The purpose of this guide is to support departments in managing their delegation of spending and financial authorities. In addition to regulating financial and ancillary services, the DFSA is responsible for supervising and enforcing anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) requirements applicable in the DIFC. Ontario’s title protection regime, which has been criticized for its multiple approved credentials and, when it comes to the financial advisor title, its product-based approach, raised controversy earlier this year related to the financial planner title. In March, FSRA approved the chartered financial planner designation, overseen by the Canadian Institute of Financial Planning (CIFP), for the financial planner title. The designated financial services advisor (DFSA) credential, overseen by the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI), is no longer an approved credential for the “financial advisor” title in Ontario. An alternative to basing the sample size on the level of required accuracy and the expected error rate is to base the sample size on the frequency of transactions.
However, the delegation chart will require the signature of the department’s minister or deputy head, as appropriate, when the change impacts what delegations can be exercised, their limits and by whom. The delegated position should align with managerial, budgetary and operational responsibilities, for example, a budget centre manager. However, such delegations may not always be pragmatic or feasible and may need to be to a position that does not have these responsibilities, for example, an administrative position.
The person auditing the transaction should be able to reach the same conclusion as the person providing the certification authority. When a spending or financial authority is delegated to a position, it must be communicated in writing to the person holding the position. Managing expenditures is central to achieving the objectives of departments and of the government as a whole. The process of managing expenditures (see Figure 2) is controlled through a set of spending and financial authorities. These authorities are governed by the legislative requirements set out in the Financial Administration Act (FAA) and, in the case of transaction authority, by Public Services and Procurement Canada.
PFP® Approved Under FSRA Title Regulation
Such changes are pursuant to the Public Service Rearrangement and Transfer of Duties Act. When a transfer of functions or amalgamation of departments occurs, legal consultation is required to determine the impact on delegated authorities and of subsection 31.1 of the FAA. The remainder of section 3 of this guide focuses on managing delegation of spending and financial authorities by addressing the questions shown in Figure 3. See section 3.4 of this document to determine when a Deputy head has the status as a Deputy of the Minister.
8 Delegation charts
It is the prerogative of the minister, deputy head and the deputy of the minister to determine the appropriate delegation of spending and financial authorities. A benefit of having a provision for low-value amounts in a department’s delegation chart is that the supporting notes can describe the rules that apply to the department, as set out in the Guide to Administering Low-Value Amounts. The rationale for the blanket authority should be documented according to the above criteria.
Departmental legal counsel will determine whether the deputy head has the status of a deputy of a minister and is therefore empowered to sign the chart. Before implementing any axitrader review sampling operation, sampling plans should be reviewed by a sampling expert to ensure their validity and robustness and to avoid wasting resources. Figure 5.5 is a repetition of Figure 2 but will focus on payment authority (section 33 of the FAA). The box titled payment authority is circled in red to highlight it as it will be discussed in section 4.5.
The DFSA, which launched and was approved by FSRA in September 2022, was described by investor advocates as a rubber stamp for the industry to use the financial advisor title, given that the credential’s requirements were similar to securities and fund registration requirements. The department needs to be able to authenticate the transactions after payment as part of the payment’s audit trail. The commitment limit established in the Interim Estimates will allow departments to enter into commitments, for items (as per item b above), where they do not have sufficient available funds until the Supply of Main Estimates. The commitment limit, referred to in item c above, will appear in each departmental vote wording listed in the supply bill for the Interim Estimates which will be voted on or before April 1st. The Interim Estimates are meant to provide funding for the first three months of the fiscal year until the complete Main Estimates, which may now be tabled after April 1st, is approved by Parliament.
Delegating spending and financial authorities
The size of the population (the number of transactions occurring during the assessment period) is also a factor, although its importance is usually negligible unless the sampling fraction (sample size divided by population size) exceeds 10%. In circumstances where the adjusting journal vouchers impact different appropriations, certification would be required by the person with delegated authority as stipulated in the delegation chart for the organization. If the account certification is provided manually, the position that has payment authority would review the specimen signature card to confirm that the signature on the card matches the signature provided. Each department is responsible for deciding what is considered a minor adjustment to a delegation chart and for identifying who is authorized to make such changes.
It is good practice for departments to document their post-payment account verification procedures. Documentation should include a description of the approach and methodology used and the reasoning behind the treatment of specific payments and interdepartmental settlements that are being reviewed post‑payment. Departments are to conduct either prepayment account verification or post-payment account verification. It is important to use a checklist if the account verification process has recently changed or if there have been previous multiple and ongoing errors related to the performance of account verification. The checklist standardizes the expectations and performance of account verification across a department.
E.4 Level of accuracy
- This delegation ensures that departmental officials from the organization that is providing services can exercise the necessary spending and financial authorities.
- A revolving fund is a continuing authority to make payments out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for working capital, capital acquisitions, etc.
- However, such delegations may not always be pragmatic or feasible and may need to be to a position that does not have these responsibilities, for example, an administrative position.
- It is also good practice to delegate authority to one person for one cost centre to avoid having multiple budget centre managers who share responsibility for the same budget, thereby providing a level of control over the use of the cost centre.
- The Interim Estimates are meant to provide funding for the first three months of the fiscal year until the complete Main Estimates, which may now be tabled after April 1st, is approved by Parliament.
- The control of financial commitments is essential for departments as it ensures that departments do not exceed their voted appropriations.
The chief financial officer (CFO) and the deputy CFO can also be provided with delegated spending and financial coinjar reviews authorities in their functional roles in the area of finance. These positions have both functional and managerial responsibilities, and they will have different types and levels of authority as defined in the delegation chart and in the chart’s supporting notes. A chart is often accompanied by supporting notes, specimen signature documents, electronic authorization rules and other instruments.
Segregation of duties enhances oversight by allowing an additional review of the transaction in order to identify potential errors and correct them before a payment is made. Sample sizes at the low end of the range may provide sufficient evidence to conclude that section 34 account verification is being performed effectively, assuming that there are no changes to the account verification and certification approach, and assuming that no errors are found. If there have been changes in who performs section 34 verification or in the nature of the transactions, the number of items at the higher end of the range should be tested. The scope of the monitoring and sampling should be based on the risk level of transactions and the cost-effectiveness of implementing the respective approaches.
In general, the more frequently a transaction occurs, the more items are sampled, but at a lower rate. Table 2 illustrates how to determine the number of transactions to test based on frequency. The appropriate minister, or any person authorized in writing by that minister, determines whether the amount does not exceed the threshold in the Low-value Amounts Regulations. This requires a ministerial decision or a decision by someone authorized by the minister. As a result, a department may choose to have a specific delegation in its delegation chart for such decisions. A person who has been authorized to sign off on section 33 or 34 of the FAA may be an appropriate person, but it is up to the department to decide whether to have a delegation chart for low-value amounts and to decide what it appropriate in the circumstances.
Used by Canada’s largest financial institutions, it ensures that financial advisors have the knowledge and skills to provide appropriate advice to address a client’s financial situation. The methodology chosen should also consider the department’s circumstances, such as the format in which records are processed and stored (paper or electronic) and the department’s capacity to implement sampling. For all authorities within the expenditure management process, retaining auditable evidence is key. A blanket authority is usually given at the start of the year for repetitive transactions that occur during the year (for example, a television cable service for $100 per month, resulting in a total commitment of $1,200). It is also good practice to delegate authority to one person for one cost centre to avoid having multiple budget centre managers who share responsibility for the same budget, thereby providing a level of control over the use of the cost centre. Departments are encouraged to delegate down as low as possible in the hierarchy, keeping in mind the organization’s risk environment, to the level supported by their controls.
When financial authorities are to be delegated under a Memorandum of Understanding or any other arrangement such as a letter of agreement between departments, the signature of either the minister or the deputy of a minister is required. It is good practice to discuss such a delegation with the minister or the deputy of the minister before delegating to other organizations. An example of a Memorandum of Understanding is provided in Appendix B. Departments should consult with their legal counsel to ensure that they are legally allowed to delegate transaction authority externally.
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