Roger Reid

Objectives

To provide consulting services for the implementation of the new accounting standard PS 3280 Asset Retirement Obligations. In addressing the application of the various financial policies and OAG management letter, the Department has commenced preparations on drafting a Financial Management Procedures and guidance document with respect to the approach to review the amortization method and assessing the remaining useful lives for TCAs. The objective of this requirement is to acquire external capacity to assist the Department in implementing and applying Treasury Board and the Department policies and accounting standards. The contractor will review these documents, financial policies, accounting standards and other relevant documents and provide assistance in the determination if the amortization method and the remaining useful lives of the TCAs are still appropriate and provide recommendation for the changes to the method or the remaining useful lives.

Scope of services

The scope of services for this task authorization will include scoping and valuation of asset retirement obligations related to asbestos and demilitarization of DND assets. Assessments of the remaining useful life of in scope assets and processing adjustments if required. Development of ARO financial model for the opening balance calculations as well as go forward accounting for FY23 and beyond. Preparation JVs to account for FY23 ARO activity. Preparation of the FY 2021/22 and FY 2022/23 public accounts plate and supporting documentation for Asset Retirement Obligations. ARO GL planning and implementation. Consulted with Defence Systems Integration and Director Defence Resource Management Information System (DRMIS) on implementation of an SAP ARO module. Senior management weekly briefing. Performed financial analysis on an ongoing basis as needed to support senior management, central agency reporting, and the OAG. The scope also includes alignment with Treasury Board policies, such as GC5000 Recording Financial Transaction in the Accounts of Canada.

Deliverables

· Scoping and Review of ARO for ADM IE and CFHA

· Review of Remaining Useful Life of assets with ARO

· Development of ARO opening balance model

· Development of ARO ongoing accounting model

· FY23 Journal Vouchers to account for ARO activity

· FY2021/22 comparative ARO public accounts plate Ta5b

· FY2021/22 Restated Tangible Capital Assets Plate I6 to include ARO activity

· FY2022/23 Ta5b Asset Retirement Obligations public accounts plate

· Provided advice related to financial statement disclosures and financial statement presentation of Asset Retirement Obligations.

· Provided advice on as-is and to-be ARO business processes

· Consulting with systems integration to implement SAP ARO module.

Roles and responsibilities in the project Senior Financial Specialist

• Provided advice, guidance and assistance on specific activities within the ARO implementation, such as definition, recognition, measurement, and presentation;
• Developed and presented a project plan for the area within scope. This includes setting of priorities to meet time deadlines identified in Section 7 below;
• Collected, reviewed, and analyzed relevant data and documentation to assist in the review of the amortization method and the remaining useful lives for all of the Department’s capital assets;
• Worked with CATT team to ensure all relevant information from various internal stakeholders have been considered;
• Reviewed any Departmentally calculated management estimate assumptions with respect to amortization and useful lives for reasonability and appropriateness;
• Provided a report which documents the Department’s methodology, assumptions, and measures for the changes required as a result of the review of the amortization method and the remaining useful lives of the Department’s TCAs;
• Prepared, developed and advised for an analysis of the Financial Statement options and their impacts on the Department; then assisted with the recognition and presentation of change in management estimates with respect to the changes to amortization method and / or changes to the remaining useful lives on the Financial Statements, including relevant note disclosures;
• Prepared presentation material for senior management, stakeholders and end-users, and participate in engaging external departments and agencies as necessary; and
• Provided support, advised to manage questions from the Office of the Comptroller General and Office of the Auditor General.

Objectives

With the release of the Treasury Board Policy on Financial Management in 2017, the Office of the Comptroller General strengthened the requirements related to internal controls. This main objective of this new policy is to ensure that financial resources of the Government of Canada are well managed in the delivery of programs to Canadians and safeguarded through balanced controls that enable flexibility and manage risk and that internal controls over financial management are effective by ensuring that a risk-based departmental system of internal control over financial management is established, monitored and maintained.

Scope of services

The scope of services for this task authorization will include planning, conducting and reporting on the design and operating effectiveness of the internal controls over financial management for Investment Planning. The objective of the assessment is to determine if key financial controls over the Investment Planning are operating effectively on a continuous basis, for the period of a one year period, to either prevent or detect a material misstatement in the financial reports and to provide management with recommendations to address noted weaknesses. This is a new process that has not been previously done.

The following tasks are expected of the Contractor in order to deliver the ICFM reports:

• Review finance specific documentation to understand each of the relevant business process controls and sub-processes;

• Conduct interviews and analysis to determine the scope and business process controls to assess.

• Prepare the assessment work plan, including scope refinement, testing approach and methodology.

• Identify and assess risks of various business process controls and sub-processes to the integrity of financial reporting for decision-making;

• Develop risks and control matrices, process flow diagrams and RACI tables to document the key financial controls in place that mitigate the identified risks, including identifying those controls considered essential (i.e. key controls) to address significant risks;

• Develop detailed plans and procedures to properly conduct testing of operating effectiveness of the control criteria for identified key controls;

· Perform testing and analyze the evidence collected to support findings and conclusions on the effectiveness of key financial controls;

• Validate findings and work with business process owners and stakeholders to determine the appropriate recommendations and assist management in developing corrective action plans.

