MINISTRY OF FINANCE ADOPTS SEGREGATION OF DUTIES MANUAL
A roadmap to strengthen governance in federal government agencies
Ministry of Finance drives segregation of duties in federal entities
Ensuring effective governance and managing risks through the accuracy, transparency and integrity of financial transactions
MoF has established a Segregation of Duties (SoD) System to enable all federal government entities in the UAE to promote integrity, accuracy, transparency, accountability and internal control. This is in line with the MoF vision to manage and develop the federal government’s financial resources efficiently and innovatively through effective fiscal policies, distinguished capabilities and local and international relations to achieve the development, sustainability and integrity of the fiscal system in accordance with best practices and to achieve the strategic goals of the Ministry.
Basic concept with significant benefits of SoD system
The SoD system contributes to supporting entities in three areas of integrated governance:
Accountability
SoD creates accountability amongst employees for their own specific areas of responsibility, control or process.
Risk Mitigation & Integrity
SoD controls assist in mitigating the risk of:
- Potential fraudulent activity (helping to minimise collusion)
- Inaccuracies in financial information
- Inappropriate approvals of controls and transactions
- Bypassing of preventive or mitigating controls
Effectiveness & Improved Internal Control
SoD SYSTEM PROMOTES GOVERNANCE
The SoD system includes the following set of interrelated elements that promote effective governance:
Issuing the SoD Manual
MoF has issued a SoD Manual that lays down the principles governing the SoD system (ensuring that the same employee is not granted conflicting duties), in which responsibilities are distributed to more than one employee to ensure that no individual or group of employees is in a position to commit or hide errors or circumvent their normal duties while processing transactions across their various stages.
Implementing the SoD Manual
The manual is mandatory for all government entities using the Federal Financial Management Information System (FMIS) for their financial, procurement and payroll transactions. A detailed SoD rule book established by MoF further covers more than 200 rules and clearly identifies all possible areas of SoD conflict. These are rated (low/medium/high) according to their potential risk impact and existing conflicts in the system will be removed.
Using FMIS
Ensuring that the rules are applied to the FMIS so that the relevant employees can request and obtain approval through the system in a way that promotes effective governance and transparency.
Continuous development of the system and employees
Users of the system participate in basic training and awareness sessions to learn about the principles and rules of the SoD system and ensure their successful adoption and implementation.
The segregation of duties “SOD” manual is prepared to document the SOD principles for all federal government ministries and entities using the FMIS applications. The manual clearly articulates the rules governing the SOD principles, ensuring its applicability to day to day transactions being executed by federal government entities through the usage of FMIS applications or any other similar ERP deployed at the corresponding MoF entity.
Roles and responsibilities
The infographic below shows the distribution of roles and responsibilities within the SoD Department:
Effective monitoring assists MoF in ensuring the sustainability of public funds
An SoD Manual Controller reports any violations or discrepancies to MoF management. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are monitored for SoD risk, ensuring that appropriate system access is assigned and corrective actions can be taken when necessary, which will help to fulfill the MoF's role in promoting general fiscal sustainability.
The process of approvals and exceptions
SoD applications are submitted online via the FMIS through the employee's self-service account according to the following steps:
