Regularly reviewing and making improvements to the policies and procedures of a First Nation helps to make sure that these are meeting its needs.
In order to continuously improve and as required by the FAL, Council must create a policy for collecting, recording, and inspecting the concerns and comments from people involved with or interested in the financial management system of the First Nation.
Council must also create a policy for planning, scheduling, and carrying out internal evaluations of the financial management system of the First Nation. This includes any resolved action of any concerns that are found in these evaluations.
This policy must state that:
- internal evaluations must be done of all important activities and processes at least once each fiscal year
- the person doing the evaluation must not be involved in the operations area or activity that is being evaluated
- records must be made and kept of the evaluation’s findings and the resulting actions of any concerns found
This policy must also state that the people responsible for the management and operation of the First Nation’s financial management system must meet at least once a year.
At this meeting, they must review the following items from the previous quarters and up to the date of the meeting:
- the financial management system’s processes and procedures
- that all relevant laws are being followed
- the results of the external and internal evaluations
- the ways to improve processes that were brought up during the year, including their final results
- all committees’ terms of reference
- the organizational chart
This policy must also that the people who attend the meeting must prepare a report to be made available to Council, the Finance and Audit Committee, and the external and internal auditors.
This report must include:
- a statement of whether or not the financial management system maintains the rules and standards of all relevant laws, policies, procedures, and directions
- recommendations for any changes to those laws, policies, procedures, and directions that would be good for the financial management system
Review of the Financial Administration Law
Council must create a policy for reviewing the First Nation’s FAL at least once per year.
This policy must include the steps for:
- the ongoing review of the success of the FAL
- finding and noting any changes to the FAL based on the results of the above review
- how members of Council will be told about or involved in the approval of any suggested changes to the FAL
When a First Nation is ready to be tested for Financial Management System Certification, it must ask the FMB to conduct a formal review of its financial management system:
- the FMB will send a compliance approval for the First Nation’s FAL (under section 9 of the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, based on the FAL Standards)
- the compliance approval takes effect on the same date that the First Nation requests the review
- all the rules and standards of the approved FAL are in force
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