The purpose of the Functional Profile is to facilitate the application of the Terms and
Conditions (Appendix I) relating to the disposition of common
administrative records created, collected, or maintained by the Government of Canada in
support of the Comptrollership Function. It consists of a template describing the three
sub-functions of the Comptrollership Function and each sub-function is further divided
into tasks, activities, and processes as appropriate. As an aid to understanding the
sub-functional divisions under the Comptrollership Function, a table of contents of the
Functional Profile is provided below.
Comptrollership Function
A. EXTERNAL AUDIT (sub-function)
B. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (sub-function)
B.1 Financial
Reporting and Planning
B.2 Classification
of Accounts
B.3 Budgetary
Control
B.4 Financial
Information Systems and Controls Development
B.5 Accounting
and Control of Expenditures
B.6 Accounting
and Control of Revenues
B.7 Accounting
for Assets and Liabilities
B.8 Accounting
for Special Funds and Accounts
B.9 Revolving
Funds
C. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT (sub-function)
C.1 Expenditure
Management System
C.2 Capital
Plans and Projects
C.3 Agreements
and Arrangements with Other Levels of Government
C.4 Risk
Management
C.5 External
User Charges
C.6 Alternative
Service Delivery
C.7 Review
A. External Audit
Description: As the first of the three sub-functions of the
Comptrollership Function, an external audit related to financial
resources is an activity whereby an independent outside party examines and assesses the
financial records and accounts of an organization. This party expresses an opinion as to
whether financial records present information fairly, accurately, and completely, in
accordance with stated accounting policies and authorities consistent with those of the
preceding year. An external financial audit may also evaluate the adequacy of internal
controls and management information systems, the overall effectiveness of the financial
performance of an organization (or program or business line), and/or the extent to which
money has been expended with due regard to economy or efficiency, the latter being known
as comprehensive or value for money audit criteria. (For
Internal Audit, see C.7.)
The central agency performing this function is the Office of the Auditor General, but
the Secretary of the Treasury Board also acts as the Comptroller General and conducts
numerous specialized compliance audits of aspects of financial management and internal
control mechanisms.
(Other central agencies perform external audits in relation to non-financial functions
and activities. Both financial and non-financial audits may sometimes be called
monitoring, or performance agreement reconciliations.)
-
Auditor-General audits and investigations, whether or not they are of a specific nature
to the institution, include any interaction between an institution and the Office of the
Auditor General.
-
Treasury Board Secretariat and the Comptroller General conduct specialized compliance
audits of financial management or program evaluation sub-functions. They require numerous
periodic reports and conduct numerous specialized compliance audits related to internal
control procedures and structures.
-
Audit and internal audit services, performed by Public Works and Government Services
(PWGSC), cover aspects of Comptrollership and are not usually related to comprehensive
program evaluation.
-
External private sector consultants contracted by an institution (aside from audit
service functions of PWGSC), perform audits or evaluations of the financial records of an
operational program or of financial systems. (Careful application of the Terms and
Conditions under section C.3 for Authority No. 99/004 is required.)
-
Non-financial audits should not be treated as relating to the Comptrollership Function. (Careful
application of the Terms and Conditions under sections C.3 and C.7 for Authority 99/004 is
required.)
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B. Financial Management
The second of three sub-functions under the Comptrollership Function, Financial
Management is divided into activities related to: reporting and planning, classification
of accounts, budgetary control, financial information systems development, accounting and
control of expenditures, accounting and control of revenues, accounting for assets and
liabilities, accounting for special purpose funds, and revolving funds.
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B.1 Financial Reporting and Planning:
Description: This includes the financial and performance reporting
activities below.
-
Planning Under Comptrollership, planning is an exercise in financial
management that incorporates performance data related to measured results against the main
programs and business lines of the institution.