• Provide draft and final ICFM design and operating effectiveness assessment reports, including: scope and approach of work conducted; findings and observations: recommendations for remediation and areas for improvement; process flows and RACI tables;

· Prepare and present a deck on the assessment findings and recommendations.

Deliverables

· ICFM assessment Work Plan

· Draft and Final design and operating effectiveness ICFM assessment reports

· Presentations to senior management and/or the Departmental Audit Committee,

· Working papers to support the work of the Contractor. These working paper may include but are not limited to:

o Procedures utilized to assess the Internal Controls over Financial Management of Investment Planning.

o Process or control documentation (e.g. flowcharts, narratives, walkthrough, control matrices etc.) used to gain an understanding of the internal control processes within Investment planning area;

o Interview notes supporting the testing results;

o Testing results supporting key findings and observations.

Roles and responsibilities in the project

Auditor

ICFM assessment, business process controls, design and operating effectiveness ICFM assessment reports. He also participated on all phases (planning, examinations and reporting) of the project.

Objectives

With the release of the Treasury Board Policy on Financial Management in 2017, the Office of the Comptroller General strengthened the requirements related to internal controls. This main objective of this new policy is to ensure that financial resources of the Government of Canada are well managed in the delivery of programs to Canadians and safeguarded through balanced controls that enable flexibility and manage risk and that internal controls over financial management are effective by ensuring that a risk-based departmental system of internal control over financial management is established, monitored and maintained.

Scope of services

The scope of services for this task authorization will include planning, conducting and reporting on the ongoing monitoring assessment of internal controls for Grants and Contributions. The objectives of the assessment is to determine if key financial controls over the Grants and Contributions programs are operating effectively on a continuous basis, for the period of January 2019 to December 2019, to either prevent or detect a material misstatement in the financial reports and to provide management with recommendations to address noted weaknesses. The last testing of operating effectiveness or grants and contributions dates back to 2014.

For this current assessment of Grants and Contributions, following sub-processes are in scope:

· Receiving, assessing and awarding projects;

· Establishing funding agreements;

· Establishing and updating commitments;

· Managing G&C payments;

· Monitoring compliance and recipient auditing.

The following tasks are expected of the Contractor in order to deliver the ICFM reports:

• Review finance specific documentation to understand each of the relevant business process controls and sub-processes;

• Conduct interviews and analysis to determine the scope and business process controls to assess.

• Prepare the assessment work plan, including scope refinement, testing approach and methodology.

• Identify and assess risks of various business process controls and sub-processes to the integrity of financial reporting for decision-making;

• Develop risks and control matrices, process flow diagrams and RACI tables to document the key financial controls in place that mitigate the identified risks, including identifying those controls considered essential (i.e. key controls) to address significant risks;

• Develop detailed plans and procedures to properly conduct testing of operating effectiveness of the control criteria for identified key controls;

· Perform testing and analyze the evidence collected to support findings and conclusions on the effectiveness of key financial controls;

• Validate findings and work with business process owners and stakeholders to determine the appropriate recommendations and assist management in developing corrective action plans.

• Provide draft and final ICFM design and operating effectiveness assessment reports, including: scope and approach of work conducted; findings and observations: recommendations for remediation and areas for improvement; process flows and RACI tables;

· Prepare and present a deck on the assessment findings and recommendations.

Deliverables

• ICFM assessment Work Plan
• Draft and Final ICFM assessment reports
• Presentations to senior management and/or the Departmental Audit Committee,

Working papers to support the work of the Contractor. These working paper may include but are not limited to:

• Procedures utilized to assess the Internal Controls over Financial Management of Grants and Contributions;
• Process or control documentation (e.g. flowcharts, narratives, walkthroughs, control matrices etc.) used to gain an understanding of the internal control processes within Grants and Contributions;
• Interview notes supporting the testing results;
• Testing results supporting key findings and observations.

Objectives

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) requires the services of a Firm to perform a review of the cost allocation and assessment methodologies currently used by the Agency to determine the annual assessment owed by each industry it regulates and each Federal Entity.

Scope

· Develop a workplan to complete the costing methodology review;

· Review the methodology used to allocate costs to all industry segments;

The industry segments are:

o Payment Card Network Operators (PCNO);

o External Complaint Bodies (ECB); and

o Federally Regulated Financial Institutions.

• Review the methodology used to allocate costs to institutions within each industry;

• Review historical costing data elements;

• Interview key personnel responsible for the cost allocation methodology;

• Perform a comparison of costing methods with similar organizations against FCAC’s current practices;

• Provide a summary of findings; and

• Provide a recommendation that ensures a fair and representative costing to each industry and financial entity that FCAC regulates by April 30, 2020.

