Auditor General rates post-secondary financial controls
Posted Mar 12, 2012 9:32 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Alberta’s Auditor General has released a report card on financial controls at post-secondary institutions in the province.
Merwan Saher says in his report released Monday that a handful of schools including Alberta College of Art and Design lack basic financial controls.
He says that often results in significant inefficiencies, impairs the quality of information used in decision making and increases the risk of fraud.
Saher tells 660News, the key to success is acknowledging the weaknesses, come up with action plans and implement a vigorous oversight group that can hold management to account.
He says SAIT is among a group of schools who have demonstrated effective financial controls.
Saher says his office’s job is to try and encourage people to improve their control systems if risks are unnecessarily high and the institutions identified as having ineffective control environments are working to improve them.
He adds, these institutions spend approximately $4.5 billion annually.
NDP critic Rachel Notley says Albertans value their post-secondary institutions and the government has a responsibility to ensure they’re well managed.
An earlier report showed the University of Calgary is making satisfactory progress in managing their finances and will be reassessed in a few months.
