The Legislative Audit Bureau released a 2012-’13 audit Tuesday indicating the University of Wisconsin System’s payroll reporting is not secure.
The UW System uses the Human Resources System to process and record employee payroll. The bureau reviewed the UW System’s progress in addressing security concerns.
The bureau found a “material weakness” in how much control employees have in the payroll system, meaning there is a “reasonable possibility” the UW System could not prevent nor detect financial misstatements.
A material weakness is more severe than the 2010-’11 status of “significant deficiency.”
In 2011, the bureau recommended UW System Administration take measures to prevent anyone from creating a fake payroll account or processing “inappropriate” payments.
The UW System indicated it would begin the security role review early in 2013 in response to the 2012 recommendation. However, the bureau again found incompatible access in this audit. According to the report, HRS security concerns remained largely unresolved by the UW System.
The bureau recommended the UW System Administration report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee by July 1, 2014, on the status of efforts to resolve security concerns.
The bureau also reviewed the UW System’s program revenue balances for the fiscal year. UW System revenue increased by 3.9 percent, from $4.9 billion in the fiscal year 2011-’12 to $5.1 billion in 2012-’13.
The largest revenue came from student tuition and fees, and the largest expense went to salary and fringe benefits, totaling nearly $2.9 billion.
The audit follows a previous report indicating the UW System made $33 million in overpayments.
