Guideline on Financial Management of Pay Administration

4.1.1 Initiate pay-related action requests

A pay-related action request includes HR actions, pay actions and employee-initiated actions that impact pay. Pay-related actions include the addition of new hires, whether they be indeterminate or determinate (casual, student, term, and so on), promotions, terminations, leaves with or without pay, and acting appointments. A responsibility centre manager or employee initiates a transaction in accordance with his or her approved budget and annual plan, as described in the HR policy suite documentation. The HR policy suite documentation contains detailed information for many elements of this sub-process and may be referred to at various steps in the sub-process.

For pay-related actions that result in a payment (for example, new hires, vacation payouts and overtime), expenditure initiation, commitment control and updating salary forecast are the next steps.

When pay-related actions do not require expenditure initiation authority (for example, retirements, transfers out, leave, retroactive pay under the terms and conditions of a new collective agreement), the process continues to validate and verify the pay-related actions before the data is entered into the HRMS or Phoenix. In these instances, certification under section 34 of the FAA is not needed. Certain employee-driven pay-related actions do not require expenditure initiation; these include, employee self-service entries such as changes in banking information, changes of address and certain leave requests (for example, leave without pay less than or equal to 5 days).

For certain types of transactions, consultation with other organizational units or with other government departments may be required to complete the pay-related action. For example, garnishments^{Footnote 3} or salary recovery requires coordination with Finance staff to ensure that the amount is accurate and compliant with regulations or policies; and employee transfers into or out of the department require communication and coordination between departments.

4.1.2 Verify unencumbered balance (section 32 of the FAA)

Before the appropriate expenditure initiation authority is exercised and HR authorities are obtained, individuals with delegated spending and financial authorities must confirm that there are sufficient unencumbered funds to cover all applicable costs and that related policy restrictions are considered.^{Footnote 4} If there are insufficient unencumbered funds, budgets must be reallocated or adjusted, the resource requirement must be revised, or the pay-related action must be terminated.

4.1.3 Obtain expenditure initiation

For transactions such as new hires (including promotions) and overtime, authorization of the planned expenditure must be obtained before entering into a contract, undertaking an HR action or other arrangement, and making a commitment against the budget.^{Footnote 5} Authorization may be documented through an email, a departmental form, a system (electronic approval), an approval of a work schedule or an overtime request.

4.1.4 Record commitments (section 32 of the FAA) and commitment authority

All anticipated expenditures charged to a department’s appropriation, including expenditures that will eventually be cost-recovered, should be committed in the department’s financial system.^{Footnote 6} The responsibility centre manager is accountable for ensuring that the commitment is recorded in accordance with departmental policy and procedure, including continuing commitments that impact future fiscal years.^{Footnote 7} The ultimate objective is that all commitments are managed and that responsibility centre managers do not exceed their allocated budgets and, by extension, that the department does not exceed its appropriations. Commitment authority is exercised when the expenditure is authorized (see 4.1.3), the unencumbered balance is verified (see 4.1.2) and the commitment is recorded (see 4.1.4).^{Footnote 8}

When necessary, the department may use its salary forecasting process as a compensating control for commitment control.^{Footnote 9}

4.1.5 Update salary forecast

Departments should make every effort to maintain the ongoing accuracy of their salary forecast in order to capture the most current information on salaries.^{Footnote 10} The responsibility centre manager is accountable for ensuring that the salary forecast, and therefore commitments, is maintained and is up to date. Changes in employee pay information (for example, wage increases) or a staffing event (for example, a resignation) that has pay implications require an update to the salary forecast. The timing for updating the salary forecast may vary and can occur at different points in the end-to-end process, depending on departmental practices. Responsibility centre managers should work with their financial management advisor to complete this task.

4.1.6 Obtain approval for delegated HR authority

Before a pay-related action is processed, it must be approved by the appropriate HR authority or authorities, as described in the department’s HR delegation of authority instruments. In the context of an approved operational plan and organizational model, a responsibility centre manager or HR initiates the process based on provisions within the appropriate HR policy suite. For more information on obtaining delegated HR authorities, refer to the departmental HR delegation of authority instruments documentation.

4.1.7 Certify pay-related actions (first portion of certification required under section 34 of FAA)

After approval by the HR delegated authority has been obtained, the appropriate delegated authority performs the first portion of the certification required under section 34 of the FAA by confirming that the payment is reasonable. This is done by reviewing or signing a letter of offer, a timesheet or a vacation pay cash-out, for example. It is important to note that certification of section 34 is performed manually for many types of pay actions and therefore there is an increased risk that this certification does not take place in a timely manner. However, given that timely certification of section 34 (that is, prior to entering these pay actions in the HR systems) is essential to support the accuracy and validity of departmental pay-related expenses, departments should take steps to implement robust processes for certification of section 34 pay actions.