-
Costing A specialized form of research-based cost accounting activity that
measures costs on the basis of predetermined standards or assumptions, costing also
incorporates comparisons of actual costs incurred as a measure of efficiency and
effectiveness. The approach may be applied in relation to cost recovery (with regard to
user charges), determination of most efficient ways of delivering a service in-house
compared to delivery alternatives (make or buy alternatives), back-up for developing
service standards, and cost/benefit analysis of alternative approaches. (See
section C.5)
-
Financial reporting activities There are two main types of reports:
-
Financial management reports, relating actual and planned costs to outputs are prepared
for responsibility centre managers and senior managers to permit them to control costs in
relation to outputs;
-
Separate financial reports on disbursements, undischarged commitments, and free
balances, that are classified by authority, are prepared for financial officers with
payment authority to enable them to control cash flow.
-
As measured by the information content or data contained in the reports, there are three
types of reporting activity: receipts and disbursements, budgetary plans, and undischarged
commitments and liabilities which may be prepared by or for responsibility centre
managers, supervisory managers (senior managers), staff advisors, financial officers, and
financial support staff.
Other reporting activity associated with budgetary control includes:
-
Responsibility Centre reports, which arise from the delegation of spending authority to
responsibility centre managers, the reporting structure generating lower level reports,
and aggregated higher level reports for senior managers;
-
Activity reports, at the level of activity elements within a given appropriation or
allotment, complement senior managements general planning activities by
incorporating input from financial officers and performance results reporting against the
main programs and business lines;
-
Appropriation and allotment reports, which represent financial data related to authority
structure, circulate to officers with payment authority to ensure that they remain within
the sub-allotments for which they are responsible, and are provided to the Receiver
General to produce the Public Accounts;
-
Economic, source, and class object reports which present financial data in relation to
the smallest government-wide categories of standard object;
- Central accounts reports, which are required to permit reconciliation of central and
institutional accounts and for government-wide reporting among other control functions. In
the future, the transmission to the Receiver General of rolled up figures already
reconciled within an institution will be the new focus of activity;
- Performance measurement, together with operational data, is an increasing component of
the financial reporting, analysis, and planning activities, most often incorporating
financial data in relation to non-financial data;
- Variance reporting, which is the specialized form of budgetary control reporting
performed on an exception basis by responsibility centre managers to identify deviations
with implications for program objectives and most often associated with procedures of
control exercised on a responsibility centre basis. (See B.3)
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B.2 Classification of Accounts
Description: The classification of accounts for expenditures, revenues, and changes
in assets and liabilities provides the framework for identifying, aggregating, and
reporting financial transactions, which provides the basis for internal institutional
planning, resource allocation, management control, accounting and evaluation purposes as
well as the statutory requirement for central agencies to maintain records and report to
Parliament. The classification of accounts for expenditures conforms to four separate
arrangements by: authority (appropriation, vote, allotment, sub-allotment), purpose
(program, activity or business line, sub-activity), responsibility (Ministry, Department,
Institution, Branch, Division), and standard object (a complex set of objective categories
that define the nature of the goods or services acquired, or source, revenue, cause of
increase or decrease in financial claims and obligations).
- The classification of accounts at the institution level is subject to the requirements
and authority of Treasury Board and Department of Finance (and indirectly Statistics
Canada) as set out by statutory provisions of the FAA. The activity involves two
dimensions that go beyond following Treasury Board directives; first, institutions
elaborate on central coding for classification purposes to facilitate their more detailed
internal control requirements, and second, institutional classification of accounts makes
provision for records of assets and liabilities of the Government of Canada in the Public
Accounts.
- Accounts coding is an activity associated with classification of accounts, integrating
the evolving central coding conventions into existing automated systems, and the
development and elaboration of supplementary institutional coding for internal purposes.
