Poor management of petty cash and unaccounted for expenses were among the issues identified by an Audit Office report into the National University of Samoa (N.U.S.) released last month.

The audit reviewed the fiscal period of 2018-2019 and included a “Comprehensive Spot Check” conducted between 1 July 2017 to 31 March 2018. A number of breaks with university policy were uncovered.

“[There was] poor management of petty cash funds as Audit found reasons such as: no petty cash vouchers used; no authorization signature; incomplete petty cash schedule; [and] $376 expenses unaccounted for,” the report found. 

“The petty cash limit is $400 and only $9.70 was tallied from the cash box.” 

In return, N.U.S.’ management noted the report’s recommendation and said they would deploy the university’s Internal Audit Unit to conduct spot checks on petty cash to improve compliance with guidelines. 

Emailed questions to the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Aiono Dr. Alec Ekeroma, were not answered as of press time.

The audit further uncovered poor oversight of staff attendance and staff leave. 

“Current practices require each faculty to prepare timesheets and forward [them] to Finance for payroll and Human Resources when leave is taken,” the report states.  

“However, this practice is not followed.”

In its response, N.U.S.’ management agreed to review the university’s policies to ensure that the prescribed practice and procedure by the university’s Council is made clearer in its policy manual. 

“Several attendance books were not properly monitored by its responsible officer,” the report said.

“There were no records of some academic and teaching staff signing in or out of office”. 

Auditors also noted missing performance appraisals for several employees for periods 2016-2017 in their personal files. 

“[The] Audit team could not verify salary increments granted and how to measure staff actual performances without performance appraisals,” the report concluded.

“Performance [reviews were incomplete] as there were no comments on the performance appraisal document to confirm the actual review took place. 

"Management noted the issue and will implement proper checks going forward.” 

A contract officer on long-term professional development leave was discovered to have been working at the university while on an expired contract without any terms allowing for their employment to be extended. 

“The Management acknowledges [the] recommendations and will make changes accordingly,” the report said. 

The auditors also uncovered there were no irregularity reports in place to record accidents or damages on N.U.S. vehicles, something the management conceded needed to be rectified. 

“[The] audit recommendation [is] noted for monitoring vehicle damages and having adequate provision for repairs and maintenance,” the university’s management noted in response to the report.

The relevant section from the Audit Report is printed verbatim below:

 3.8 National University of Samoa Comprehensive Spot Check for the period 1 July 2017 – 31 March 2018

1. Poor management of petty cash funds. Audit found reasons such as:

-no petty cash vouchers used;

-no authorization signature;

-incomplete petty cash schedule;

-$376 expenses unaccounted for; and The petty cash limit is $400 and only $9.70 was tallied from the cash box. Management noted the recommendation and will have the Internal Audit Unit to conduct spot checks on petty cash to ensure compliance.

2. No formally approved policy in the Finance Manual regarding the use of petty cash. Management's response stated that the NUS Finance Manual is currently being updated and now includes a policy to govern the use of petty cash.

3. Poor monitoring of attendance books and leaves taken by staff. The current practices require each faculty to prepare timesheets and forward to Finance for payroll and HR when leave is taken. However, this practice is not followed. Management accepts the recommendation and note that relevant policies will be reviewed to ensure that current practice/ procedure as approved by Council is made explicitly clear in Policy Manual.

4. Several attendance books were not properly monitored by its responsible officer. There were no records of some academic and teaching staff signing in or out of office. Financial Manual point 4 of the Payroll & Deductions Policy, states that a failure to sign in the attendance book may result in leave without pay (LWOP). Management noted the audit recommendation and will make necessary arrangements to ensure compliance.

5. Missing performance appraisals for several employees for periods 2016-2017 in their personal files. Audit team could not verify salary increments granted and how to measure staff actual performances without performance appraisals. Management noted recommendation and will make necessary arrangements to ensure effective record keeping.

6. Incomplete performance review. There were no comments on the performance appraisal document to confirm the actual review took place. Management noted the issue and will implement proper checks going forward.

7. One of the contract officers on Professional Development Leave Long Term (PDL) was working at NUS on an expired contract without any renewal term or variations to allow for the extension of the contract in order to serve the bond period for the PDL. Management acknowledge recommendations and will make changes accordingly.

8. Non-compliance to Cabinet Directive (FK) for submitting meeting reports or training reports to the cabinet when on duty travels. Management duly noted recommendation and will look at necessary actions going forward.

9. No Qualification records for two employees filed in their personal files as required by section 2.4.13, 2.4.11 (b) of the Academic Teaching & Comparable Staff Manual in addition to section 2.6.6 (b) of the General and Casual Staff Manual. Management noted issue and will take necessary actions accordingly.

10. No written documentation to formally declare an employee’s independence and the Human Resource Policy does not specify any processes or procedures on how to handle familiar relationships or close relationships in the workplace. Management noted recommendation and put necessary actions in place to ensure that current policies reflect best practices.

11. Fixed asset not labelled and asset location different from location recorded on the register. NUS Asset team will continue to work with faculties/sections to ensure all assets purchased are labelled and any relocation of assets is made known to Finance.

12. No Irregularity Reports in place to record accidents or damages on the National University vehicles. Audit recommendation noted for monitoring vehicle damages and having adequate provision for repairs and maintenance.

13. Unlabelled Truck. Non-compliance with government directive and the PFM Regulations 2015. It requires all government vehicles to be labelled with the name of the respective Ministry or Corporation. Management noted the issue raised and will label the vehicle accordingly.

14. Inadequate monitoring of drivers log books used by the NUS as running sheets. Log books were not well monitored by each driver, some movements were recorded but some were not properly recorded. Audit recommendation has been noted and management will re-address the issue with appropriate staff.