Because not all of the details of pay such as the account coding can be verified at this point, certification under section 34 of the FAA cannot be completed until the pay has been issued. Refer to section 4.3.3 and Appendix C.

For extra duty pay, timesheets and other time-related events, this certification can be provided electronically in the system (HRMS or Phoenix). Employees input their time in the system, and the individual with delegated authority approves the transaction and exercises the first portion of certification under section 34 of the FAA directly in the system. The individual with delegated authority is informed of the transactions, either by the employee, through an automated notification, or by verifying pending transactions in Phoenix.

For departments that are using the common HRMS, MyGCHR, certain transactions such as leave without pay (5 days or less), recoveries and cash-outs are approved directly in MyGCHR by a delegated authority; the pay-related action is then entered again into Phoenix.

Sufficient controls must be in place to maintain appropriate segregation of duties between incompatible functions.^{Footnote 11} Refer to Appendix E for definition of segregation of duties and examples of incompatible duties as per the Directive on Delegation of Spending and Financial Authorities. Specific controls pertaining to segregation of duties are described in Appendix A.

4.1.8 Validate and verify pay-related actions

Pay-related actions are then validated and verified. Before HR enters the pay-related action into the departmental HRMS, HR ensures that pay-related actions are:

• valid (authorized by delegated authorities)
• complete and accurate in accordance with departmental policies, directives and orders-in-council
• supported by appropriate documentation (for example, time sheets, letters of offer, other departmental forms)

Departments may use checklists or other tools to promote a consistent approach to validation activities.

For departments served by the Pay Centre, a Pay Action Request (PAR) form and the required supporting documentation is sent to the Pay Centre by the departmental Trusted Source when a financial or HR authority is required.

Before submitting PAR forms to the Pay Centre on behalf of a department, the Trusted Source is responsible for:

• authenticating the delegated HR or financial authority, including signatures
• ensuring that the PAR form is fully complete, accurate and accompanied by all required supporting documentation

Each client department of the Pay Centre is responsible for informing the Pay Centre of the departmental email address or addresses that are authorized to send PAR forms that require a Trusted Source. Requests for changes to the official Trusted Source email listing must be cc’d to the department’s Head of HR or Chief Financial Officer. The Pay Centre will accept only PAR forms that require a Trusted Source from an authorized email address. For audit and control purposes, departments must maintain a list of:

• the names of their Trusted Sources and which email addresses they are authorized to use
• the periods during which these individuals are authorized to perform Trusted Source validations

Departments are expected to maintain their list of Trusted Sources and periods of validity for the current period plus six fiscal years, and make the list available to the Pay Centre within 24 hours of any request to view it.

For transactions that do not require a financial or HR authority, employees can use a PAR form to send information directly to the Pay Centre (for example, to enroll in voluntary insurance plans or repayment plans).

When employees use employee self-service in PeopleSoft, they are responsible for validating and verifying their own data, such as their banking information, for completeness and accuracy. Employees can also enter time and labour transactions, such as overtime or part-time hours, using employee self-service.

4.1.9 Input pay-related actions in HRMS

Once the transaction has been verified, the pay-related action is entered into the departmental HRMS. When the department’s HRMS is integrated with Phoenix (fully serviced by the Pay Centre, integration, or web services), information input into the HRMS is directly transferred to Phoenix. Departments require effective internal controls^{Footnote 12} to ensure that data is valid, complete and accurate as a preventative measure because this data directly impacts the quality of information used for payroll processing. Enforcing strong data quality minimizes the level of effort required to address issues and perform adjustments post-payroll.

For some departments, data may be entered directly by the employee in the HRMS or other departmental systems, such as employee data and overtime. For some entries, a delegated authority may exercise the first portion of certification under section 34 of the FAA directly in the HRMS.

4.1.10 Enter pay-related actions in Phoenix

Depending on the department’s pay administration model (fully serviced by the Pay Centre, integration, direct entry or web services) and the type of pay-related action, data may flow through directly to Phoenix or data may need to be manually entered into Phoenix. For more information on roles and responsibilities for different types of pay-related transactions, refer to the pay process roles and responsibilities^{Footnote 13} prepared by PSPC which explains which information is entered by the department through HRMS and which information is entered directly by compensation at the Pay Centre.

