Internal Audit
Assurance
Internal Audit
at Thompson Rivers
University – “The 5 W’s”
October , 2014
We’re Here to Help!
TRU Internal Audit
Who?
Cathy Elliot – 0.5 FTE – Internal Audit Officer
Christina Duquette - 0.85 FTE- Internal Audit Director
We are University employees
We are CPA/CA’s with Bachelor’s Degrees in Commerce
Director is also a CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner) and CRMA (Certification
In Risk Management Assurance
We are members of The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA)
We report to the Audit Committee to help ensure Independence
TRU Internal Audit
What is Internal Audit at TRU?
Internal Audit Charter at TRU – Purpose:
“Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and
consulting activity designed to add value and improve an
organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish
its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to
evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management,
control, and governance processes. ” (As per IIA’s International
Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing)
please refer to website for full charter)
TRU Internal Audit
When?
Annual Audit Plan is approved by the Board of Directors Audit committee
in November
Audit Plan is developed using a risk assessment and with input from across the
University and considers :
• Strategic Plan
• Output from Risk Management Programs
• Audit Committee and or management specific concerns
• Other trends including: emerging risks, significant changes in TRU departments,
IT complexity, prior audit results ,legislative changes and other external factors
We audit throughout the year.
TRU Internal Audit
Where and How
The audit plan is a listing of audit engagements for the year which is based on the
risk assessment
This includes an estimate for the hours required to complete the planning, field work ,
meetings and writing the audit report
The field work is mostly done in finance and procurement, we also plan to go to Williams
Lake
TRU Internal Audit
Why?
We provide assurance to the Audit Committee in fulfilling
their fiduciary duties
Our role at the university is also to help faculties, schools and
divisions by ensuring processes, procedures and policies are
effective and are being followed.
TRU Internal Audit
What is the process of “being audited”?
• Initial contact
“Engagement Letter
• Develop Audit program
• Sample Selection
Planning
Fieldwork
• Interviews
• Process mapping
• Testing of Internal
Controls or Policies
• Transaction testing
• Initial findings are shared
with division head in draft
report
• Auditee has responsibility
to respond to the findings
• Once the report has been
approved by appropriate
level of management
report is issued
• Appropriate follow up on
progress is scheduled
Reporting
What areas are typically tested as part of an internal audit?
The areas to be tested are dependent on the activities of the department. The most
common areas that have been tested are:
1. Cash handling
2. Time approval
3. PCard transactions
4. Grants/contracts
5. Travel expense claims
6. Disbursements (purchase orders, payment requests, IDIs)
7. Policies and procedures
TRU Internal Audit
Common Issues we report:
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Approving your own time
Purchasing without appropriate spending authority
Maintaining privacy of personally identifiable information
Reloadable beverage cards without itemizing expenditures
Meal expenses paid by Pcards or charged to a hotel room and
also per diems claimed
• Missing receipts. A proof of payment is not a receipt.
• Lack of documentation of who is entertained or hosted
• Prohibited purchases on Pcards (E.g. gift cards, alcohol, IT goods)
• Any violation of University Policy
TRU Internal Audit
Internal Audit is advocate for Whistle Blower Policy and Fraud Investigations
Whistleblower Policy – Refer to Board Policy 18-0 on TRU Web
Confidential reporting of “Protected Disclosure” is made to the audit committee
chair
We do preliminary investigations of fraud or other improper acts
We also received requests from campus community for these investigations, where
it is warranted we do the work
We are not certified fraud examiners – working on that…….
TRU Internal Audit
We are here to help You
• Offer suggestions for improvement
• Advisory role
We want to know how we are doing
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Starting in January, we will be sending an after-audit-survey to all
auditees
We want your feedback
Were we professional, helpful, timely and did we add value?
We will report on these feedback results on our website
TRU Internal Audit
Questions??????
TRU Internal Audit