Volume 1, Issue 4
There’s a Policy for That! The Holiday season is upon us again and there is so much to be jolly for. Families and friends come together to celebrate this beautiful time together! In the face of jingle bells and peppermint mochas, have you ever had a few generous citizens showing up at your office presenting this familiar, yet awkward scene? “Oh, I really need to decline this expensive gift”. “Oh, gee, I don’t know. Are there any rules”? Yes. And yes! There’s a policy for that! OCPS, has got you covered! Click here to learn more. Act fast – the generous givers are coming before you can finish hanging up the last strings of lights!!
School Internal Accounts Audits Completed: Here are the Results The School Internal Accounts audits for the year that ended June 30 this year are complete. The charts below show: • how many findings in this year’s audits are repeated from last year • how many schools had 1 to 5 findings, more than 5 findings, or no findings • the most common types of findings Repeat vs. New Findings
New findings 338 81%
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Authorizers and approvers, remember:
You are expected to have actual knowledge of the item being approved and should question anything unusual before signing
Findings Per School More than 5 findings 14 schools
Repeat findings 79 19%
Internal Control ip
1 to 5 findings 137 schools
Did you Know...
No findings 66 schools
The presence of anti-fraud controls is associated with lower fraud losses and quicker fraud detection.
Cont. on page 2
Internal Audit Mission Internal.Audit@ocps.net
We provide independent, objective assurance that adds value and enhances the district’s performance,accountability, and transparency.
Cont. from page 1
Common Findings by Category
Congratulations Chris!
140 120
34% 118 findings
100 80 60
25% 88 findings
20% 70 findings
40
11% 37 findings
20 0
Disbursement issues
Receipting issues
Fundraisers
5% 19 findings
4% 15 findings
Principal's Ticket inventories & discretionary funds sales reports
Excess Funds
We thank the school bookkeepers and principals for their support of the annual audit process. Schools with less than five findings and no repeat findings are to be congratulated! We encourage schools with increased or repeat findings to contact the Internal Accounts group, headed by Rose Denard for assistance.
Chris Cause of the K-12 Visual & Performing Arts Department was the lucky winner of a Dunkin gift card. He was chosen from among those who completed a survey about the attributes of a great audit client.
Client of the Quarter Internal Audit would like to recognize Theresa Harter-Miles, Director of Compensation Services recipient of the Client of the Quarter Award. During the Compensation Services audit, Theresa and her team were accessible, responsive and consistently demonstrated a spirit of collaboration. Despite their many job responsibilities and being understaffed, Theresa and her team assisted our understanding of the department’s processes and provided requested documentation in a timely manner.
Reports issued since our last newsletter • Preventative Maintenance • Wire Transfers • Debt Management All our reports are available for your reading enjoyment on our website at https://www.ocps.net/departments/internal_audit/reports
Phishing and Spoofing: Don’t Fall for It! Phishing. Spoofing. It’s enough to give one a headache! How can we escape and protect our digital assets? Both schemes are designed to steal personal information using fake email addresses, fake websites or fake phone numbers, and the perpetrators are very good at what they do. If successful, they can steal one’s identity or sensitive information from your personal or district devices. Here are some examples: • • •
Personalized emails, seemingly from trusted persons (like your boss or a government agency or your bank) Phone calls (on your office or cell phone) that appear to be from a trusted number (see above) Text messages (these are tricky!) that appear to be from a trusted source
Most of us know not to open emails, click on links in emails, or open attachments to emails from unknown senders. But phone calls and texts? Because they are more immediate, we often don’t pause before we open or click. But we must be always on guard. At OCPS, when you receive anything suspicious, forward it to phishing@ocps.net for review by our IT Security Group. If the email is safe, they will inform you and you may proceed. If it is fake, they can take steps to remove it from our system if others received it and block further attempts. To quote a good friend, “when in doubt, just reach out!”
Meet the Auditor - Vince F. Roberts
Vince was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, the youngest of eight. Vince served in the United States Marine Corps from 1979-1985 and is a member of the VFW in Winter Springs. After being honorably discharged, he graduated from the University of Central Florida and has been employed with OCPS since 1990. Vince is a Certified Internal Auditor and a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors and Association of Local Government Auditors. Vince enjoys spending time with family, serving at church on the welcome team, attending Bible study fellowship, exercising (walking, jogging, pickleball) and keeping up with college and professional sports. You may not see Vince around or on the elevators since he typically takes the stairs. His motto in the morning is: “Walk up to Wake Up.”
Next Issue Have you heard of ERM or Enterprise Risk Management? Do you wonder what is ERM and why has OCPS established an ERM program? What are its benefits? How does it support achievement of your department’s or the district’s goals? If so, we have news for you!
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)? “ERM is a strategic process sponsored at the highest level of an organization to protect it against being blindsided by unforeseen risks and to ensure that all risks are managed within a specific risk tolerance”. ERM is a low-cost, high-yield strategy that increases the likelihood the district will be able to achieve its goals. Learn more in our next issue…
This issue of Audit Insights is the first in a series covering ERM in general and at OCPS. We began with a definition of ERM in this issue. Future issues will present interesting facts about ERM such as types of risk, risk tolerance, risk mitigation, and more.
INSIGHTS
Internal.Audit@ocps.net
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