When data does not come from the HRMS, the compensation advisor keys the transaction into Phoenix. Compensation advisors are responsible for verifying the accuracy of the data they input.

Certain actions can be done directly by the employee in Phoenix using employee self-service. This service allows employees to directly enter their own data that impacts pay including overtime, timesheets, leave without pay less than or equal to 5 days, changes to the employee’s bank account information, or voluntary deductions.

There are instances when the employee is not able to input their own time-related data in Phoenix (for example, employees who are in remote locations or on travel status). The department may choose to establish a timekeeper role in Phoenix where a designated individual enters time and labour in Phoenix. In these instances, the employee submits the pay-related action to the delegated authority, who certifies the pay action before forwarding it to the timekeeper. The timekeeper then ensures that the first portion of certification under section 34 of the FAA was provided and enters the information into Phoenix and approves the transaction directly into Phoenix, on behalf of the delegated authority. Departments should independently review entries performed by timekeepers using a risk-based approach to ensure that transactions are valid.

Phoenix is configured to calculate the pay accurately and ensure that the payment is in accordance with the various collective agreements. This verification supports section 34 of the FAA.

4.1.11 Identify and resolve issues

When issues are identified in the pre-payroll processes, HR, compensation, responsibility centre managers, finance and employees may be involved to resolve them. Issues, such as denying a leave without pay, may require commitments to be updated. Some issues will require resolution through the initiation of a new pay-related action, such as when the current pay-related action is rejected or when a significant error is identified.

4.1.12 Roles and responsibilities

Table 1 provides an overview of roles and responsibilities, using the responsible, accountable, consulted and informed (RACI) approach. The terms used in this approach are defined in Appendix E.

Pay-related actions are initiated by either a responsibility centre manager or an employee. The responsibility centre manager provides expenditure initiation, verifies whether there are sufficient unencumbered funds, records a commitment and updates the salary forecast. The responsibility centre manager is also responsible for obtaining appropriate HR delegation as required. The pay-related action is certified, for the first portion, by the appropriate delegated authority under section 34 of the FAA, typically, the responsibility centre manager.

As there can only be one accountable role per RACI, the RACIs for activities 4.1.1 and 4.1.8 to 4.1.10 of this sub-process were broken down into two scenarios, depending on who processes data into Phoenix or HRMS. In Scenario 1 (S1), designated HR representatives review and validate the information on the pay-related action. HR or compensation processes data in the HRMS, and compensation processes data in Phoenix. For self-service transactions, as demonstrated in Scenario 2 (S2), employees initiate the pay-related action and validate their own entry before the certification under section 34 of the FAA is performed by the delegated authority, where applicable. Certain self-service transactions initiated by employees may not require expenditure initiation authority or certification under section 32 of the FAA; therefore, there are no RACI tables for activities 4.1.2 to 4.1.7 for this scenario.

4.2.1 Receive request for payment

For all pay administration models, the request for payment, which includes the pay transaction data, payment details, and employee data, is provided to Finance for authorization in Phoenix. Phoenix will not process pay until payment authority (section 33 of the FAA) is provided.

4.2.2 Perform quality assurance: Review 1

To balance the appropriate execution of delegation of authority with timely delivery of pay, departments may use a risk-based approach,^{Footnote 14} which is applicable for all pay administration models. The risk-based approach includes quality assurance processes carried out by those with payment authority, both before exercising payment authority (pre-payment verification) and after exercising payment authority (post-payment verification).^{Footnote 15} Authorities can be authenticated before or after processing of the transactions for expenditure decisions.^{Footnote 16}

The level of review performed pre-payment will directly impact the level of review performed immediately post-payment (Review 2) (see section 4.3.2), as well as the post-payment review performed in support of the quality assurance program (see Appendix B, section 2.2.1, for more details on a risk-based approach). The more in-depth the review conducted during pre-payment, the lower the level of review required post-payment. Departments have the flexibility to determine which approach works best for them. The approach should be documented and should be approved by the Chief Financial Officer. Departments are not expected to repeat work that is done by Phoenix or the Pay Centre. The level and timing of review will depend on the department’s assessment of, and tolerance for, risk.

Pay transactions can be viewed as lower risk because they are with an established payee, who has a consistent record of performance and because there is an established and continued relationship.^{Footnote 17} Nevertheless, the department would want to ensure that the pay is reasonable and that there are no significant errors. The department therefore performs a risk-based review before the payment is issued. Refer to section 2.2 of Appendix B for more details on establishing a risk-based approach for pay transactions.

