MANPOWER AUDIT ADVISORY 3-20: FY20 FULL FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT MILITARY PAY (MILPAY) SAMPLE TESTING PROCEDURES FOR COMMANDS, INSTALLATION PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATIVE CENTERS (IPAC), MARFORRES CERTIFYING UNITS, AND STAND-ALONE ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS
Date Signed: 4/23/2020 | MARADMINS Number: 259/20
MARADMINS : 259/20

R 222009Z APR 20
MARADMIN 259/20
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC MRA DAG SECT WASHINGTON DC//
SUBJ/MANPOWER AUDIT ADVISORY 3-20:  FY20 FULL FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT MILITARY PAY (MILPAY) SAMPLE TESTING PROCEDURES FOR COMMANDS, INSTALLATION PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATIVE CENTERS (IPAC), MARFORRES CERTIFYING UNITS, AND STAND-ALONE ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS//
REF/A/MSGID: DOC/DOD/DOD FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT GUIDE/MAY2018//REF/B/MSGID: MSG/MX/100700ZMAR20//
NARR/REF A IS DOD FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT GUIDE.  REF B IS MARADMIN 154-20, MAA 2-20 SPARTA REGISTRATION FOR MILPAY SAMPLES.//
POC/MR. J. D. KENKEL/M&RA FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT LIAISON/TEL: 703-784-9564/EMAIL: JAMES.KENKEL@USMC.MIL//
POC/MR. M. R. BRANDON/M&RA MILPAY AUDIT LIAISON/TEL: 703-784-9507/EMAIL: MICHAEL.R.BRANDON@USMC.MIL//
POC/MR. K. J. RAFFERTY/M&RA CIVPAY AUDIT LIAISON/TEL: 703-784-4791/EMAIL: KEVIN.RAFFERTY@USMC.MIL//
POC/CWO5 R. L. SUMMERS/MCAAT OIC/TEL: 703-784-0099/EMAIL: ROGER.SUMMERS@USMC.MIL//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  Manpower Audit Advisories (MAA) are published to support audit readiness and to respond to audit findings under Manpower and Reserve Affairs Department’s (M&RA’s) responsibilities for the Military Pay (MILPAY) and Civilian Pay Lines of Business.
2. This MAA describes the process for responding to the Independent Public Accountant’s (IPA) substantive test of Marine Corps MILPAY accounts.  Substantive testing assesses the Marine Corps’ ability to demonstrate existence and completeness (E&C) of all Key Supporting Documents (KSD) required to substantiate MILPAY financial transactions.  The first iteration of MILPAY sample testing will cover the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 2020 (Q1 and Q2 FY20).  Based on prior years’ experience, the Marine Corps expects to receive approximately 3000 MILPAY samples during the initial sample test.
3. The MILPAY sample process has the following eight steps:
3.A.  Step 1: in accordance with the Warning Order in reference (b), IPACs, MARFORRES Certifying Units, and Stand-Alone Units prepare for FY20 MILPAY Audit samples, including Administrative Reporting Unit Code (ARUC) key command personnel registration in the SharePoint Audit Response Tracking Application (SPARTA).  SPARTA is the Marine Corps’ audit workflow management tool that provides a centralized location for all audit response efforts and requests for documentation.
3.B.  Step 2: Programs & Resources (P&R), Fiscal and Finance Kansas City and Indianapolis Branch provides the IPA the universe of Q1 and Q2 FY20 MILPAY financial transactions in a format known as Q-records. Q-Records depict payments made to individual Marines.
3.C.  Step 3: The IPA selects a statistically valid sample group of Electronic Data Interchange Personal Identifiers (EDIPIs) from the Q-Records, and the Department of Defense Inspector General approves the selected sample group.  The sample group is sent to P&R’s Technology Services Organization (TSO) and TSO attaches additional Marine Corps Total Force System (MCTFS) data elements to the sample records.
3.D.  Step 4:  P&R Risk and Compliance Branch (RFK) uploads the list of samples into SPARTA.  SPARTA sorts samples by ARUC and type of sample, and distributes the sample list to each ARUC.
3.E.  Step 5:  IPACs, MARFORRES Certifying Units, Stand-Alone Units, and Commands review their list of samples and produce required KSDs for each identified entitlement.  ARUCs will complete their response to all samples within five (5) working days of receiving them.
3.E.1.  KSD requirements for each sample will be governed by one of seven Substantive Testing Request Cover Letters, “A” through “G’:
3.E.1.A.  Base Pay: Cover Letter “A”.
3.E.1.B.  Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), and Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA) with Dependents: Cover Letter “B”.
3.E.1.C.  BAH and COLA without Dependents: Cover Letter “C”.