Fitting a given expenditure into the correct classification and coding is the most common
activity at the transactional level. (See B.4)
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B.3 Budgetary Control
Description: Budgetary control relates to all those internal institutional
activities designed to ensure that cash expenditures, during a given fiscal year, do not
exceed the maximum expenditure provisions established by Parliament in appropriation acts
or established by any related subordinate authorities, including Governor Generals
special Warrants when Parliament is not in session. The appropriation acts specify the
maximum permissible cash expenditure for separate expenditure categories known as votes or
appropriations which are further divided under Treasury Board authority into narrower
expenditure categories known as allotments which in turn may also be divided into
sub-allotments under the authority of the Deputy Head of an institution. In addition, when
Parliament is not in session, it is possible that appropriation limits may be extended by
special warrants. Budgetary control encompasses the procedures and activities designed to
ensure that all expenditures conform to these maximum permissible amounts and that the
current free balance available will be transparent to all responsible managers.
- (Cash) Control appropriations and allotments To control cash expenditures in
relation to allotments and sub-allotments, records must be maintained for each allotment
or component thereof. The opening balance of each allotment is recorded and before cheque
requisitions are forwarded or journal entries posted, the balances are reduced by the
amount of the requisition to ensure that the amounts of cash authority remaining can be
determined. Depending on the level of decentralization, these procedures will require
multiple levels of aggregation and then reconciliation of the different statements. A
subsidiary activity related to cash control is cash forecasting to ensure that there will
be adequate resources to meet actual requirements and to permit adjustments or, in the
case of inadequate funds, the submission of supplementary estimates to cover shortfalls
consistent with approved program activity.
- Commitment control is a formal accounting mechanism related to cash control and
forecasting that involves the segregated recording of obligations to make future payments
at the time they are foreseen in order to ensure that commitments will not be made that
cannot be discharged out of funds provided for the year.
- Control on a responsibility centre basis encompasses all those procedures designed to
ensure that those who initiate actions resulting in expenditures have adequate means of
controlling their operations in relation to the plans and to permit central financial
officers to verify that the responsibility centre managers are operating within their
budget.
- Variance reporting is the specialized form of interim budgetary control reporting of
results against approved plans to explain deviations and alternative courses of corrective
action outlined where appropriate. This allows the manager to inform higher levels of
management of changing situations which may have an impact on program objectives. (See B.1)
- Budgetary adjustments incorporate flexibility for responsibility centre managers in
reallocating resources among activities within a sub-allotment or against reporting
objects and maintaining strict accountability for total resources allocated.
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B.4 Financial Information Systems and Controls Development
Description: Under the Financial Administration Act, departments are
responsible for establishing and maintaining systems to account for, control, and report
on financial, human, and physical resources. These systems include the main departmental
accounting systems as well as all systems linked with the authorization and recording of
expenditures, the collection and recording of revenue, the accounting for custody and use
of physical assets, and the collection, recording, and reporting of financial or related
non-financial information used in evaluating the efficiency of departmental projects and
programs. Financial systems include both financial administrative (accounting) systems and
program related financial systems (any system used by a responsibility centre manager to
execute his/her delegated financial responsibilities). A financial information system may
be entirely paper based or electronic.
- Interface of institutional and Receiver-General systems This interface is
designed to create completely compatible, integrated systems based on a clear division of
function.
- Technical coding procedures imposed by automation Coding conventions are
developed to be compatible within an integrated automated systems environment to central
agency requirements. Departmental financial officers develop internal coding conventions
covering such optional accounts as cost element, cost account, operation, project,
process, element, task, item, job, committee, geographical region, consumer or product
group, individual, or any other criteria that may be useful.
- Controls in Financial Systems It is necessary to have controls to ensure that
transactions are chargeable to the appropriate responsibility centre, accounting office,
or government institution. In an automated system environment, controls are an integral
part of a system to ensure that all transactions are entered and processed accurately, and
that only properly authorized information will be accepted by the system.
- (Automated) financial systems development This activity is part of developing
automated systems which support financial administration and accounting activities closely
integrated and coordinated with central accounting systems, and with accounting principles
and control procedures set by statutory and regulatory authorities and central agencies.
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B.5 Accounting and Control of Expenditures
Description: An accounting system is a device for
classifying and storing financial data according to certain principles until required. All
accounting systems involve three activities: preparing and filing source documents to
execute, identify, and substantiate transactions; recording transactions in books or other
records of original entry to provide a longer term, semi-permanent record for future
processing purposes; posting transactions to ledgers where transactions of a similar
nature are accumulated and readily available for reporting or analysis. Most journals of
transactions and ledgers are maintained in automated format. The criteria for the ledger
structures is determined by the classification of accounts and four accounting methods
commonly known as cash, commitment, accrual and cost-based. These basic accounting
activities form the core of the transactional or financial administrative end of the
financial management sub-function. Controls are the conventions and habitual divisions
within the authority structure to ensure accuracy and probity in financial administration.
-
Delegation of financial authorities Responsibility for the control and
spending of public money is placed on ministers and deputy heads by Parliament through
appropriation acts, and the Financial Administration Act. It is necessary for
them to authorize responsible officials to exercise these responsibilities on their
behalf. Accounting conventions require a complete separation between a given transaction
of expenditure (spending) authority, assigned to responsibility centre managers, and
payment (cheque issue) authority assigned to financial officers. Spending authority is
divided into three sub-authorities: for expenditure initiation authority, commitment
authority, and authority to confirm performance and price. Additional tasks associated
with this activity include granting and communicating authorities, identifying incumbents
of positions with delegated signing authority, submitting specimen signatures and
delegation documentation to the Receiver General, and reviewing cyclically all financial
authorities.
-
Accounts verification and payment requisition process Paying accounts
following control procedures under the Financial Administration Act and the
Payments and Settlements Regulations of 1997. Probity is maintained through four basic
payment related activities including confirmation of contract performance, account
verification, cheque requisition, and cheque requisition signature.
- The set of basic activities required to complete the initial verification of accounts
includes the accumulation of all documents related to the receipt of goods or services.
This phase is followed by a series of verifications. The initial verification process is
then tested by a separate financial officer who certifies that the payment is for the
purposes of the appropriation as voted by Parliament and any other relevant authority.
After an account is verified for payment, the department may requisition the payment from
the Receiver General.
- Other activities or elements associated with accounting and control of expenditures
include the specialized financial administration of payroll; the financial aspects of
contracts and contracting; grants, contributions (transfer payments); accounting for
inventories; control of cheques; interest charges and penalties; institutional banking,
including imprest accounts (outside the Consolidated Revenue Fund); accountable cash
advances, including travel advances and petty cash (another form of imprest account);
corporate credit cards; interest charges and late penalties, ex gratia payments
and other claims, transfers of goods and services between budgetary appropriations,
assigned crown debts and payments, and accounting for payables at the end of fiscal year. (Careful
application of the Terms and Conditions under sections C.5, C.6, and C.10 of Authority No.
99/004 is required.)
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B.6 Accounting and Control of Revenues
Description: The accounting and control of revenues activity has
the same components as the accounting and control of expenditures activity. An accounting
system classifies and stores financial data, and involves three main activities: preparing
and filing source documents to execute, identify, and substantiate transactions; recording
transactions in books or other records of original entry to provide a longer term record;
and posting transactions to ledgers for reporting or analysis. Most ledgers and journals
of transactions are maintained in automated format. The criteria for the ledger structures
are determined by the classification of accounts and four accounting methods known as
cash, commitment, accrual, and cost-based. Controls ensure accuracy and probity in
financial administration. Accounting and control of revenues is the activity applying
accounting principles to revenues and accounts receivable as they relate to the various
revenue classifications, both public and non-public money, budgetary and non-budgetary
revenues, and tax and non-tax revenues.
-
Internal control over revenue and accounts receivable requires: the issuance of
accounts receivable claims whenever cash is not collected prior to the provision of goods
and services; the corroboration that the amounts claimed are correct; action to collect
all claims; mechanisms to ensure that claims are not removed from the departmental records
until paid or deleted through deletion procedures for uncollectible accounts; deposit of
all monies in the Consolidated Revenue Fund; mechanisms such as the use of subsidiary and
control accounts to prevent and/or expose instances of error, fraud and omission; and
periodic reports to summarize income and accounts receivable.