Objectives

To create a financial institution risk assessment model. This model is to be used by the FCAC supervision group to perform institutional risk assessments.

Scope

Update existing excel model and add new functionality.

Outcomes

Completely standardized Excel based risk assessment model, user guides, and training materials.

Objectives

To create a grant recipient proposal assessment tool.

Scope

Gather client requirements, assess current tools, convert customer requirements into system design elements, build excel grant assessment tool including VBA for user validation and control. Develop user guides and training materials.

Outcomes

Standardized excel based grant applications scoring tool, user guides, and training materials.

Objectives

To provide reasonable assurance that the City of Ottawa financials are free from material misstatement in areas related to specific P3 partnership.

Scope

Audit the internal controls of a specific P3 partnership.

Outcomes

Report to the City of Ottawa auditor general and audit committee stating findings and recommendations.

Objectives

Veterans affairs Canada (VAC) requires the services of a firm to perform a review of third-party claims and payment processing compliance. The engagement included an assessment of internal controls related to the third-party claims and payment process.

Scope

Audit the third-party payments and internal controls for 10 of Veterans affairs facilities. These audits were done on a cyclical basis.

Outcomes

Summary report of findings and recommendations.

Objectives

To create an on-going capital asset monitoring program to ensure capital assets are accounted for appropriately, ensure amortization of assets meets departmental policy, and useful lives of assets remains valid.

Scope

Develop a monitoring program to be used on an on-going basis to evaluate asset accounting.

Outcomes

Implementation of capital asset monitoring program.

Roles & Responsibilities in the project

Senior Financial Analyst

· Develop and operate a Capital Asset Monitoring Program and Performance of Capital Asset and Audits of Capital Asset WIP Accounts.

· Created a capital asset and WIP account monitoring program that included a risk-based monitoring strategy and audit sampling program.

· Performed risk-based audits of capital asset WIP accounts to provide reasonable assurance that projects that used capital funding met the criteria for capitalization and that the accounts were not materially misstated.

· Prepared capital asset accounting position papers that provided advice on appropriate accounting, reviewed assessment of amortization methods of tangible capital assets, and in the case of betterments assessment of remaining useful life of assets and related accounting procedures.

· Evaluated evidence of the operating effectiveness of PSPC ICFR related to capital asset WIP accounts and identified control deficiencies;

· Performed assessment of internal control over financial reporting related to capital asset WIP accounts;

· Prepared and reviewed working papers as evidence for observations;

· Advised and developed financial statement presentation and also note disclosures respecting the implementation of a new accounting standards;

· Provided advice to senior management with a consolidated report detailing audit results and deficiencies in internal controls and reported on the effectiveness of internal controls related to project/WIP accounting processes; and

· Performed ongoing review of remaining useful life of existing assets to determine if adjustments were required; if adjustments were required these were reflected in the Main estimates. Performed assessment of amortization methods of assets to determine if they were in line with departmental asset accounting policy. Provided advice and guidance to management on matters pertaining to accounting, financial reporting and financial control

Objectives

Convert all real property capital assets from whole approach to component approach.

Scope

Calculate and convert real property capital assets from whole approach to component approach.

Outcomes

All PSPC real property assets were converted to components in SAP, New betterment test integrated with costing tool, and new real property costing tool that supports component approach of accounting for fixed assets and capital vote requirements.

Roles & Responsibilities in the project

Senior Financial Analyst

· Conversion of Assets from Whole Approach to Component Approach;

· Provided advise and guidance on conversion of asset from whole approach to component approach including appropriate methods to account for assets in the DFMS;

· Prepared capital asset accounting position papers that provided advice on appropriate accounting, reviewed assessment of amortization methods of tangible capital assets, and in the case of betterments assessment of remaining useful life of assets and related accounting procedures;

· Advised and developed financial statement presentation and also note disclosures respecting the implementation of a new accounting standards;

· Determined appropriate amortization method based on departmental policy;

· Calculated the values of crown owned building assets by component;

· Calculated the useful life by component for each building;

· Create new assets in SAP;

· If adjustments were made to existing useful life these were reflected in the main estimates;

· Provided advice to senior management with a consolidated report detailing results to project accounting processes.

Objectives

Convert real property capital assets from whole approach to component approach in SAP, Create a capital assets monitoring function and develop methodologies, Create project costing tools integrated with an automated betterment test, and business processes that aligned with component approach of accounting for capital assets and new capital vote requirements.

Scope

Convert all real property capital assets from whole approach to component approach and develop new project costing tools, and an automated betterment test.

Outcomes

All PSPC real property assets were converted to components in SAP, New betterment test integrated with costing tool, and new real property costing tool that supports component approach of accounting for fixed assets and capital vote requirements.

