INTERNAL AUDIT AND FINANCIAL CONTROLS

for Donor-funded Projects

(applicable to NGOs, CSOs and agencies receiving grants and donations)

COURSE DETAILS

Schedule: September 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, 2024

Duration: Five half-day sessions
Time: 8:00 am to 12:00 noon per session
Knowledge Level: Intermediate
Competency: Governance, Risk and Control; Internal Audit Delivery; Critical Thinking
Delivery Format: Online Training through Zoom
Position Level: Internal Auditors, Project Officers, Finance and Accounting Personnel, Audit
Committee members, Operating and Executive Management
Fee: Php 9,408.00 inclusive of VAT

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Participants will learn the basics of financial controls, the importance of maintaining a good risk
management process and the elements of good governance as applied to projects and
programs. It will help the participants perform a compliance audit consistent with the
requirements of local and foreign donors, government agencies, and international funding and
grant-making institutions.

Participants will learn the best practices in managing the financial and program aspects of
donor funded projects. This will help the organization strengthen its controls and be well
equipped to meet donor requirements. This will result to effective management of financial,
operational, and reputational risks.

COURSE OUTLINE

I. Role of Internal Audit and Risk Management

• Understanding the importance of your internal audit
• The benefits of maintaining a good risk management and internal control system
• How the audit process can strengthen your organization
• Discussion of common findings and issues

___________________________________________________________________________________________
_Telephone: (63 2) 8-7887928 or 0915-7068046
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website: www.ciasp.com.ph
 II. Risk Based Audit
• COSO Framework
• Assessment of risk
• Types of control testing

III. Allowable Costs and Activities

• Disallowed or questioned costs
• Shared program costs
• Indirect costs
• Large transfer
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:
o Inconsistent or undocumented basis of cost allocation
o Deficient budget-to-actual cost monitoring
o Lack of allocation of proposal development costs and effort reporting
o Deficient payroll process
o Inadequate segregation of duties
o Unusual large transfers

IV. Period of Availability

• Control areas
o Before the grant period
o During the grant period
o After the grant period
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:
o Expenses outside the grant period
o Liquidation (payment) beyond the allowed terms

V. Cash Management
• Nature of transactions
o Cash planning
o Cash receipts
o Cash disbursements
• Drawdowns
• Sub-recipient advances
• Bank reconciliation
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:
o Inadequate review and support for sub-recipient advances and liquidations
o Opportunity cost of having unreasonably low interest and/or advances in
excess of cash needs
___________________________________________________________________________________________
_Telephone: (63 2) 8-7887928 or 0915-7068046
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website: www.ciasp.com.ph
 o Deficient control over wire transfer and disbursements
o Deficient control over cash count and bank reconciliation procedures

VI. Reporting
• Financial
• Program
o Output based
o Outcome based
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:
o Absence of program reporting framework
o Inadequate maintenance of reporting system and supporting documents
o Inaccurate and untimely reporting
o Absence of policies and procedures

VII. Eligibility
• Primary recipients
• Secondary recipients
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:
o Inaccurate and undocumented beneficiary records
o Inappropriate beneficiaries
o Inaccurate calculation of amounts provided to beneficiaries
o Unreasonable costs provided to beneficiaries

VIII. Procurement
• Key control areas for procurement
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:
o Ineffective procurement planning
o Deficient accreditation of vendors
o Improper maintenance of vendor list
o Inadequate validation of vendor performance
o Deficient procurement process
o Ineffective procurement system
o Non-compliance with anti-terrorism policy
o Inadequate segregation of procurement duties
o Lack of sole source justification

IX. Program Income

• Control areas per type
o Fees for services performed
o Use or rental of real or personal property
___________________________________________________________________________________________
_Telephone: (63 2) 8-7887928 or 0915-7068046
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website: www.ciasp.com.ph
 o Sale of commodities or fabricated items
o Payments of principal and interest and loans
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:
o Inaccurate assessment and reporting of income
o Inappropriate use of income
o Absence of policies and procedures

X. Equipment & Commodity

• Control areas
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:
o Inadequate control of use and disposal of equipment
o Absence of regular count and reconciliation
o Inaccurate property records
o Loss from disposal of equipment
o Inadequate monitoring of fuel consumption

XI. Sub-recipient Monitoring

• Pre-award assessment
• Award
• Implementation
• On-going monitoring
• Project close-out
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:
o Lack of policy and procedures in sub-recipient monitoring
o Deficient pre-award assessment
o Deficient sub-recipient agreements
o Inadequate sub-recipient monitoring activities and systems

XII. Matching or Level of Effort

• By type of match
o Monetary
o Non-monetary
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:
o Inaccurate valuation of match funds
o Inappropriate source of match funds
o Inadequate assessment of match funds

XIII. Special Provisions

• Control areas
• Discussion of common audit issues. Examples:

___________________________________________________________________________________________
_Telephone: (63 2) 8-7887928 or 0915-7068046
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website: www.ciasp.com.ph
 o Non-compliance with anti-discrimination and disability policy
o Inadequate monitoring of taxes and refunds
o Absence of required markings and acknowledgements
o Inadequate special provisions in the sub-grant agreement

REGISTRATION

To register, please consider either of the following options:

• Option 1: Please visit CIASP website, www.ciasp.com.ph. Click on the “Register” button
for the seminar on Internal Audit and Financial Controls for Projects Funded by
Grants and Donations. You will be directed to an online Google form. Please fill in
your details on the form and click ‘Submit.’ We will acknowledge your registration as
soon as practicable. Or click this link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdYjImBoQ0MiqX3aTOthuakCCm1XEf45
S-Ycp-_MdMrWxmDYg/viewform
• Option 2: You can email or communicate with us through [email protected]
and/or [email protected]. Please provide your full contact
details (full name, organization, designation, email address, office and mobile phone).
We will provide billing invoice upon receipt of the registration.

FEES AND PAYMENT DETAILS

• Regular Rate - Php 9,408.00 inclusive of VAT.

• Limited slots. Guaranteed seats will be given to those with paid registration.
• Payments can be made in cash or check.
• Payment should be deposited to any BPI branch. Payment can also be done through
online funds transfer (e.g. PesoNet, GCash, Maya, InstaPay, bank wire transfer, LDDAP,
etc.). CIASP bank account details are:
• Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)
• Current Account Number: 1621-0070-72
• Account Name: Center for Internal Advisory Services Philippines Inc
• SWIFT Code/BIC: BOPIPHMM
• For check payment, please make it payable to the account name.
• For GCash transfer – bank: BPI; payee: Ciasp; Account number: 1621007072
• Payment through credit card or debit card (Mastercard, Visa, Amex) through Paypal
also accepted.

___________________________________________________________________________________________
_Telephone: (63 2) 8-7887928 or 0915-7068046
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website: www.ciasp.com.ph
 • Please email scanned copy or picture of deposit slip or online transfer form so we could
confirm receipt and provide the relevant seminar details and procedures.

OTHER SEMINAR DETAILS

• Seminar Inclusions:
• Attendance to the online training sessions
• Access to the google drive for the seminar materials
• Worksheets, references, and other reading materials
• Certificate of completion
• Delivery Mode:
• Online training through Zoom
• Resource Speaker/Facilitator
• Alejandro “Allan” A. Palacio
• Time Schedule for the Online Training Sessions
• 8:00 am to 12:00 noon per session day

CONTACT DETAILS

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Website: www.ciasp.com.ph
Landline: (02) 87887928
Mobile: 0915-7068046

___________________________________________________________________________________________
_Telephone: (63 2) 8-7887928 or 0915-7068046
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website: www.ciasp.com.ph
SPEAKER PROFILE

ALEJANDRO “ALLAN” A. PALACIO, CPA

Allan will share his extensive experience in performing operational and compliance audits of
various government agencies, private and non-government organizations for programs funded
by local and international donors.

Allan is also a highly experienced fraud audit and data analytics professional. His passion for
teaching and developing seminar courses led to the conduct of best-selling seminars on various
topics such as data analytics, risk based auditing, internal controls for NGOs, fraud audit, ERM
and audit tools.

Allan served as the Professional Development Manager of Institute of Internal Auditors

Philippines in 2014. Prior to this, he was with Grant Thornton Vietnam as Senior Manager for
Advisory Services where he established the firm’s Business Risk Services practice focusing on
enterprise risk management, IT services, fraud and forensic, internal audit and consulting. He
was also with Grant Thornton Philippines (Punongbayan & Araullo) as managing consultant.
His diversified experience in delivering advisory services to various companies in the USA,
Cambodia, West Bank Gaza, Afghanistan, Bolivia, Haiti, Angola, Vietnam, Lao, Diego Garcia and
Philippines provided him with a unique perspective that he will share with the seminar
participants.

Allan is also a board topnotcher (6th place in the May 2003 CPA exam). He had previous
involvement in the academe by being a CPA review lecturer at PSBA – Quezon City. He is a
highly sought-after speaker on data analytics, internal controls, fraud and computerized audits.
He had previous speaking engagements for various organizations such as Information Systems
Audit and Control Association (ISACA) Manila, Philippine Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (PICPA), Institute of Internal Auditors Philippines (IIAP), Center for Global Best
Practices, Grant Thornton Vietnam and Cambodia, Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants Vietnam, and International Data Group Cambodia.

___________________________________________________________________________________________
_Telephone: (63 2) 8-7887928 or 0915-7068046
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website: www.ciasp.com.ph