A Performance Audit
An Audit Report on Financial Processes at the Department of Information Resources
April 2020
Summary Analysis
The Texas Department of Information Resources (Department) has implemented adequate financial processes and controls for administrative fee setting, administrative fee and fund balance reporting, collecting and recording administrative fee revenue for telecommunications and Data Center services, and expenditure processing.
It should improve processes for verifying the accuracy and completeness of administrative fee revenue from Texas.gov services and cooperative contract purchases. In addition, the Department had significant weaknesses in its asset management controls and should strengthen certain information technology (IT) system access controls.
The Department charges administrative fees for the information technology (IT) products and services it provides to state and local government entities. The Department complied with requirements for setting and reporting its administrative fees and reporting fund balances for those administrative fees to the statutorily required recipients.
The Department had processes in place to ensure that it collects the correct amount of administrative fees for the telecommunications services and the Data Center services that it provides.
The Department had a process in place to verify the accuracy of its administrative fee rates when they are initially established in the Texas.gov application. However, it did not have a process to ensure that (1) those administrative fee rates are not changed in the Texas.gov application or (2) the fee rates are correctly applied to administrative fee payments that the Department receives.
The Department had processes in place to ensure that the correct administrative fee rate was charged and collected for cooperative contracts based on vendor-reported monthly sales usage data. However the Department should strengthen its process for verifying the accuracy of the vendor-reported sales usage data.
The Department had expenditure processes in place to ensure that its payments were allowable, properly supported, and approved.
The Department had significant control weaknesses in its processes for protecting and tracking assets, such as computer equipment. Specifically, the Department could not account for a portion of assets tested. In addition, the Department did not consistently ensure that assets were properly disposed, including retaining disposal documentation and ensuring that information on the asset was properly removed or destroyed prior to disposal. The Department also did not have adequate processes to ensure that it accurately and completely recorded assets in the State Property Accounting System (SPA).
The Department should strengthen access controls over the Centralized Accounting and Payroll/Personnel System (CAPPS) and NetPlus to ensure that access is appropriately restricted.
The Department had effective access controls in place for other key accounting systems; including Salesforce, the State Property Accounting System (SPA), and the Uniform Statewide Accounting System(USAS).
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