It serves a formal control function within the university’s financial management process and standardizes how every unit reviews their finance. This is to ensure that all departments follow the same process and thus ensure financial consistency. 

The oversight checklist acts as a financial control and is used to validate transactions that are accurate, authorized and follow university policy. The oversight checklist is to help with early detection of potential errors such as payroll anomalies, incorrect coding, duplicate charges, unexpected transactions and unusual trends in a timely manner.

The checklist is used as an active review for each unit’s finances. So, any errors or anomalies can be reviewed, corrected or explain significant variances and if necessary to escalate any unresolved issues. This ensures that you or your unit are actively reviewing financial oversight and are signing off on all account transactions.

The financial oversight checklist is also used as part of the audit process. This can be used for internal/external audits as well as institutional governance. This is used as proof that monthly financial monitoring is completed.

The Financial management checklist is a structured internal control that requires anyone with financial responsibility to review monthly spending for each unit, question any errors for your unit, document the decisions and act on any discrepancies for your unit.

The expectations and requirements of the financial management checklist are accountability, oversight and integrity of records. Each unit is responsible for the monthly review of their own unit’s financial information to ensure accuracy, completeness and compliance with university policy and procedures.

Requirements include:

• Payroll expense review
• Verify employees are all charged to the correct unit and action any discrepancies with the finance office
• Confirm salary and stipends are correct
• Review step increases, contract expiring, leave of absence and earning expiring for employees

• Non-payroll expense transactions review
• review all transactions for coding accuracy and compliance with university policy
• confirm expenditures are authorized and supported with proper documentation
• Identify any duplicate payments, incorrect charges or unusual transactions and action these discrepancies with the finance office 

• Budget monitoring
• Track the unit’s spending against the approved budget
• Identify overspending and take the required action to correct
• Delay spending
• Re-allocate the funds as needed
• Ensure funds are used for their intended purpose

• Signing authority / role changes
• Ensure units signing authority is current and assigned by university policy
• Send notice of any organizational changes
• Departmental role changes
• Departures
• Leave of absences

Completed monthly checklists must be submitted to the Finance Office, Faculty of Medicine, by the 15th of the month. A copy should also be maintained in department files with supporting documentation. Units must be able to provide evidence that financial review checklist activities are being effectively performed at an appropriate frequency.