Scribe:Mike Thone, MMB Internal Control & Accountability (IC&A)
Host/Location of meeting: IC&A / Centennial Bldg. – Lady Slipper Conf. Room.
Present at the meeting: Jeanine Kuwik, Mike Thone, John Nyanjom, Catherine Wagner, and Heidi Henry (MMB IC&A). Keith Deckert and Connie Giles (DEED), Eric Wion (MnSCU), Amy Jorgenson (MDH), Lenora Madigan (Admin), Sheldon Klugman (Commerce), Mike Turner, Fekade Cherinet, and Sarah Lundell (Revenue), Ken Vandermeer and Mark Allan (DNR), Robert Helgeson (OHE), Leslie Nagel (TRA), Jamie Majerus (Judicial), Anita Tayson (MDE), Will Thompson (MHFA), Nick Mokaya (MPCA), Lynn Poirier and Lisa Stroschiem (MDOT), David Salchow (MDVA), Stacey D’Andrea (DHS), Nancy Glasenapp and Jodi Hebert (MMB).
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Announcements: (Mike Thone)
Visitors and new member attendees introduced themselves.
DECISION MADE by the membership – to expand the length of future roundtable meetings from 90 to 120 minutes. The decision was made to ensure that ample time is available for the “open forum” part of the meetings which we have repeatedly been unable to hold or have had to curtail due to lack of time. We will schedule the open forum for the last ½ hour of each meeting which will allow members and guests who are uninterested or short of time to leave without participating.
Training related: 1) Feedback solicited re January 11 AGA audio conference titled, “Getting a handle on Internal Controls.” 2) January 10 SWIFT reporting seminar. Was helpful per the few who attended. IC&A agreed to send out info about future meetings. 3) Reminder: three-part joint training on grants management and internal controls to be presented by Alyssa Haugen and IC&A. Registration for session #1 scheduled for 2/2 is full. Registration information re sessions 2 and 3, scheduled for 4/2 and 5/21, respectively will be forthcoming.
IC&A Catherine Wagner and Heidi Henry will be managing the OLA audit CAPSU process in the absence of Brennan Coatney who will be on military leave for the better part of the next 18 months.
The IC&A January Internal Controls Bulletin is about the internal audit role as the agency internal control “champion.”
Thone provided an update to the group re agendas for the next three meetings (3/8 Mining the SWIFT database, 4/19 fraud, and 5/31 SWIFT security roles). Thone will also be scheduling meetings for the remainder of 2012 calendar year. If you are willing to present at and/or host a future meeting please contact Mike or Jeanine to discuss your thoughts and ideas.
Thone informed group that IC&A will be requesting meeting with senior leaders at cabinet agencies to discuss certification of agency control environments, risk assessment plans/activities, and internal audit considerations.
Reminder: MMB security role certifications are due back to MMB by 1/31/12.
SMaRT Update: Mark Allan provided a brief update about what’s been going on with the “SMaRT” (SWIFT Multi-Agency Reporting Team) group. In short, the group is on hiatus as their original objectives have been achieved. A “PowerUser” group has been established at DNR to modify and develop relevant financial reports for management. Mark suspected similar groups have been or are being established at other agencies.
Open Forum: A very short open forum was held (see bullet #2 under announcements). The following topics were discussed:
Where is MMB at with regards to the issuance of Legacy Fund accounting guidance for agencies to follow regarding allowable costs, payroll considerations, etc. (OLA audit finding/recommendation during the Legacy Fund audit).
Some agency heads are questioning the role that MMB IC&A plays regarding internal audit. Does MMB serve as an “oversight” function or does it function as more of a “consultant?” This is a topic that IC&A should be addressing when meeting with cabinet agency senior management teams (see bullet point #7 under announcements).
Internal audit workpapers and additional audit documentation and/or agency risk assessment materials/documentation – there are risks with this being public information. Should this information be classified as “not public?”
Main Agenda: Stacey D’Andrea (DHS), Jodi Hebert (MMB), and Lynn Poirier (DOT) each discussed their risk assessment project experiences - providing insight and information about what worked, what didn’t, best practices and other considerations.
Next Roundtable Meeting:
Date: Thursday, March 8, 9-11AM
Location: Centennial Bldg. (4th floor) located at 658 Cedar Street, St. Paul, MN 55155. MMB Ed Ziegler conf. room
Agenda: 1) Announcements; 2) Mark Allan, DNR Internal Auditor will do a presentation re SWIFT data mining and reporting; 3) Open forum
NOTE: There will be a separate, follow-up meeting on another day to be held at a DNR computer lab where Mark Allan provides additional hands-on training re how to mine data from SWIFT and do ad hoc reporting. More information to follow shortly.
