Agenda Item
1. Purchasing Card Audit ~ Updated 9.4.2025
Summary: Presented by: Mr. Joel B. Thibodeaux, Executive Director of Internal Audits & Compliance, Chief of Staff Division
Contact: Mr. Joel B. Thibodeaux, Executive Director of Internal Audits & Compliance, Chief of Staff Division, 678.676.0740
DeKalb County Board of Education
Audit Committee Meeting
September 4, 2025
Purchasing Card Audit Report
Presented by: Joel Thibodeaux – Director of Audits & Compliance
Contracted Auditors: Forvis-Mazars, LLP – Dr. Jamie Amos PMP, CFE
Audit Purpose & Scope
The DeKalb County Board of Education requested that an
independent, third-party audit be conducted on the District’s
Purchasing Card program. The purpose of this audit was to assess
and provide assurance of the following:
• That Purchase Card Policies (DCSD Board Policy DJE and DJE-R(1)) are
aligned with regulatory requirements and government best practices
• That Purchase Card Security is effectively implemented and
maintained
• That processes, approvals, and other controls governing Purchase
Card Use are adequately implemented, effective, and enforced.
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Audit Deliverables
• Comprehensive Final Report that includes but is not limited to
presenting:
• Strengths
• Potential or existing control weaknesses.
• Failures in card security, use, and processing.
• Recommendations: Final report shall also include recommendations
for remediation, process improvement, ongoing monitoring, and
transaction auditing.
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Internal Staff Engaged
Engaged the following personnel in Finance-Vendor Services:
Process Owners:
Ms. Carla Smith – Executive Director, Vendor Services
Mr. Weyman “Fred” Christopher – Procurement Manager III, Non-Capital
Support:
Mr. Byron Schueneman – DCSD Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Lauren Scott – DCSD Deputy Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Victoria King – Administrative Assistant, Internal Audits & Compliance
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Assessment Summary
CONTROL RISK CURRENT RISK
ACTIVITIES CONTROL
RATING RATING RATING
DCSD has established policies and
Needs
Purchase Card Policy procedures to effectively oversee the Key High
Improvement
purchase card process
DCSD issued purchasing cards in
Purchase Card Issuance accordance with the policy and Key High Satisfactory
procedure
Purchasing cardholders must be
Purchase Card Issuance approved by their Department Head Key High Satisfactory
before being issued a purchasing card.
Purchasing cardholders must complete
Purchase Card Issuance training and sign the purchase card Key High Satisfactory
agreement.
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Assessment Summary
CONTROL RISK CURRENT RISK
ACTIVITIES CONTROL
RATING RATING RATING
Purchasing cards belonging to former
DCSD employees are first assigned a
‘null’ status and subsequently
deactivated. A reconciliation process is
Purchase Card Security Key High Satisfactory
then performed to ensure consistency
across all related records, including
invoices, purchase card amounts, and
expense summary reports.
Purchasing cards are assigned a “null”
status to suspend the ability to make
Purchase Card Security Key Moderate Satisfactory
purchases for a certain amount of time
as a form of security.
According to policy, all purchasing card
Needs
Purchase Card Use holders are restricted to a daily limit of Key High
Improvement 8
$5,000 per day per swipe.
Assessment Summary
CONTROL RISK CURRENT RISK
ACTIVITIES CONTROL
RATING RATING RATING
According to policy, all purchasing
Needs
Purchase Card Use cardholders are restricted to a monthly Key High
Improvement
limit of $20,000.
Purchasing cardholders are limited to
specific types of purchases based on Needs
Purchase Card Use Key High
the Merchant Category Codes (MCC) Improvement
assigned to their card type
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Findings & Recommendations
Finding Recommendation
The Purchasing Card policy lacks clarity regarding the CFO’s approval of DCSD policies and procedures should be updated to clearly
designated officials authorized to receive a purchasing card and does not outline the chief financial officer’s approval authority and define
clearly articulate the purchasing limit of the School Board and the purchasing limits for the school board and superintendent.
Superintendent.
The statuses of deactivated or suspended purchasing cards are unclear and DCSD should define and establish a consistent process for
not explicitly defined in the policy. deactivating and suspending cards and should incorporate this
process into the policy.
Due to insufficient processing controls implemented by the bank, DCSD should work with the issuing bank to put controls in place
purchasing cardholders were able to exceed the $5,000 daily transaction to limit daily ($5,000) and monthly ($20,000) spending.
limit and $20,000 monthly limit outlined in the established policy. This
lapse indicates a breakdown in the enforcement of policy thresholds and
may expose the organization to financial and compliance risks.
Due to insufficient processing controls implemented by the bank, DCSD should work with the issuing bank to put controls in place
purchasing cardholders were able to make prohibited transactions, as to limit card use to approved vendors. Additionally, the district
defined by the Merchant Category Code (MCC) restrictions associated with should implement ongoing monitoring of cardholder transactions
their cardholder profiles. to verify compliance with assigned profile parameters and take
corrective action when deviations occur.
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PURCHASING CARD AUDIT
QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
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