1. Does the Council outsource its transactional services to another authority or shared service?
No.
2. Which Finance system is used by the authority (Oracle, Agresso, Sage, E-Financial, SAP etc.)
FINEST (Software AG UK Ltd)
3. Has this finance system been used for the last 6 years?
Yes.
4. Please state the total number of Accounts Payable invoices processed by the authority in the last complete financial year.
290,003 (19/0) This figure includes schools but excludes payments to individuals, CF Clients, Foster Carers and Employee Expenses.
5. Please provide a breakdown of the total value of Accounts Payable invoices (3rd party supplier spend) for each of the last 6 years.
£1,006,690,049 (19/0); £983,738,891 (18/9); £932,468,249 (17/8); £975,352,740 (16/7); £944,347,457 (15/6); £950,223,241 (14/5). These figures include schools but exclude payments to individuals, CF Clients, Foster Carers and Employee Expenses.
6. How many active suppliers are currently on the Supplier Masterfile?
14,716
7. How many inactive suppliers are currently on the Supplier Masterfile?
0 – dormancy period of 18 months after which they are excluded from use. It is not possible to identify dormant suppliers.
8. Over the last 6 years, please state the name(s) of all external organisation(s) used to review Accounts Payable transactions and identify and recover erroneous payments (Duplicates, Overpayments, VAT input errors or credits on statements), and the period(s) reviewed.
None.
9. Do you use any external provider to ensure invoices correlate to the contract charges, e.g. checking volume discounts, pricing, rate cards are correctly applied (please state name)?
No.
10. Please provide a contact list including telephone and email for finance & procurement departments at the authority.
Here is a link to the Devon County Council Procurement Portal which includes contact details.
Devon County Council Procurement Portal
11. What internal controls does the authority have to prevent payment errors occurring (3 way matching, no PO no PAY, invoice scanning etc.)
No PO No Pay policy; 3-way matching for goods orders/invoices; Secondary approval for service order invoices; Invoice scanning; Automated duplicate checking; Automated bank account verification
12. Does the authority conduct supplier statement reconciliation exercises on any suppliers?
Yes.
a. If so, is this via a third party (please state name)
No.
b. What selection criteria is adhered to?
All received supplier statements are reviewed and action taken where appropriate.
13. Is any third party software used for the following tasks within the authority (please state names, and contract end dates)?
a. Pre-Payment software for prevention of invoice payment errors?
No.
b. Audit Management Software, e.g. for internal audit reviews?
Pentana
c. Project Management Software?
No.