At the beginning of the proceedings, National Assembly Secretary General Veljko Odalovic greeted the participants emphasising the introduction and development of internal control as an important segment in the functioning of the National Assembly Service. He reminded them that the National Assembly has established the institute of internal audit and continues to establish internal control of the labour process throughout the Service.
The participants were also greeted by the Assistant Minister of Finance and Head of the Central Harmonisation Unit Goran Cvejic who gave a chronological summary of the development of audit control in Serbia in light of its compliance with European legislation. Cvejic also stressed that the Ministry of Finance had completed the development phase of internal audit control and was now working on improving it.
The Head of the Internal Audit Sector of the Ministry of Finance Slobodan Gavrovic gave the participants introductory notes on financial management and control, explaining that internal financial control in the public sector included all measures of control and management of all state revenues, expenditure, funds and obligations and that the overall purpose of internal control was to assist the organisation in the achievement of set goals. In addition, in the course of the presentation, Gavrovic gave a review of the COSO framework.
Vesna Jovcic, coordinator at the Internal Audit Sector, explained the role of the organisation in the process. Management policies, procedures and practice should promote a systematic, ethical, economical, efficient and effective conduct, stated Jovcic adding that internal auditors play an important role in assessing the adequacy and effectiveness of the system of control and contribute to its constant improvement.
Ljiljana Pavlovic, independent coordinator at the Financial Management and Control Sector, presented control activities such as policies and procedures ensuring the implementation of processes identified as essential for adequate and timely risk management.
Zoran Zivojinovic, independent coordinator at the Internal Audit Sector, analysed risk assessment mechanisms focusing on financial and operative risk, as well as risk to the organisation’s reputation. Zivojinovic also presented a review (analysis) of the implementation of internal control in the organisation.
Ljubinko Stanojevic, Head of the Financial Management and Control Sector, gave an interactive presentation of an internal control case study and toward the end of the presentation, Ruzica Simic, independent coordinator at the Financial Management and Control Sector, delineated one possible drafting method for operating process maps.
The presentation titled “Introduction to Internal Control” for the employees at the National Assembly Service aimed to introduce the employees to the importance of financial audits, internal audits, as well as the system of internal control as a whole. The National Assembly has initiated the process of establishing internal control, drafting of operating processes throughout the Service, as well as mapping operating processes which will, with consideration of all the risks, lead to the drafting of written procedures and competent internal control of the labour process at the National Assembly Service.