3.E.1.D. Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS): Cover Letter “D”.
3.E.1.E.  BAS Discounted Meal Rate (DMR): Cover Letter “E”.
3.E.1.F.  Selective Retention Bonus (SRB):  Cover Letter “F”.
3.E.1.G. Miscellaneous Entitlement:  Cover Letter “G”.
3.E.2.  Manpower and Reserve Affairs Department’s Manpower Strategy Branch (M&RA MX) will email Cover Letters for respective entitlements to affected ARUCs.  These Cover Letters are also located at the M&RA MX Branch Portal: https://www.manpower.usmc.mil/webcenter/portal/oracle/webcenter/page/scopedMD/s2d3e1edc_31ae_439c_8011_407027b19213/Page7b42ba55_f485_48d7_b217_c94c72816a37.jspx .
3.E.3.  All organizations providing KSDs must redact certain Personal Identifiable Information (PII) or Personal Health Information (PHI) data prior to loading the documents into SPARTA.
3.E.3.A.  Appendix B of reference (a) provides a detailed list of PII/PHI elements which must be redacted.  The best method of redaction is to use Adobe Acrobat Pro software that “blacks out” the sensitive information.  PII/PHI elements that must be redacted include:
3.E.3.A.1.  Social Security Number (SSN)-Full Number.
3.E.3.A.2.  Biometrics (specifically fingerprint or facial recognition data found on DD Form-4).
3.E.3.A.3.  Government Financial Information (e.g., government purchase card)—Full Number.
3.E.3.A.4.  Personal Financial Information (e.g., financial account or credit card number).
3.E.3.A.5.  Medical Information.
3.E.3.A.6.  Law Enforcement Information.
3.E.4.  ARUC administrators must mark the header and footer of each page of all KSDs “For Official Use Only” (FOUO) in red Times New Roman, 12-point font.  Using Adobe Acrobat Pro software is the easiest way to do this.
3.E.5. If any KSD is missing, and the ARUC has exhausted all means to locate it, the ARUC must provide a Letter of Explanation (LOE) explaining why they are not able to provide the KSD.  An LOE template is available via the M&RA MX portal.
3.E.6.  ARUCs will attach KSDs to a filled-out Cover Letter for that sample type and uploaded the package into SPARTA.  Leadership at each level is responsible for existence, completeness, and accuracy of each uploaded sample package. 
3.E.7.  Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Command responsibilities for MILPAY documentation can be found via the M&RA MX portal noted in paragraph 3.E.2. above.
3.F.  Step 6:  M&RA’s Marine Corps Administrative Analysis Team (MCAAT) performs a 100% Quality Control/Quality Assurance (QC/QA) review of each sample provided.  MCAAT ensures each element of the specific Cover Letter is answered with appropriate KSDs; proper redactions have occurred; and that each sample fully answers the IPA’s query.
3.F.1.  If the sample passes MCAAT QC/QA, then the samples will be forwarded in SPARTA to RFK for review.
3.F.2.  Sample which do not pass MCAAT QC/QA will be returned to the ARUC for correction.  MCAAT will notify M&RA leadership of all returned samples.
3.F.3.  The objective for each sample is to fully answer the IPA’s inquiries into Marines’ pay.  In many cases, only providing the requested KSDs will not fully explain specific pay events.  Therefore, in conjunction with providing the requested KSDs, units responding to each sample are responsible to ensure the IPA receives complete enough information about the sample to understand why, how, and by whom, any changes were approved.
3.G. Step 7: RFK’s Audit Section will perform a 10% QC screening of MILPAY samples.
3.G.1.  Samples that pass RFK QC will be forwarded to the IPA.
3.G.2.  Samples that do not pass RFK QC will be returned to M&RA MX/MCAAT for further action.
3.G.2.A.  MX/MCAAT will either fix the samples or return them via SPARTA to the originating ARUC for correction.
3.G.2.B.  Corrected samples will then be returned back to MCAAT for another QC and if acceptable sent to RFK for an additional QC review.
3.H.  Step 8: The IPA conducts its analysis of each sample.  The IPA may request additional information via Follow-Up Questions (FUQs).  FUQs may be answered by M&RA MX/MCAAT or sent back to the originating ARUC via SPART to answer or provide additional KSDs.
3.I.  The MILPAY Sample process ends when 100% of the samples are addressed and accepted by the IPA.
4. Parent Commands will make Marines available, as necessary, to provide KSDs required for timely sample response.
5. This MARADMIN is applicable to the Marine Corps Total Force.
6. Release authorized by Lieutenant General M. A. Rocco, Deputy Commandant, Manpower and Reserve Affairs.//