The accounting information system used by the State of Connecticut
is a large, centralized database that is shared amongst all state
agencies. This makes it easier for us as the auditors to gather the
information we need because we audit all agencies and having access
to the information in one place expedited the process. Of course, we
still have to ask for items not in the database but running reports on
assets or expenditures for example is much simpler this way. The AIS
tracks assets, purchases, HR, expenses, contracts, suppliers, and
more.
Considering the employees and managers using the system, major
overhauls to the AIS would be met with harsh resistance. A while
ago, the HR department was centralized and timesheets, as an
example, now had to be completed in the central AIS. Besides issues
with centralizing HR, the new way to record timesheets was met with
extreme resistance and employees retiring or leaving. An internal
control deficiency I can name is the lack of oversight of asset
management in the system. Assets must be tagged, and their location
updated annually. Despite the annual requirement, the AIS does not
flag outdated assets, for example if something wasn't scanned for
several years. This creates a situation where assets are "found" in the
agencies that were supposed to be disposed of, or when performing
a walkthrough asset cannot be found because they were disposed of
and never updated or marked as such. Having a system in place that
flags outdated information could help in identifying those assets and
prompting the departments to update the information.
