Audit of capital assets management: chapter 6


Annex 1 - Audit Methodology

The audit was carried out using a combination of interviews, questionnaires, testing and extensive document review.

The audit was largely carried out by a consultant with support by internal staff. It was conducted in the NCR but did include limited visits in the Ontario Region. Interviews in other regions were carried out by teleconference or e-mail.

As the audit covered a very broad scope, it was conducted at a high-level to identify areas of highest risk and the team drilled down deeper in those areas.

To make it clearer for the reader, we have defined the following terms for the purposes of this report. The definitions were based on TB definitions somewhat modified to fit the needs of this report:

Capital Assets: Capital assets have a value of more than $10K, are not “consumed” during their normal use, and have an economic life that exceeds the fiscal year in which they are acquired. For the purpose of this report, capital assets include on-road transportation assets, science and technical assets, real property and betterments to real property, they specifically excludes land, furniture and IT equipment.

Framework: A framework is a foundational set of tools used for the management of a function. A framework’s purpose is to guide the effective implementation of a broad management direction within the organization in order to achieve coherent and uniform results. A framework includes:

  • Appropriate accountability and decision making structures (organization);
  • A policy and procedure suite that establishes and communicates the source of authority for the function, the roles and responsibilities,
  • The processes and procedures for managing the function;
  • The management and financial information necessary to support decision making and performance monitoring for the function.

A framework may include subordinate frameworks;

Lifecycle Management: The lifecycle of a capital asset includes all stages of the asset’s life, from planning for its acquisition, its actual acquisition, its installation and configuration, its maintenance, use and operations, and its replacement or disposal. Treasury Board describes lifecycle management as the effective and efficient management of assets from the identification of program’s requirements through to the eventual disposal of the assets.”

Page details

Date modified: