The Chancellor has delegated the accountability for the financial management of
resources to the functional units on campus. This accountability is fundamental to the
internal controls that underlie the on-line financial systems, including the
Personnel/Payroll system.
The following are several general principles of accountability:
Chief Administrative/Financial Officers of each organizational unit are responsible for
the financial resources within their operations and for the use of them within the bounds
of campus policy.
Individuals who delegate accountability may only do so to the extent that this same
accountability has been delegated to them.
Individuals who delegate accountability are responsible for ensuring the qualifications
of the individuals to whom they delegate.
Accountability structure and delegations must provide appropriate internal financial
controls. This includes the maintenance of separation of duties.
The design of the Personnel/Payroll System includes features that help to insure that
appropriate internal financial controls are maintained. First, it is not possible for an
employee to update his/her own record. Second, the PAN post-audit notification review
process provides a mandatory review of transactions that have financial impact for the
department.
Additionally, separation of duties is achieved by the requirement for a unit to assign
separate individuals to the roles of primary preparer and reviewer, and to assign at least
one other person to the role of back-up preparer/reviewer.
To ensure separation of duties, the Chief Administrative/Financial Officer must
designate a:
Primary Preparer: A trained person who is responsible for entering data into the
Personnel/Payroll System in a manner consistent with campus policy.
Mandatory Reviewer: A trained person who provides a secondary check for
correctness and appropriateness and who also ensures against the possibility of entries
that could result in fraudulent payments or loss of University funds.
Back-up Preparer/Reviewer: A trained substitute preparer and a trained substitute
reviewer (or one person who can perform both functions as long as they are for different
transactions), who may fill in during the absence of the primary preparer or reviewer, or
who may serve to update the record of the primary preparer or review the update of the
primary reviewers record.
All preparers and reviewers must have the necessary knowledge and sufficient authority
to process transactions in the on-line systems. Sufficient authority means that a preparer
can disallow a transaction and a reviewer can question a transaction without being
countermanded or subject to disciplinary action.
The Business and Finance Bulletin requires additional separation of duties specifically
related to payroll:
An employee authorized to approve payroll transactions shall not be responsible for
reviewing Distribution of Payroll Expense reports (PPP5302) or for distributing payroll
checks.
As a normal administrative control procedure, departments are expected to review the
validity of payroll payments charged or credited to their accounts. Departments shall
perform a monthly reconciliation of total salaries paid, as shown on the Distribution of
Payroll Expense Report, to total salaries approved pursuant to departmental
payroll/personnel records. It is essential that this reconciliation be performed in order
to verify the appropriateness of pay transactions that have been submitted on the Online
Payroll Time Reporting roster for which PAN notices have not been generated (i.e. Roster
transactions).
To assure that the payroll charges are reviewed, departments are expected to establish
necessary internal control procedures. A responsible staff member (who does not distribute
paychecks, does not prepare or review EDB transactions, and does not authorize time
reporting documents) shall be assigned this reconciliation task and shall document that
the monthly review has been performed. It is recommended that the person responsible for
the monthly review of the PPP5302 sign and date the Distribution of Payroll Expense
Reports.
Departments that have limited staffing which will not permit the separation of payroll
duties shall be subject to periodic reviews of payroll operations by the campus internal
audit staff. Such reviews will include verification of the existence of departmental
employees.
Access to the Personnel/Payroll System is approved by the department Chief
Administrative/Financial Officer and then granted to individual employees by the
Department Security Administrator. Preparers and reviewers are equally accountable for the
correctness and appropriateness of transactions that are processed through the
Personnel/Payroll System.
A Preparer must understand UCLA systems policies and the purpose of each transaction in
order to:
Record a complete and proper explanation of the transaction.
Ensure that the proper Full Accounting Units (FAUs) are entered.
Enter appropriate and accurate data into all fields on the EDB Entry/Update or Payroll
Time Reporting Screens.
Ensure that all FAU’s used are properly linked in the Financial system.
Understand basic payroll policy and other regulatory requirements.
Resolve all questions that come to mind during the completion of a transaction or are
automatically raised via on-line edits and error messages.
A Reviewer must:
Complete their review each day of transactions they receive via Email notification.
(Transactions should be reviewed within (2) business days of receipt.) We strongly
recommend that reviewers review transactions daily, especially before a check write, in
order to ensure that employees receive accurate pay checks.
Inspect the Email notification carefully to ensure that the Preparer properly fulfilled
his/her responsibility.
Review each transaction for compliance with policy and other regulatory requirements.
Resolve all questions that come to mind by contacting the Preparer by telephone or Email
or referencing policy or regulatory information at hand.
Ensure that any questions about transactions are resolved within two business days or
that the transaction is reversed until resolved.
Notify the DSA if the Reviewer will be absent or is absent for two or more business days
so that PAN notifications can be routed to another qualified Reviewer. Upon return,
notify the DSA so the interim action can be reversed.
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