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VOLUME: I POLICIES RELATED TO ACCOUNTING ADMINISTRATION
SUBJECT: Financial Sub-Certification
SOURCE: Financial Management Services
DATE ISSUED: July 1, 2006
POLICY NO.: I - 510
RATIONALE: Sub-certification of financial statements by units assists in validating the accuracy of the institution’s financial statement and provides an opportunity for a unit to review the financial activity of the organization for a fiscal year. This policy defines when sub-certification will occur, who is responsible for signing the certification statement and when an individual or unit will be excused from the sub-certification process.
POLICY: The Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (VPCFO) requires that at the end of the fiscal year unit leaders and their fiscal officers sign a certification statement attesting to certain statements regarding financial activity in the unit. Certification statements can only be changed by the office of the VPCFO.

If a unit leader is new to a position and an Internal Audit Transitional Review has not been completed by the end of that fiscal year, the unit leader will not be required to sign the certification statement for that fiscal year.

If a fiscal officer is new to a unit and started after the first day of the last quarter (April 1) of a given fiscal year, the fiscal officer will not be required to sign the certification statement for that fiscal year.

PROCEDURE REFERENCE: The appropriate campus finance office will distribute the certification statements to each unit by July 31. The certification statement will require two signatures; the unit leader and the unit fiscal officer. The fiscal officer who is required to sign the certification is considered to be the equivalent of the Responsibility Center (RC) level fiscal officer with primary fiscal responsibility for the entire entity. The unit will be provided instructions on returning the statement to the campus finance office by August 31. The campus finance office will package all certifications and forward to the VPCFO by September 15 of each year. This packaging will include an overall certification for the campus by the campus leader and the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration or Vice Provost.

It is recommended that very large units consider requiring these certifications for the sub-units that fall under their organization. Such certifications should be held by the unit leader.

DEFINITIONS: Unit Leaders for the purposes of this policy are as follows:

For University Administration, IUPUI and Bloomington campus the unit leaders are Deans, Directors of Reporting Auxiliary Units, Vice-Presidents, Provost, President, and the offices of each Vice Chancellor or Vice Provost. The Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, or Vice Provost, along with the Chancellor or Provost, will also be required to sign for the entire campus.

For the regional campuses the unit leaders are the Vice Chancellors. The Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, along with the Chancellor, will also be required to sign for the entire campus.

CROSS REFERENCES: See:
I-1, Role of Fiscal Officer, Account Manager and Account Supervisor
I-470, Internal Controls
RESPONSIBLE ORGANIZATION: Financial Management Services

Comments: vpcfo@indiana.edu
Copyright 2006, The Trustees of Indiana University