(The Center Square) — The Louisiana Department of Revenue has not maintained adequate controls over payroll for the last two years, increasing the risk of errors or fraud, according to the Louisiana legislative auditor.
“For the second consecutive year, LDR did not maintain adequate controls over payroll processing, which resulted in untimely or lack of certification of time statements by employees and untimely or lack of approval of time statements by supervisors,” auditors wrote in a report issued last week.
Department employees are required by policy to certify their time statements, which are approved by supervisors and monitored by timekeepers through the e-certification process.
Auditors reviewed 6,899 time statements between Jan. 9, 2023 and June 30, 2023, and found 280, or about 4%, were certified by employees between one and 83 days late. Another 141, or about 2%, did not certify the statements at all.
A review of 6,927 time statements for supervisor approval found 856, or more than 12%, were approved between one and 144 days after the payroll posting. In contrast, 209, or about 3%, were never approved, according to the report.