-
Settlements and transfers of costs between programs or votes may be made through
journal vouchers or the inter-departmental settlement system. This activity constitutes a
specialized form of claiming revenue and receipts.
- The claiming of revenues and receipts activity relates to: forms of settlement,
acceptance of credit cards in payment of fees, granting of credit, invoicing, regulation
of non-cash credits and adjustments, and procedures for linking financial and operational
records related to the provision of fee for service activities.
-
Segregation of duties Responsibility for the control and receipt of public
money is placed on ministers and deputy heads by Parliament through the Department of
Finance annual White Paper, and the Financial Administration Act. Deputy heads
authorize officials to exercise these control responsibilities on their behalf, requiring
a separation of duties in regards to a given transaction. In the case of revenues, the key
segregation of duties distinguishes among three activities relating to cash handling,
accounts receivable maintenance (control of serially numbered forms, entries in the
subsidiary and general ledgers, preparation of trial balances, monthly statements,
follow-up on delinquent accounts), and credit granting (order processing, preparation of
shipping or work order, credit authorization, records of shipping or work performed, and
invoicing).
-
Reconciliation At the central, divisional, and local levels, sales or fees
for services are totalled and balanced to cash sales and sales on account; accounts
receivable to sales on account and receipts; and reported sales against inventory and
level of production or activity. Current results are compared to established patterns.
-
Administration of price structuring (external charges) for service to the public
Under the Financial Administration Act, user fees are fixed by Order-in-Council on
the recommendation of Treasury Board or on a delegated basis by Ministers, where
authorized by legislation or Treasury Board. User fees involve two sets of activities:
policy setting, and the administrative accounting for such fees. (The policy review side
of user fees is treated separately as a component of program management. See
section C.5)
-
Accounts receivable Invoices for goods and services provided and all other
amounts owing are recorded in the accounts of a department. Accounts are maintained at two
levels: at the billing collection centre, as subsidiary control account, and in the
principal accounting systems, as a general ledger control account.
-
The collection of accounts receivable and overdue accounts represents the activities
designed to ensure the payment of debt, including invoicing, monthly statements, and
supplementary actions.
-
Claims arising from defalcation by public officers are a special claim on behalf of
the Crown.
- The receipt and deposit of public money are governed by the procedures below:
-
the maintenance of a register of collection and receipt of all public money;
-
the creation and maintenance of systems to ensure the physical security of public money;
and
-
the transfer of all public money to the Receiver General.
- The deletion of debts is a procedure by which bad debts or other assets are written
off or forgiven.
- Year-end procedures refer to the practices ensuring monies received are credited to
the correct fiscal year.
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B.7 Accounting for Assets and Liabilities
Description: Assets (such as loans, advances, foreign exchange,
cash or cash in transit, and virtually any account receivable) are the property and claims
against debtors that the government may apply to discharge its liabilities (financial
obligations to be paid in the future). Accounting for assets and capitalization of fixed
assets is an activity of accrual accounting.
- Accounting for assets is the financial management procedure for keeping track of the
values of these assets, and not the inventory tracking of physical assets.
- Valuation of recorded assets Senior financial officers make a year-end
preliminary assessment of the collectibility and value of the loans and advances which
they administer. After review by the office of the Comptroller General (Treasury Board
Secretariat), they arrange for the adjustment in the Accounts of Canada and hence the
Public Accounts.
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B.8 Accounting for Special Funds and Accounts
Description: Accounting for special funds and accounts is similar
to general accounting associated with expenditures and revenues. Segregated special
purpose accounts are diverse with only a few involving a deposit account separate from the
Consolidated Revenue Fund. Deposit accounts and monies are held in the Consolidated
Revenue Fund. A separate special fund that is segregated is the common petty cash account
maintained for quick settlement of certain kinds of expenses. Other related segregated
accounts may include floats granted for Institutional Bank accounts, standing travel
advances or standing advances in general.
- Loans and advances are a special category of accounts receivable, subject to
accounting, control, and records procedures similar to accounts receivable. They are
subject to supplementary requirements related to statutory authorities under which the
loans and advances are made.