The review could include follow-up of transactions that exceed a certain threshold, using the reports provided by PSPC or developed by the department, a focused review of certain types of pay transactions (pay for new hires, termination severance, and so on) and a reasonability review of overall pay amounts. The review must be sufficient to ensure that there are no significant errors, but it must also consider the time constraints related to the payroll run.

There are opportunities to view and correct errors during the period leading up to the pay; departments are encouraged to continuously review the pay information before the cut-off for the pay run. Errors found during this review can be used to inform the departmental post-payment verification program. Refer to Appendix B for more details on post-payment verification.

For payments where issues are identified, the process continues with activity 4.2.3 to investigate, consult and assess action.

4.2.3 Investigate, consult and assess action

When issues are identified during review 1 (see section 4.2.2), it may be necessary to investigate and consult with the responsibility centre manager, with HR, with compensation or with the employee to confirm whether there is an error and to identify the cause of it.

The department then assesses what action is required given the follow-up conducted. Four options are available:

• perform payment authority under section 33 of the FAA
• reject changes to regular payment
• perform stop payment
• take no action

4.2.4 Perform payment authority (section 33 of the FAA)

Once the individual with payment authority is satisfied that the required steps, as described in the department’s quality assurance program (refer to section 4.2.2 and Appendix B), have been met, they can perform payment authority. Performing payment authority includes ensuring that there is sufficient, auditable evidence to demonstrate that the first portion of certification under section 34 of the FAA has taken place and that the payment will not result in the appropriation being exceeded when existing commitments are also factored in. It is important to note that it is only the first portion of certification under section 34 of the FAA that is performed before the payment is made. Completion of certification is performed after the payment (refer to section 4.3.3).

Exercising authorization under section 33 of the FAA requires reliance on the appropriate salary forecasting process, as well as on the departmental budgeting and forecasting process, to ensure that sufficient unencumbered funds are available. Furthermore, departments rely on the Pay Centre or Phoenix to perform certain controls, and departments are not expected to repeat these controls.

For payment authority to be exercised, the request for pay transaction is certified under section 33 of the FAA, directly in Phoenix. In addition, when Phoenix calculates a pay and is required to adjust the pay to comply with collective agreements (for example, in the case of acting appointments and 4% vacation pay), authorization under section 33 of the FAA is also required to authorize the change in amount.

Only individuals with appropriate delegated authority can provide payment authority in Phoenix. In addition, delegated authorities should be exercised in a manner that segregates certain duties.^{Footnote 18} Refer to Appendix A and E for clarification.

If the payment is not authorized, the delegated authority for section 33 of the FAA may reject the change, perform a stop payment or take no action, as described in the following sections.

4.2.5 Reject changes to regular payment

The delegated authority for section 33 of the FAA can reject the changes to a regular payment. The employee will be issued payment equal to the lower amount on the matched earnings codes as compared to the previous pay period. The rejected amount will appear in the rollback viewer in Phoenix,^{Footnote 19} which includes all amounts not paid on any rolled-back payment. Any rejected payment should be reviewed and addressed as soon as possible.

4.2.6 Perform stop payment

The delegated authority for section 33 of the FAA can perform a stop payment, which completely halts the employee’s pay until the issue is resolved and the payment is allowed to be completed. Stop payments are used when an employee is not entitled to be paid anything (for example, leave without pay where paperwork has not yet been processed) or a significant error has been identified. The delegated authority may want to consult with HR before proceeding with the stop payment. It is advisable to stop the payment if needed at this stage rather than perform an intercept through the Receiver General Standard Payment System (SPS).

4.2.7 Take no action

The delegated authority for section 33 of the FAA can take no action. If no action is taken, the amounts associated with payments are left pending at the end of the pay cycle. Non-actioned items are treated in the same way rejected payments are treated (see section 4.2.5) with the exception that the differences in pay are entered into the Phoenix rollback viewer. These transactions are labelled as “pending status” in the rollback viewer to be addressed later (for example, in a later off-cycle pay run).

4.2.8 Process approved payments in Phoenix

Once the department provides authorization under section 33 of the FAA, Phoenix sends requisitions to the Receiver General SPS for payment processing.

