Paper 3 Internal Audit Report New Finance System Cover

Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

Audit and Risk Com­mit­tee Paper 3 13 March 2026 Page 1 of 2

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For decision

Title: Intern­al audit plan ²⁰²⁵⁄₂₆: New Fin­ance System

Cov­er Paper: Louise Allen, Head of Fin­ance and Cor­por­ate Operations

Report sub­mit­ted by: Peter Clark, Scott McCready, wbg

Pur­pose

This paper presents the Intern­al Auditor’s review of the imple­ment­a­tion of the Park Authority’s new fin­ance sys­tem and was con­duc­ted as part of the agreed plan of work for 2025 – 26 (Annex 1). The pur­pose of this review was:

• a) to assess wheth­er the sys­tem is work­ing as anti­cip­ated, and
• b) to review the imple­ment­a­tion pro­cess to assess wheth­er dead­lines and costs were met, and that staff have received suf­fi­cient train­ing on the system.

Recom­mend­a­tions

The Audit and Risk Com­mit­tee is asked to

• c) Con­sider the intern­al aud­it­ors report and findings.
• d) Endorse the man­age­ment responses to recom­mend­a­tions for future action and improvements.

Exec­ut­ive Summary

1. Wbg have com­pleted their intern­al audit review of the imple­ment­a­tion of the Park Authority’s new fin­ance system.
2. Four con­trol object­ives were audited:
   • a) The new Fin­ance Sys­tem is fit for pur­pose and oper­at­ing in line with good practice
   • b) Data has been accur­ately trans­ferred from the pre­vi­ous fin­ance system
   • c) Suf­fi­cient train­ing has been giv­en to those staff who will be using the new fin­ance system
   • d) Appro­pri­ate con­trols have been put in place over the new fin­ance sys­tem, and these are being adhered to by staff.

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Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh

Audit and Risk Com­mit­tee Paper 3 13 March 2026 Page 2 of 2

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1. A sub­stan­tial level of assur­ance was provided in rela­tion to the imple­ment­a­tion of the Authority’s new fin­ance system.
2. One medi­um-grade recom­mend­a­tion was made:
   • i. The Park Author­ity should imple­ment a restric­tion on the indi­vidu­als who can have pur­chase approv­al del­eg­ated to them through the Out-of-Office func­tion. This should ensure that options are restric­ted only to those in a high­er pos­i­tion with­in the same approv­al workflow.
3. The Intern­al Aud­it­or also made two obser­va­tions in respect of the Fin­ance team’s aspir­a­tions for, and ongo­ing work towards, fur­ther devel­op­ment of the system.
4. The recom­mend­a­tion made was accep­ted by management.

Louise Allen 02 March 2026 louiseallen@​cairngorms.​co.​uk