2001 December Report of the Auditor General of Canada

The Treasury Board Secretariat should implement its plans to expand its continuous risk assessment process and to monitor and facilitate the implementation of FIS government-wide to help ensure that the full benefits of FIS are achieved (paragraph 18.51).

Public Works and Government Services Canada took the lead in carrying out continuous risk assessment. The Secretariat participated in this process.

The Treasury Board Secretariat and Receiver General should implement their plans to provide guidance, such as control frameworks, covering all types of transactions required for the full implementation of FIS (18.59).

An overall framework and a Receiver General specific control framework were prepared.

The Treasury Board Secretariat should implement its plans to:

• describe the accounting and control environment for the transition period;
• provide guidance to departments on the integration of FIS into departmental decision making; and
• facilitate the development of departmental plans that cover both the post-implementation FIS environment and the transition period (18.60).

The transition period has now passed. Additional planning is needed for the post-implementation FIS environment, such as guidance on integrating FIS into decision-making.

Departments should develop detailed plans that set out the accounting and control requirements for both the post-implementation FIS environment and the transition period (18.61).

Some departments have begun to discuss post-implementation control requirements.

The Treasury Board Secretariat should provide additional guidance to departments on the development of their departmental FIS implementation plans. To ensure that these plans are complete, departments should ensure that they include the following provisions:

• management reporting requirements under the FIS environment;
• a change management plan showing how management and staff will be reoriented, reorganized and retrained to meet all of the requirements of the new FIS environment, not just the systems renewal component;
• periodic determination and reporting of the full life-cycle cost of their FIS implementation;
• a plan for security and management controls that would be subject to an external review prior to putting the new systems into production;
• a plan to manage the risks associated with the current lack of experienced, expert resources for systems implementation and enhancement; and
• the role for, and training of, departmental internal audit groups in reviewing progress, reviewing risk assessments, conducting reviews of security and management controls, and establishing requirements for auditability and data integrity (18.79).

Departments developed FIS plans, focussing primarily on systems and accounting policy issues. Change management plans were developed but with various degrees of complexity. Departments need to deal with controls and security issues, including review by independent audit.

Departments and their deputy ministers should make FIS implementation a priority and make a public commitment to that effect in their departmental Report on Plans and Priorities documents in the spring of 2000 (paragraph 21.57).

Departments signed memoranda of understanding with the Secretariat committing to implement FIS. Limited public commitment in the Report on Plans and Priorities documents.

Departments should designate a senior-level sponsor of the FIS initiative, someone who is in a position to promote FIS beyond the finance area (21.58).

Almost all FIS projects were led or sponsored by the senior financial officer.

Departments should immediately establish dedicated FIS implementation teams that integrate systems, accounting and change management skills as well as program management representatives (21.59).

FIS teams were established, though some are now being disbanded.

Departments should implement a FIS awareness communications campaign for line and senior managers, highlighting how FIS will help them manage in the future government environment (21.60).

Departments made use of presentations and intranet. FIS Forum working groups provided communications tools.

Departments should immediately develop plans that cover all aspects of FIS implementation. These plans should include the following:

• a description of the department's future financial management environment; and
• a comprehensive timetable and plan/strategy to do the following:
  • connect the departmental financial system to the FIS central systems;
  • determine and implement appropriate accrual accounting policies and procedures needed to produce auditable departmental financial statements; and
  • move the department to the future financial management environment. This should include the following:
    • a gap analysis of the current versus future decision making environment and business processes;
    • a communications plan to increase FIS awareness and to establish two-way consultation;
    • a training analysis and plan; and
    • an analysis of the human resource competency and capability (21.61).

Departments developed FIS plans that covered most of the items in the list. These varied by department. Work is still needed in a number of areas, such as producing financial statements, training, and acquiring human resource capacity.

The Treasury Board Secretariat should immediately put in place, communicate throughout government and maintain an updated, fully integrated master implementation plan for the FIS. The plan should indicate what can be realistically accomplished by the target date of April 2001 as well as target dates for the completion of remaining aspects of FIS implementation (21.87).

A high-level plan was prepared.

The Treasury Board Secretariat should immediately obtain documented commitment from departments to implement all aspects of FIS (21.88).

Memoranda of understanding signed by departments, the Secretariat, and Public Works and Government Services Canada. These focussed on systems implementation.

The Treasury Board Secretariat should obtain and review departmental FIS implementation plans (21.89).

Departments were asked to provide plans, primarily at a general level.

The Treasury Board Secretariat should establish a reporting framework to permit the FIS Project Office to monitor departmental FIS implementation progress and costs, and to intervene if difficulties arise (21.90).

Done at a high level only. Status reporting was discontinued after March 2001.

The Treasury Board Secretariat should consider providing additional funding and other resources to departments where the need for such an intervention can be clearly established (21.91).

Additional funding for FIS was made available to departments.

The Treasury Board Secretariat should develop and implement a comprehensive communications plan to market FIS to senior government managers and provide guidance and consultation regarding change management and lessons learned (for example, case studies) (21.92).

The Secretariat created the FIS Forum, whose working groups provided communications and change-management tools. Senior government managers were regularly briefed on FIS.