Roles & Responsibilities in the project

Senior Financial Analyst

· Re-valuation of assets from Whole Approach to Component Approach;

· Provided advise on reasonableness of re-valued assets and recommended adjustments as necessary;

· Prepared capital asset accounting position papers that provided advice on appropriate accounting, reviewed assessment of amortization methods of tangible capital assets, and in the case of betterments assessment of remaining useful life of assets and related accounting procedures;

· Advised and developed financial statement presentation and also note disclosures respecting the implementation of a new accounting standards;

· Developed the approach for calculating the valuation of assets under the component approach;

· Developed the methodology for determining the useful life of component assets;

· Provided advice to senior management with a consolidated report detailing results to project accounting processes.

Objectives

Create project costing tools integrated with an automated betterment test, and business processes that aligned with component approach of accounting for capital assets and new capital vote requirements.

Scope

Develop new project costing tools, and an automated betterment test.

Outcomes

New betterment test integrated with costing tool, and new real property costing tool that supports component approach of accounting for fixed assets and capital vote requirements.

Roles & Responsibilities in the project

Senior Financial Analyst

· Developed of Automated Betterment Test and Project Costing Model.

· Developed tool provide business users a consistent method to determine accounting required for projects that are being considered for funding.

· Developed excel based betterment test tool.

· Prepared capital asset accounting position papers that provided advice on appropriate accounting, reviewed assessment of amortization methods of tangible capital assets, and in the case of betterments assessment of remaining useful life of assets and related accounting procedures.

· Advised and developed financial statement presentation and also note disclosures respecting the implementation of a new accounting standards;

· Provided advice on methods to determine funding splits between capital and non-capital votes.

· Calculation of revised useful life of assets including betterments.

· Provided advice to senior management with a consolidated report detailing results to project accounting processes.

Objectives

To design and build an enterprise architecture model to support creation and implementation of the Government of Canada Financial Management solution in SAP. Assessed position papers created by GCFM development team to ensure they supported sound financial management practices and had adequate internal controls.

Scope

Design, Build, Test and Implement an SAP Government of Canada Financial Management System.

Outcomes

GCFM enterprise architecture model, and GCFM internal controls assessment.

Roles & Responsibilities in the project

Senior Financial Analyst and Auditor

· Reviewed the current ICFR objectives with SAP controls and updated as necessary;

· Documented SAP internal controls for the GCFM business processes;

· Follow a top-down risk-based approach that considering the whole financial reporting system with greater focus on the controls over financial reporting areas most susceptible to material misstatement, ie/WIP accounts;

· Supported the design and development of the GCFM Business Model and related business components;

· Assessed and linked business components required for the execution of financial management for the entire GC;

· Assisted in the preparation of management plans;

· Performed business analysis of functional requirements to identify information, procedures, and decision flows and update related business process documentation;

· Developed, documented and managed statements of requirements on new or redesigned business processes;

· Created and updated business process KPI models to evaluate the feasibility of key end-to-end business processes;

· Conducted business process modeling using Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN 2.0) using IBM Rational Architecture System (RAS);

· Reviewed financial accounting position papers and provided advice; this included capital assets accounting, assessment of amortization methods of tangible capital assets, and remaining useful life of existing assets;

· Advised and developed financial statement presentation and also note disclosures respecting the implementation of a new accounting standards;

· Analyzed requirements documents, attaching categories, and linking in IBM DOORS;

· Organized and managed workgroup meetings, including the development of meeting agendas, discussion documents, and records of decisions and action items;

· Facilitated working group meetings, including use of facilitation techniques to gather inputs, brainstorm, review materials, achieve consensus, and resolve issues;

· Engaged various internal and external stakeholders to the OCG and other project and initiative working group members;

· Provided recommendations for follow on activities for continuous improvement and out of scope activities;

· Created presentations and presented to various stakeholders;

· Provided knowledge transfer in all the above areas;

· Provided professional expertise, advice, recommendations, and guidance;

· Attended meetings and facilitated workshops;

· Identified project risks and recommended appropriate mitigation strategies; and

· Provided status reports on the progress of activities.

· Provided advice to senior management with a consolidated report detailing results to project accounting processes.

Objectives

Multiple services were provided for the following enterprise-wise ERP systems projects, which included ongoing analysis and services for the duration of the project:

1. GOC, RCMP, and DND Pension Modernization Projects

2. Pay Modernization;

3. MyGCHR; and

4. NOVUS (Real Property ERP)

Scope

The following reports were completed and provided to project management and owner investor groups to provide necessary information to effectively track and plan expenditures and analyze performance:

· Report of Budget, Earned Value, and Actual Costs (reconciled to the control accounts in SAP;

· Cost Variance and Schedule Variance report;

· Projected Variance at Completion report; and

· Narrative variance analysis to determine root causes, impacts on total project, and management actions.

Outcomes

Creation of an IM/IT project budgeting and forecasting process and tools. Evaluations of internal controls for fixed assets. To support the implementation of the new capital vote accounting requirements we reviewed existing business processes and provided recommendations for improvement.

