2017 Finance Annual Report

CITY OF SURREY OVERVIEWS FINANCE DEPARTMENT

The Finance Department provides financial expertise, risk management, internal audit services and guidance to support all City operations. It delivers responsive services and innovative solutions to streamline processes and facilitate citywide gains in efficiencies. In addition to leading process improvements, it sets and maintains financial practices, policies and standards. The department’s core services include:

BUDGET & COMPLIANCE Budget and Compliance includes annual budget development, financial compliance, commodity taxes and internal audit. Internal Audit is responsible for reviewing business processes, policies and procedures for efficiency, control and compliance. It also investigates internal and external breaches of control, conducts specialized projects, investigates breaches related to the City’s Code of Conduct Bylaw, provides commodity tax services to the City and develops the annual Corporate Audit Plan. FINANCIAL REPORTING Financial Reporting includes long-term financial planning, accounting, procurement and statutory financial reporting; responsible for presenting an annual five-year financial plan which establishes financial and programming priorities. The Financial Reporting section also keeps management and Council informed about the City’s financial performance on a quarterly basis, ensuring the City meets its annual budget and targeted savings. FINANCIAL SERVICES Financial Services includes payroll, long-term capital planning and taxation. Staff calculate, levy, and collect property taxes, water and sewer billing and other payments, to ensure completeness and accuracy. Payroll ensures that all staff are paid correctly on a bi-weekly basis.

PROCUREMENT SERVICES Procurement Services coordinates the purchasing of high quality, cost- effective goods and services, while ensuring policies are followed and best practices implemented. The Procurement Services section follows applicable legislation and ensures appropriate public and competitive processes are applied. RISK MANAGEMENT Risk Management provides service and expertise in risk management, insurance, claims, litigation and loss control. By incorporating effective Risk Management practices, the City is able to identify, manage and reduce the overall cost of risk. TREASURY OPERATIONS Treasury Operations monitors cash flow and invests funds for maximum return while minimizing risk and adhering to the City’s Investment Policy. Staff ensure that supplier invoices are paid in a timely manner and also oversee billing and prompt collection of receivables. This group is responsible for the City’s relationship with its financial institution and credit/debit card payment processor and also assists City departments in obtaining securities by way of Letters of Credit. Treasury Operations oversees the recording and financial reporting for the City’s vast inventory of capital assets and is responsible for consolidation accounting for the City’s subsidiaries.

2 0 1 7 A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S • Provided financial controls, related guidance and support to continuous improvement projects completed in the year.

• Received the Canadian Award for Financial Reporting for the 2016 Annual Report, the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the 2017-2021 Financial Plan and the Popular Annual Financial Reporting Award for the 2016 Annual Report Highlights. • Continued to develop the Financial Management System, upgrading the processes, adding increased functionality and continuing with overall process efficiencies. • Continued to manage and improve our total cost of risk. • Improved risk identification and treatment options and processes. • Simplified, clarified and streamlined the procurement process at the City of Surrey and completed evaluation to ensure that all controls and processes in place are appropriately calculating and applying taxes, levies and charges correctly.

• Continued to utilize a collection agency to ensure efficient revenue collection and the reduction of bad debts and continued to track accounts receivable key performance indicators to better focus collection efforts. • Worked on improving E-Finance services such as e-billing, invoice submission and electronic fund transfers. • Provided risk management advice to the Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy as a member of the advisory committee. • Promoted e-invoice remittance and e-payments for vendors and continued to promote e-invoice remittance payments for vendors. • Completed a review of the Contract Module in our Financial Management System to facilitate improved efficiencies and reporting and ensured that all financial transactions and reporting met appropriate statutory requirements.

• Provided financial analysis and advice on City initiatives and continued to promote efficiency in standardizing business processes. • Improved the utility billing process by creating new reports to capture updated client information. • Assisted Corporate Security in conducting threat analysis for facilities, staff and events. • Transitioned water meter requests from paper filing to digital storage, resulting in savings for off-site storage costs.

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