GNNL racks up $2.4M fuel bill for rented vehicles

Forensic Audit

The forensic audit conducted on the State-owned Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL) has revealed that the company spent in excess of $2 million on fuel for vehicles that were rented.

According to the auditor, Parmesar, all gas bills were reviewed for the period December 2011 to May 2015 amounting to $2.5 million and it was observed that gas to the tune of $2.4 million was supplied to several vehicles that were not owned by GNNL.

These include: PMM 44 – $236,140; PHH 7738 – $1,371,003; PKK 2895 – $437,969; PKK 925 – $328,910; PRR 491 – $18,895, and PJJ 7546 $20,264. “Management advised that these vehicles were rented for Company use and contracts were seen,” the auditor stated.

It was recommended that “GNNL should ensure that all gas bills processed by the company are for company vehicles.”

Parmesar further outlined in the report that there was poor oversight over trade receivables after the balance almost doubled within five years to a whopping $102,489,156 outstanding at May 31, 2015. At December 31, 2011 the receivable balance outstanding was $59 million. It then rose to $71.5 million at the end of December 2012; $85.5 million at end of December 2013, and $90.9 million at the end of December 2014.

“There is not adequate evidence to confirm that significant efforts were made to collect the debts outstanding,” the auditor pointed out.

Moreover, the report outlined that the top ten receivable balance amounts to some $88,981,814 as at May 31, 2015. Among these customers is the Government Information Agency with a debt of $74,091,147 for advertisements printed in the newspaper for several government agencies. “There is no evidence that the Company made efforts to recover this debt,” Parmesar noted.

On the other hand, the auditor highlighted that the omission of billings for several Political advertisements in 2015. “Based on our review of the system, it was identified that a few advertisements were not invoiced to Video Mega Production – agent for A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC),” he stated.

The ads in question were three 14×6 – all published on May 7, 2015 amounting to $263,088. “After this matter was raised during our review, the above amounts were incorporated in the accounting record through general journal in October 2015,” the auditor stated.

These matters bring to the fore, the issue of credit control. According to Parmesar, once a sale has been made, it is the duty of credit control to monitor the accounts to ensure that payment is commenced within the normal credit period and that any accounts which are not settled promptly are investigated and appropriate action taken.

“Credit sales to customers should be approved by authorised personnel of the company based on approved credit established,” the audited stressed.

In this regard, Parmesar recommended that systems be implemented to ensure all advertisements printed by GNNL are invoiced to customers. Recommendations were also made for systems to be implemented to ensure that all statutory audits are completed on a timely basis.

“GNNL should establish a debt collection committee with specific responsibility to collect all outstanding debts within six months. Establish definitive credit policy which should be documented and approved by the Board of Directors,” the auditors recommended.