Roles & Responsibilities in the project

Business Consultant

worked with IM/IT project teams to develop time phased baseline budgets at the control account level for the acquisition, development, and improvement of IMIT assets. He assisted in the assignment of budgets to WBS/WBSE structures in the PS module of SIGMA, which was done to establish the performance measurement baseline used to assess actual performance against expected and was responsible for the planning of direct expenditures of goods and services. Roger assisted in developing overhead allocations budget, provided advice and analysis with respect to the funding structures required (Capital Vote and Operating Vote, and provided advice and analysis with respect to financial accounting requirements related to all projects. Periodic re-forecasting was performed based on the results of the periodic financial reporting and other project performance measures.

Additional tasks that Roger was responsible for included:

· Prepared capital asset accounting position papers that provided advice on appropriate accounting, reviewed assessment of amortization methods of tangible capital assets, and in the case of betterments assessment of remaining useful life of assets and related accounting procedures.

· Advised and developed financial statement presentation and also note disclosures respecting the implementation of a new accounting standards;

· Reviewed new proposed projects and provided guidance on accounting (Capital or operating) and suggested an appropriate useful life for acquisitions and revised useful life for betterments;

· Reviewed existing work processes and organization structure related to capital asset accounting. This included analysis of all HQ and regional office processes;

· Analyzed existing business processes related to capital asset accounting and identified opportunities for process improvements;

· Analyzed and recommended recordkeeping and information management strategies and solutions with respect to capital asset acquisition, life cycle management, internal control, and audit trail maintenance;

· Analyzed and recommended electronic document tracking, retention, and destruction strategies with respect to acquisitions of tangible capital assets;

· Provided input and advice with respect to document retention, tracking, maintenance, and disposal within the GCDOCS environment for the financial operations sector of PWGSC;

· Prepared a management document that provided findings and recommendations for senior management approval (DG of Financial Operations Sector);

· Guidance and recommendations were aligned with all various departmental and central agency, policies, directives, and standards. Main documents were the TB information technology framework, Policy on Information Management and all related documents.

· Mapped existing SAP FI/AA/PS systems processes and developed or recommended new processes to support requirements of new government wide capital vote initiative;

· Provided In-depth knowledge and expertise with SAP FI/CO/AA/PS modules.

· Provided advice on departmental implementation of the new government wide capital vote initiative;

· Identified capital asset accounting business and systems processes that required re-design;

· Provided advice in defining new requirements and opportunities for applying efficient and effective solutions;

· Identified, recommended and planned new processes with respect to accounting, management, and control of tangible capital assets;

· Provided advice on and/or assisting in implementing new processes;

· Identified the required modifications to the automated processes;

· Documented workflow;

· Developed policies, procedures and guidelines;

· Provided advice to senior management with a consolidated report detailing results to project accounting processes.

· Conducted reviews and developed implementation strategies related to new capital vote initiative and ongoing monitoring and review of capital assets accounting;

· Developed training and information sessions and mentored on business processes; and

· Analyzed and defined business processes related to both "As Is" and "To Be" status.

Objectives

To create a Seized Property Warehouse costing model, and update related business processes, policies, procedures, and guidelines.

Scope

The scope of this project was to develop a costing model to allocate warehouse and other overhead costs to Seized Assets.

Outcomes

Seized property warehouse costing tool using excel and re-engineered processes, policies, procedures, and guidelines.

Roles & Responsibilities in the project

Finance Business Analyst

· Developed Policy, Procedure, Business Processes, Guide, and related tools for warehouse Capital Asset Accounting system. All areas of accounting for capital assets were covered including but not limited to meeting criteria to capitalize acquisitions and betterments, assessing amortization methods, and reviewing useful life of existing assets.

· Analyzed current financial management processes that were relevant to the costing project; and

· Developed and implemented policies and procedures manual in support of the Costing Methodologies developed. A key step in this process was to evaluate current financial management processes to determine areas that were deficient, areas that were operating as expected, and areas that would be affected by changes in the costing methodology. Roger also developed revised budgeting processes to include periodic re-forecasting, expenditure analysis, and warehouse resource planning, and provided advise, guidance, training and support in the above noted processes for personnel involved in the resource planning and costing processes; and developed workflow for asset destruction process.

Gathering Business Requirements

· Implemented a full absorption costing methodology;

· Gathered stakeholder business requirements including internal and external user needs, integrations required, automation requirements, audit trails, and reporting.

· For costing purposes relevant groupings were created for direct warehouse costs; warehouse overhead, corporate and administrative overhead, and other related costs.

Assessing Business Needs

· Worked with stakeholders and other Subject Matter Experts to understand the current problem or opportunity;

· Analyzed the current problem

· Developed business case to support the creation of an updated/new costing model to support ongoing costing activities.

Identifying Options

· Defined and recommended appropriate solution options

· Option 2 was chosen because it offered the best cost/benefit ratio and considered specific uncertainties surrounding other business systems and business operations.

Solution: Business Systems and Integrations

· Microsoft Excel was chosen as the base solution;

· Microsoft Access was used to support the base solution;

· Integrations were created between

s MS Excel and MS Access

s MS Excel and Seized Property Management ERP System (SPMIS)

Developing Proof of Concepts

· Developed and tested a prototype of costing model that was used in parallel with current system;

· Analyzed results of prototype versus current system; and

· Corrected deficiencies that were discovered during testing.