After payments have been requisitioned, there are exceptional circumstances when it may be necessary to intercept a payment. Refer to the Phoenix User Productivity Kit (UPK) for specific instructions. The purpose of intercepting a payment is to prevent an account from being credited in the event of a termination, a projected overpayment or any other reason for non-entitlement. Intercepts stop payments after they are processed, but before they are credited to the employee’s bank account.

4.2.9 Advise RCM or HR for follow-up

If the transaction is not approved and the individual with delegated authority under section 33 of the FAA took no action, performed a stop payment or rejected the transaction, it is recommended that the responsibility centre manager, and, as needed, HR or compensation, be advised so that they can follow up with the employee. This would also be the case when an intercept, which can only be done by compensation, has taken place. This follow-up may result in a pay-related action, returning to the beginning of the pay administration process at 4.1.1.

4.2.10 Issue payment

On a pay-period basis, payments (direct deposits and, as an exception, cheques) and pay stubs are released to employees. Pay stubs are available via self-service, with the exception of terminated employees, who receive pay stubs by mail from the compensation advisor.

4.2.11 Roles and responsibilities

Table 2 provides an overview of roles and responsibilities, using the RACI approach. These terms are further described in Appendix E.

Finance is accountable for the activities related to authorizing payments (section 33 of the FAA).^{Footnote 20} When issues arise, it may be necessary to consult and inform HR, compensation, the responsibility centre manager or, at times, the employee.

Overview

The purpose of this sub-process is to complete the pay administration process and record the transactions in the DFMS. Post-payroll begins with the return payment file from Phoenix, continues with recording pay transactions in the DFMS and ends once all reconciliations and verifications, including post-payment verification, have been completed and the salary forecast is updated. The activities in the sub-process are applicable for all pay administration models. Figure 4 shows the process flow of the post-payroll sub-process. Appendix F of this guideline provides a legend for the flowchart.

Text version

Figure 4 depicts the process flow of the post-payroll sub‑process, which completes the pay administration process.

The post‑payroll sub‑process begins with the return payment file from Phoenix and continues with the recording of the pay transaction in the departmental financial and materiel management system.

Once the transaction is recorded in the departmental financial and materiel management system, the following four activities must be completed:

1. a quality assurance (review 2);
2. validation of pay (completion of certification required under section 34 of Financial Administration Act) and adjustment salary forecast as required;
3. reconciliation of Receiver General control accounts (monthly and year-end accounting); and
4. performing post-payment verification (quality assurance).

The post-payroll sub‑process ends with accurate, valid and complete information.

If the information is not accurate, valid and complete, the discrepancies must be resolved before the process ends. This process may result in returning to the beginning of the pre-payroll sub‑process or payroll sub-process.

4.3.1 Record pay transaction

The SPS creates a return file with the payment detail and the payment reference number, and returns the file to Phoenix. Phoenix updates the pay cheque record with the payment reference number. A file, the IO33, is created and sent to the Payroll System-General Ledger (PS-GL), and a detailed expenditure extract file known as the IO50 is created that includes the payroll data for all departments. Using additional software, the payroll data from the IO50 is then separated by department, and each department receives their individual IO50 report.

The IO50 is used to record gross pay transactions and adjustments including cancelled payments. The department monitors the receipt and processing of the return payment file and ensures that it is posted completely and accurately in the DFMS. Departments can choose to have financial coding assigned in Phoenix; otherwise, the financial coding is assigned directly in the DFMS.

Some salary-related transactions, such as secondments and interchanges, are not included in the detailed expenditure extract file because these transactions are outside the scope of Phoenix. These activities depend on coordination between HR and Finance to correctly account for and offset pay-related expenditures.

4.3.2 Perform quality assurance: Review 2

As part of the quality assurance program (refer to section 4.2.2 and Appendix B), the department may choose to conduct an additional risk-based review of pay to address issues that could not be fully resolved before pay. The level of review will depend on what was conducted pre-payroll and on what may be conducted as part of post-payroll verification. Departments have the flexibility to determine the level of review that works best for them.

The review, which supports section 33 of the FAA payment authority, helps the department identify issues on a more timely basis before post-payment verification. The review could be based on the IO50, pay audit reports, and time and labour audit reports from Phoenix. Other data could also be used, such as information from the department’s HRMS or other systems.

This review, performed by Finance, with assistance from HR, could include verifying certain transactions, performing data analysis to identify potential issues, reviewing areas of specific concern or comparing actual pay against the salary forecast to detect exceptions. Departments are not expected to repeat work that is done by Phoenix or the Pay Centre.

