Our business partners , stakeholders and customers
Community Ratepayers External auditors Queensland Audit Office Queensland Treasury Corporation Queensland Government Australian Accounting Standards Board Internal Audit Audit Committee Australian Taxation Office Queensland Local Government Grants Commission Local Government Mutual Liability ( LGM Queensland ) Local Government Workcare
Local Government Association of Queensland LGIA Super External valuers Suppliers to Council Local Government Financial Professionals Australian Bureau of Statistics Banking institutions Civica Pty Ltd – Authority - Council ’ s Business System Remserv – Remuneration Services ( QLD ) Pty Ltd Rural Fire Brigades ( Amby , Mungallala , Yuleba and Orange Hill ) Department of Resources Office of State Revenue
Our plans for 2021 / 22
How we are managing the key operational risks
Risk
• Non-compliance with Accounting Standards and legislative changes
There is continual improvement across the local government finance sector having regard to :
• Recommendations from the Auditor-General in his report to parliament following each year ’ s audits of local governments ;
• Recommendations from Council ’ s auditors ;
• Changes in accounting standards ;
• Industry learnings ;
• Changes in legislation and areas of focus for the State Government .
Actions underway / planned
• Inclusion of accounting resources in the adopted Organisational Structure ;
• Employment of qualified key personnel and engagement of accountants through Council ’ s Accounting and Audit Services panel ;
• Attendance of accountant at industry specific information sessions to ensure knowledge remains current , and experience is shared ;
• Engagement of specialist valuers to undertake comprehensive valuations of Council ' s infrastructure assets ;
• Expansion of the Internal Audit function which will provide additional oversight to ensure Council ’ s systems are compliant with accounting standards and relevant legislation .
All of these affect Council ’ s accounting services , and what is currently considered industry best practice . Non-compliance also has the potential to materially mistate figures within Council ' s accounts and therefore impact indicators of financial sustainability .
• Issues with the performance of the financial software ( failure , bug at this site or in the system )
Local governments rely on software providers to ensure licensed software is able to achieve compliance with legislative requirements , and also able to process transactions in an efficient and accurate way . Council uses Civica ’ s Authority software which incorporates ( but is not limited to ) key financial modules for :
• Accounts receivable
• Accounts payable
• Asset register
• Bank reconciliation
• Business information system ( BIS )
• Capital value register
• Debt recovery
• General ledger
• Gas billing
• Inventory control
• Loans
• Payoll
• Purchasing
• Rates
• Trust register
• Water billing
• Work orders and project costing
Controls are implemented on a regular basis , including :
• Daily data integrity checks to ensure that the Trial Balance remains in balance , and postings of sub-systems / modules are working correctly ;
• Monthly reconciliations of sub-systems to the general ledger on the first day following the end of month ;
• Payroll reconciliations after the pay run and before the bank upload occurs .
As the software is integral to many parts of Council ’ s operations , one officer within the Information and Communications Technology ( ICT ) Solutions team focusses on Level 1 and Level 2 support for the software and manages the close out of escalated issues with the software provider .
• Third party review of the payroll system has been undertaken .
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