Developed Implementation Strategy

· Developed and implemented new warehouse costing model;

· Developed transitional strategy from current to new costing model; and

· Analyzed, recommended, and developed a costing model for all other costs.

Developed Costing Model Training:

· Developed an end user manual training material for use by Government employees

· Developed and Delivered hands on training for end users of the Costing Model/System.

Document Management Solutions

· Analyzed and recommended recordkeeping and information management strategies and solutions with respect to warehouse costing documents, life cycle management of seized assets, internal controls, and audit trail maintenance;

· Analyzed, reviewed and recommended electronic and manual document tracking, retention, maintenance, and destruction strategies with respect to acquisitions of tangible capital assets;

· Advised and developed financial statement presentation and also note disclosures respecting the implementation of a new accounting standards;

· Provided input and advice with respect to document retention, tracking, maintenance, and disposal within the Seized Property Management System utilized by the Seized Property Management Directorate of PWGSC;

· Prepared a management document that provided findings and recommendations for senior management approval (Director of Seized Property Management Directorate);

· Provided advice to senior management with a consolidated report detailing results to project accounting processes.

· Guidance and recommendations were aligned with all various departmental and central agency, policies, directives, and standards. Main documents were the TB information technology framework, Policy on Information Management, and all related documents.

Objectives

The purpose of the project was to identify DRDC’s financial and non-financial objectives so as to improve its performance, and to determining whether stated objectives were being effectively achieved, and provide recommendations for improvement.

Scope

Project was undertaken in support of strategic review and the deficit reduction action plan.

Outcomes

The following reports were completed monthly to provide necessary information to enable future project planning and forecasting:

· Report of Budget, and Actual Costs (reconciled to the control accounts in SAP)

· Report of budget pressures and availability;

· Project Cost Variance analysis report; and

· Narrative variance analysis to determine cause, impacts of variance on total project, and required management action plan.

Roles & Responsibilities in the project

Budgeting

· Worked with to develop baseline budgets at the control account level for defense research and development projects;

· Assisted in the assignment of budgets to activities within the project management system; this was done to establish the performance measurement baseline used to assess actual performance against expected;

· Planned direct expenditures of goods and services;

· Assisted in developing overhead allocations budget;

· Reviewed capital and operating budgets to determine if budgets allocated to capital were for projects that met the criteria to capitalize, review amortization methods of tangible capital assets, to ensure appropriate matching of future economic benefits with amortization expense and reviewed the reasonableness of remaining useful life of existing assets. All adjustments were reflected in the Main Estimates.

· Provided advice and analysis to senior management with respect to the funding structures required;

· Provided advice and analysis to senior management with respect to financial accounting requirements related to all projects.

Forecasting

· Periodic re-forecasting was performed based on the results of the periodic financial reporting and analysis of project performance measures.

Business Analysis

· Analyzed and recommended changes to financial management business processes such as the funding hierarchy, levels of accountability, and internal control;

· Performed an internal control assessment to assess the adequacy of the processes in place to support S.32, 33, and 34 of the FAA and provided recommendations to strengthen these processes;

· Analyzed and recommended recordkeeping and information management strategies and solutions with respect to all documents within the expenditure management cycle to ensure appropriate levels of supporting documentation for transactions was maintained in retrievable and auditable fashion in order to address deficiencies found during internal control assessment of S.32, S.33, and S.34 processes;

· Analyzed and recommended electronic and manual document tracking, retention, maintenance, and destruction strategies with respect to all documents related to transactions within the government of Canada expenditure management cycle;

· Prepared a management document that provided findings and recommendations for senior management approval (DG of Resource Management);

· Guidance and recommendations were aligned with all various departmental and central agency, policies, directives, and standards. Main documents were the TB information technology framework, Policy on Information Management and all related documents.

· Performed operating budget review in support of government wide initiatives such as strategic review and the deficit reduction action plan;

· Development of Performance Management Policy, Procedures and processes for Corporate Services – Value for Money and Treasury Board Outcome Management Processes;

· Developed and implemented policies and processes for ongoing performance measurement in all areas of corporate services;

· Developed and implemented updated financial management policies, procedures, and Processes for DRDC. As part of this project the following steps were taken, reviewed and documented internal controls, conducted analysis of current business processes in the areas of finance and procurement, investigated best practices, and recommended changes.

Costing and Funding

· A key outcome of the Operating Budget Review was an understanding of the costs to fund specific regional offices along with the projects they managed this knowledge was integrated into financial management activities such as the estimates process and other business requirements;

· Developed cost models to provide in-depth analysis of the resources required to operate regional offices and the projects that were being managed at each office;

· Cost model provided management the ability to do better allocation of resources required for project implementation;

· Resource cost categories included acquisition costs, operation and maintenance costs and both recurring and non-recurring costs;

· Reviewed, recommended, and implemented improved funding processes to provide greater accountability, and efficiency gains;

· Costing: Development of costing methodologies along with processes, designed to provide costing information for all DRDC research projects; and

· Costs were developed for activities specific to DND. The relevant groupings were direct project costs, project support overhead, corporate and administrative overhead, and other related costs.

· Planning, acquiring, and controlling the use of funds to ensure organizational goals were met and to maximize value for money.

Performance Measurement

· Developed and Implemented, Financial Planning, Budgeting, and Monitoring processes; and

· Performed risk analysis using the TB risk management capability model. The risk analysis focused on Governance, Leadership & Accountability, and Monitoring, Performance and Outcomes.

Business Systems Analysis (SAP)

· Extracted financial and non-financial data from SAP and used to develop further reporting via Excel and Access databases; and

· Validated and interpreted results to be able to make and/or recommend financial and non-financial decisions.

Objectives

Conduct audits on complex case files, and to create a vendor management system and business process, and train users on new system.

Scope

Conduct audits on complex case files on a sample basis to provide reasonable assurance that the seized property financial statements are free from material misstatement. The secondary objective of this project was to create a new vendor creation process withing the Seized Property Management Information System (SPMIS), update business processes, develop training material and train users on new system process.

Outcomes

New vendor management system in the Seized property management system, and new business processes.

Roles & Responsibilities in the project

Business Analyst

· Conducted a financial audit of complex case files to ensure the requirements of the SPMA, Disposition Regulations and Forfeiture Regulations were adhered to;

· Reviewed capital and operating budgets to determine if budgets allocated to capital were for projects that met the criteria to capitalize, review amortization methods to ensure appropriate matching of future economic benefits with amortization expense of tangible capital assets and reviewed the reasonableness of remaining useful life of existing assets. All adjustments were reflected in the Main Estimates.

· Reviewed the current SAP (Sigma) and SPMIS vendor creation processes;

· Created a revised SAP/SPMIS vendor creation process;

· Provided advice to senior management with a consolidated report detailing results to project accounting processes.

· Developed end user training on revised vendor processes; and

· Delivered training to finance staff.

• As Manager of Financial Planning and Systems, Roger managed a team of five and coordinated the budget process and performed reconciliations between IFMS (SAP) and Budget Information Management System (BIMS). He was responsible for extracting financial and non-financial data from SAP and using that data to develop further reporting via Excel and Access databases. He validated and interpreted results to be able to make and/or recommend financial and non-financial decisions.

• As Senior Financial Analyst, Roger’s responsibilities included managing the year end processes with respect to PAYE and RAYE, for consulting on and preparing Public Accounts plates, and for consulting on and providing input into the preparation of the DPR Financial Statements. He was responsible for the entry of Public Accounts Plates using PAPS online system and for performing reconciliations between IFMS (SAP) and Public Accounts PAPS Online system. He extracted financial and non-financial data from SAP and used that data to develop further reporting via Excel and Access databases. He validated and interpreted results to be able to make and/or recommend financial and non-financial decisions.

• Roger was a Senior Policy Analyst throughout this engagement. He consulted, reviewed coordinated, recommended and updated DFAIT Financial Policies, and conducted consultative process with various stakeholders in developing and revising financial policies. He interpreted TB financial policies, legislation and related regulations and ensured internal policies and business processes met these as a minimum requirement. He developed timelines and deliverables as part of the time and project management process, developed Capital Asset tracking tools and accounting guide, and conducted relevant research in support of the proposed changes to all financial policies including research on best practices. Other policies, processes and guidelines worked on included Guide on Budget management, Journal Vouchers, and Commitment Control, which were all cross referenced to the appropriate Treasury Board Policy and where possible additional cross referencing was done to reflect the Treasury Board Policy Suite Renewal project.

• As Senior Financial Analyst, Roger had the following responsibilities: prepared DPR Financial Statements and the entry of Public Accounts Plates using PAPS online system; prepared Public Accounts Plates for PCO, Security Intelligence Review Committee, and Public Appointments Commission Secretariat; and performed reconciliation between SAP Financial System and CFMRS Public Accounts online system. He extracted financial and non-financial data from SAP and used that data to develop further reporting via Excel and Access databases. He validated and interpreted results to be able to make and/or recommend financial and non-financial decisions.

As a Business Analyst, Roger consulted, coordinated, advised and updated all NRC financial policies to ensure alignment with Treasury Board policies. He interpreted Treasury Board financial policies, legislation and related regulations and ensured internal policies met them as a requirement. Roger conducted consultative process with various stakeholders in developing and revising financial policies and was responsible for developing timelines and deliverables as part of the time and project management process. Roger conducted relevant research in support of the proposed changes to all financial policies including research on best practices; some of the policies worked on included policies on budget management and journal vouchers. He also developed capital assets policy and guidelines cross referenced to the appropriate Treasury Board policy. He extracted financial and non-financial data from SAP and used that data to develop further reporting via Excel and Access databases. He validated and interpreted results to be able to make and/or recommend financial and non-financial decisions.