- Deposit accounts include security deposits, advance payments for services, and
contributions towards the cost of joint ventures and cost-shared projects.
- Other specified accounts are gifts, bequests and donations or revenue earmarked by
statute for a particular purpose, independent of the estimates process.
- Trust accounts include another diverse set of special purpose accounts that may
arise from statute, trust treaty or contract; some involve long-term fiduciary
responsibilities arising from mandated institutional activity (which may also impact on
fundamental rights of citizens), others involve short-term or transient arrangements, but
still arise from mandated activity, and the remaining arise from short-term administrative
arrangements relating to personnel matters or contracting activities with outside parties.
(Many trust accounts amount to segregated Revenue Trust Accounts governed by the Revenue
Trust Account Regulations; they are established to deal with non-public money that
does not belong to the Crown and is deposited in a separate account arranged by the
Receiver General.) (Careful application of the Terms and Conditions under section C.4
for Authority 99/004 is required.)
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B.9 Revolving Funds
Description: Revolving funds operate on the basis of a continuing
or non-lapsing authorization by Parliament to draw on the Consolidated Revenue Fund for
working capital, capital acquisitions, and temporary financing of accumulated operating
deficits of an operation or program that is funded by users.
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C. Program Management
This is the last of the three sub-functions of the Comptrollership Function. Program
Management is the integrated approach to program planning and financial management.
Program Management is connected to budgeting and related accountability and control
standards. It operates through the Expenditure Management System (EMS). There are five
Program Management activities that complement and feed into the EMS: capital plans and
projects, agreements and arrangements with other levels of government, external user
charges, risk management, and alternative service delivery. These five activities may be
the object of Review. In addition, the Program Management sub-function is
complemented by the independent review activity, which incorporates the activities of
internal audit, program review, and performance monitoring.
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C.1 Expenditure Management System
(budgeting, program
planning, and resource allocation)
Description: The Expenditure Management System (EMS) includes
decision making, reporting, and consultation processes involving three separate levels of
the executive offices: departments, central agencies, and the Cabinet with its committees,
together with Parliament and its Standing Committees. This involves priority setting and
planning, the budget setting process (producing the estimates and Parliamentary
Appropriation Bills) and a separate reporting and accountability cycle, all part of
ongoing program review, and results-oriented performance standards.
The principal activities of the EMS are:
- the receipt and review of the Treasury Board Call Letter for Annual Reference Letter
Updates (ARLUs);
- the production of an annual reference level update (formerly MYOP) which triggers the
internal budgetary and work planning process down to the responsibility centre;
- the preparation of the original institutions estimates submission;
- the revision of the estimates proposal in response to Treasury Board input;
- the final production of the institutions Estimates Part II;
- the Production Report on Plans and Priorities (Deputy Head responsibility) which
replaces the older Estimates Part III;
- the preparation of supplementary estimates submissions;
- the preparation and revision of the Planning, Reporting, and Accountability
Structure (PRAS), replacing the Operational Planning Framework;
- the preparation of the institutions annual Business Plan for Treasury Board
review;
- the preparation of the fall Performance Report (supplementing the old Estimates
Part III); and
- responding to Parliamentary review of the Plans and Priorities and Performance
Reports.
(Careful application of the Terms and Conditions under section B. for Authority
No. 99/004 is required.)
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C.2 Capital Plans and Projects
Description: The planning and management of capital projects are
designed to meet the requirements of expenditure management for ongoing review, and
changes to programs and plans. A capital project may acquire or improve a capital asset
through construction, purchase, lease/purchase, or lease. For the purposes of Authority
No. 99/004, major capital plans and projects are defined as any capital
plan and project with a budget equal to or greater than $10 million. (Careful
application of the Terms and Conditions under section C.5 for Authority No. 99/004 is
required.)
