Write-off rights after a shared-service move
Role matrices often lag when receivables processing moves to a shared-service center — and the application still allows plant clerks to clear balances.
Shared-service transitions rearrange who should clear receivables. The receivables tracking application does not rearrange itself. In several audits we have found plant clerks retaining write-off limits that policy moved to the center months earlier.
Why it persists
Role templates are copied forward “temporarily.” Temporary becomes permanent when month-end pressure rises. The ledger still balances; the control story does not.
A practical sample
Pull the last quarter of write-offs. Match each to the user who posted it and the role that user holds today. If any poster’s role sits outside the current approval matrix, you have a finding — even if every amount was commercially justified.
Closing the gap
Split roles, lower plant limits to inquiry-only where policy requires it, and re-test with a follow-up sample. Paper memos that say “roles were reviewed” without a re-test leave the same risk in place.