Additional financial management activities included the following:

· Section 33 Certification on all NRC Accounts Payable;

· Business Process Services - Internal Control and Accounting: Analysis, review, documenting, updating/re-engineering of accounts payable business processes and policies;

· Management of all activities associated with cheque requisition;

· Business Process Services - Interacting with financial community to maintain a current knowledge of business accounting processes;

· Review commitment and de-commitment of transactions and resolution of discrepancies;

· Managing the work of 11 employees by developing work plans, coaching as necessary, and reviewing performance against established objectives;

· Validation of SAP data versus supporting documentation: Overall review of information supporting financial transactions, including S.33 exception reports, to ensure adherence to all relevant government policies and procedures, and standards. Recommendations for corrective action were given and followed up upon when required; and

Validation of SAP input data versus output: Daily reconciliation of items certified Sec. 33 and sent for payment versus confirmation file returned from IFMS (SAP).

As Business Analyst, Roger was responsible for the following tasks:

· Developed an Automated Financial Reporting Tool to provide:

· P9 and P12 Certification;

· Working Papers for Annual DPR Financial Statements; and

· Developed Policy and Procedure documenting the P9, P12, and working paper process.

· Automated Financial Reporting Tool developed using SAP, MS Access, Excel including macros and pivot tables;

· Reviewed and recommended changes to Capital Asset Accounting Policy;

· Develop Guide on Accounting for Capital Assets;

· Developed Tools for tracking Capital assets;

· Provided training to operational groups on Accounting for Capital Assets;

· Conducted relevant research in support of the proposed changes to the Capital Asset Policy including research on Best Practices;

· Prepared the Year End/DPR Financial Statements using Automated Financial Reporting Tool;

· Prepared P9 Certification and backup for sign-off by SFFO;

· Monthly Verification of Trial Balance for submission to the RG;

· Accounted for Capital Asset Transactions using both the whole asset and component approaches;

· Monitored and ensured that suspense accounts were being cleared on a timely basis and for year end;

· Responded to any queries from the RG with respect to Trial Balance and other transactions;

· Audited and submitted T4A and T1204 Tax slips;

· Extracted financial and non-financial data from SAP and used to develop further reporting via Excel and Access databases; and

Validated and interpreted results to be able to make and/or recommend financial and non-financial decisions.

As Business Analyst, Roger had a multitude of responsibilities, listed as follows:

Business Analysis

· Interpret TB financial policies, Legislation and related regulations and ensure internal policies met these as a minimum requirement;

· Developed timelines and deliverables as part of the time and project management process;

· Team Leader SPMD for New PWGSC chart of accounts project;

· Acted as Finance SME on Acquisition Card Processing Module;

· Ensured compliance with departmental and Treasury Board policy requirements;

· Participated in Business Case Development and Scenario Development;

· Participated in user acceptance testing (UAT);

· After UAT signed off on final product;

· Acted as Liaison between Finance and Operations SME’s and SPMIS development team on all projects;

· Signed off on final functional specification documents;

· Developed user reference and training documentation; and

· Developed and provided end user training sessions.

Business Process Activities

· Conducted relevant research in support of the proposed changes to all financial policies including research on Best Practices;

· Developed and implemented revised financial policy, procedures, and processes;

· Conducted consultative process with various stakeholder’s in developing and revising financial policies;

· Developed and implemented the policy on Acquisition cards and developed the internal business process regarding the use and management of acquisition cards;

· Ensured control framework was in place that supported effective S.34 process; and

· Developed Business Process for acquisition card transactions.

Financial Management Activities

Supervised Financial Controls Team (10 FTE’s)

· Accounts Receivable

· Accounts Payable

· Financial Review Team

· Oversaw all Internal control functions;

· Performed monthly reconciliations between SPMIS and Departmental Financial Systems;

· Performed overall review of financial information and exception reports in the areas of Accounts Receivable, and Accounts Payable to ensure adherence to relevant policies and procedures such as the SPMA, Disposition Regulations and Forfeiture Regulations, the FAA, PWGSC Policies and Procedures, and relevant Treasury Board Policies. Corrective Feedback and recommendations were given when required;

· Conducted financial analysis for partial closeout of files;

· Verify sharing reports and coordinate with DOJ and Police Forces;

· Prepare annual Unaudited Statement of Proceeds and Disbursements; and

· Coordinated Year-end duties.

Audit

§ Audited complex case files to ensure the requirements of the SPMA, Disposition Regulations and Forfeiture Regulations are adhered to;

§ Coordinated audit of files that can be considered for closeout;

§ Coordinated External and Internal audits; and

Active Case post review analysis.

• As Business Analyst, Roger was responsible for the analysis of Restricted Trust Funds, and for producing the business plan for the implementation of a new Trust Fund Accounting system and development of a new Trust Fund Accounting Business Unit. He developed a system to track, classify, reconcile and report on restricted trust fund activity, and was responsible for the design and implementation of project accounting systems including integrated costing methodology designed to fully cost all CRC missions and projects.