provides the ability to create an asset record when goods are received.
The Inventory/Assets Module provides the ability to create inventory and asset entries when entering a new record based on the requisitions; provides the ability to have automatic stock ordering when the system hits a user-defined reorder point; provides the ability for tracking issues and receipts; provides the ability to enter receipts for deliveries to stores via the Purchasing Module; provides the ability to make adjustments to reflect inventory average and shortages; and provides the ability to provide queries and reports on current inventory, stock activity and receiving reports.
Apart from the recommendation to implement the IFMAS system in its totality, access to the Contingencies Fund also continues to be a source of concern for the Audit Office.