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C.3 Agreements and Arrangements with Other Levels of Government
Description: Operational and common administrative functions may
be affected by agreements with other levels of government. Such agreements may involve
future commitments of funds and/or receipt of payments, both of which are subject to
procedures for accounting and control of expenditures and/or revenues, budgeting and
budgetary control. Institutions playing a formative role in developing, creating or
interpreting agreements are conducting operational activities as Offices of Primary
Interest. Purely financial activities of accounting and control of expenditures and/or
revenues, budgeting and budgetary control that derive from an agreement with another level
of government are common administrative in nature. (Careful application of the Terms
and Conditions under section C.9 for Authority 99/004 is required.)
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C.4 Risk Management
Description: Risk management is part of the planning process, and
analyzes potential threats (and conversely opportunities) to an organization, its staff,
and its materiel. Risk management analysis describes different scenarios to permit
comparisons and choices between options.
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C.5 External User Charges
Description: The imposition of user fees or charges is a
specialized form of alternative service delivery. User fees involve the recovery of a part
or all of the cost of providing goods and services. In assessing fees, Treasury Board
policy requires a preliminary assessment of impact, consultation with users and staff, a
detailed analysis incorporating pricing strategy, and a formal process to create
authorities through the regulatory review procedures. (Careful application of the
Terms and Conditions under sections B. and C.8 for Authority 99/004 is required.)
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C.6 Alternative Service Delivery
Description: Alternative Service Delivery is a formal
client-focussed review of the means of providing programs, activities, and services to
achieve government objectives. The concept includes a wide range of instruments and
arrangements used directly by government or in cooperation with other sectors, ranging
from re-evaluation of (or recourse to) user charges; regulatory options; tax expenditure;
special operating agency status with continued association to an institution; departmental
or agency corporations, boards, tribunals, and commissions; partnering arrangements with
other levels of government or private sector entities; (limited) contracting out;
contracting for services (for a whole activity); devolution to another level of government
or a Crown corporation; staff buy-outs; and privatization.
Alternative Service Delivery is a specialized form of program planning that
incorporates the following activities: reviewing programs as candidates for alternative
service delivery options; securing prior Treasury Board or Cabinet direction on
proceeding; carrying out an initial feasibility study in relation to a specific program or
activity; analysing options and selecting a preferred option; making a proposal to
Treasury Board to implement the preferred option; implementing the decision consistent
with Treasury Board direction; and conducting audits and reviews of the results.
(Careful application of the Terms and Conditions under sections C.8 and C.9 for Authority
99/004 is required.)
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C.7 Review
The term review refers to the activities of internal audit, program
evaluation, and performance monitoring. Review is conducted by officers independent of the
responsibility centres and operational managers. Review officers report directly to senior
management. They conduct internal audit and program evaluation on the efficiency of
operations and cost effectiveness. Internal audit expanded its scope to include
performance and program audit. Program evaluation focusses on process and efficiency
questions such as Alternative Service Delivery. Outside consultants may conduct special
purpose evaluations.
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C.7.1. Internal Audit
Description: The role of Internal Audit is to examine and appraise
the effectiveness of financial and operational controls of the organization: the
reliability, adequacy, and utilization of information available for decision-making and
accountability; the risk and adequacy of the protection; and the extent of the compliance.
Internal audit is widening to include all areas of institutional activity beyond assessing
the integrity of financial controls and reporting control deficiencies. (Careful
application of the Terms and Conditions under section C.7 for Authority 99/004 is
required.)
C.7.2 Program Evaluation
Description: Program Evaluation is the analysis of the performance
of a program from a strategic perspective to permit senior management to consider the
future direction and resourcing of the program, including its design, delivery, and
service levels. Evaluation is designed to determine the adequacy and relevance of program
objectives, design, and results. Evaluation begins with the inputs and outputs of the
organization and may examine the operational reasons for these results. Evaluation
contributes to resource allocation, program improvement, and accountability. (Careful
application of the Terms and Conditions under section C.7 for Authority 99/004 is
required.)
C.7.3 Performance Monitoring
Description: Performance monitoring by operational managers is
operational in nature, and not covered by this Authority. (Careful application of the
Terms and Conditions under section B for Authority 99/004 is required.)
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