4.3.3 Validate pay (completion of certification required under section 34 of FAA) and adjust salary forecast as required

Because pay is a lower-risk transaction (see 4.2.2) and because pay must be issued on a timely basis, departments complete certification under section 34 of the FAA after pay has been issued. Once pay is posted, the responsibility centre manager reviews the pay transactions and completes the required certification of transactions that relate to their own budget. The responsibility centre manager certifies that the work has been performed, that the appropriate employee has been paid and that the amount is reasonable. In addition, the responsibility centre manager reviews the transactions to ensure that the correct financial coding has been applied.

The review can be documented through either physical sign-off or using approvals in the system. The department will need to determine the frequency of the review (for example, every two weeks, once a month, quarterly or as defined by the departmental periodic forecast process). However, it is suggested to do the review more frequently than less. There must be auditable evidence that the certification required under section 34 has been completed for all transactions in the selected period.^{Footnote 21} Certification should be obtained in a manner that maintains appropriate segregation of duties between incompatible functions.^{Footnote 22} Refer to Appendix E for required segregation of duties under the Directive on Delegation of Spending and Financial Authorities. Specific controls pertaining to segregation of duties are described in Appendix A.

At the same time, pay is reconciled to the salary forecasts. Forecasts are updated and provide an opportunity for the responsibility centre manager to identify potential pay issues such as errors in start and end date and potential duplicate payments. It is good practice for departments to provide guidance to responsibility centre managers on this review, including guidance on the level of review, areas of focus, criteria for follow-up and how this review should be documented. Responsibility centre managers are encouraged to contact their financial management advisor for assistance where required.

4.3.4 Reconcile Receiver General control accounts (monthly and year-end accounting)

Departments reconcile pay expenditures and the control account balances on a pay-period basis. On a monthly basis, the department receives a final payroll control account balance report through the Central System Mailbox, which is reconciled to the payroll control account in the individual DFMS for trial balance reporting purposes to the Central Financial Management and Reporting System (CFMRS). Departments include a payroll control account in their trial balance, which is verified in CFMRS against the respective departmental payroll control account submitted by the PS-GL as part of the monthly close process.^{Footnote 23}

These linked sections provide information to departments and agencies to help them meet year-end accounting and reporting requirements. Departments are responsible for all accrual entries related to salary, wages and overtime and payroll processing required at the end of an accounting period and at the fiscal year-end. The timetable and procedures are outlined in Receiver General Manual, year-end timetable and procedures.

4.3.5 Perform post-payment verification (quality assurance)

Post-payment verification (or post-payment examination^{Footnote 24}) is the third component of the quality assurance program (refer to Appendix B). It ensures compliance with section 33 of the FAA by verifying that there is sufficient evidence to confirm that payments have been made for work that has been performed, that services have been rendered, that the relevant agreement terms and conditions have been met, that the transaction is accurate, and that compliance with associated authorities has been met in support of section 34 of the FAA.^{Footnote 25}

The approach used for post-payment verification may vary depending on the level of verification pre-payment and on the level of examination in reviews 1 and 2 (see 4.2.2 and 4.3.2). Departments are not expected to repeat work that is done by Phoenix or the Pay Centre. Appendix B provides additional information and guidance on the quality assurance program.

Departments should document their post-payment verification procedures to provide a description of the approach being used and the reasoning behind the treatment of pay transactions being reviewed post-payment.^{Footnote 26} It is good practice to report the results of the post-payment verification review to management, as well as to identify systemic errors and track error rates. See Appendix B for further guidance on post-payment verification activities.

4.3.6 Resolve discrepancies

Discrepancies may be identified from the various activities conducted to review, validate and reconcile payroll. When information is not accurate, valid or complete, the issue should be resolved in a timely manner. A pay-related action (return to pre-payroll sub-process, 4.1.1), a change in financial posting, a change in salary forecast, or some other action may be required. It is good practice to identify the nature of the error and to determine whether there is a systemic issue. If the error keeps occurring, then additional steps for remediation may be necessary.

4.3.7 Roles and responsibilities

Table 3 provides an overview of roles and responsibilities, using the RACI approach. These terms are further described in Appendix E.

Finance is generally accountable for post-payment activities, with the exception of validating pay and updating the salary forecast, for which the responsibility centre manager is accountable. When performing post-payment activities, Finance works collaboratively with HR, which has the expertise to review pay transactions and which may provide supporting documentation. The Receiver General and PSPC’s Pay Administration Branch may be consulted and informed in terms of the files received and the reconciliations.