Understanding the Library

The Library was developed to help standardize the examination process from agency to agency. The library contains four types of items: procedures, information requests, references and areas for review.

Types of Library Items

  • procedures: Entries used to guide examiners during the examination in the review of company documentation or compliance with statutes, regulations, and other requirements.
  • Information Request (IR): Entries used to request information and documentation from a company for the examination. In SES, the IRs are divided into “standard” requests and “state-specific” requests.
  • references: Workpapers, templates, websites, and/or any other supplemental reference material that an agency may choose to use used to support the supervision process, and to better navigate SES.
  • Area for Review (AFR): A topic of regulatory review that can be used to define the scope of an examination or investigation. It assists in categorizing the Information Requests and Procedures in an examination.
  • Work Programs:SES functionality that automatically builds the scope of an examination, including areas for review and information requests, based on the business type and business activities of the company being examined. The work program incorporates a “badge feature” when its key AFRs are used and also shows the program’s affiliation where applicable (e.g., MTRA, NACCA). The badge feature assists agencies in determining which examinations they want to review for leveraging or acceptance of exams.

Library Management

Agency-Specific Library Items
Agencies can manage their own state-specific IRs, procedures, and references. These state-specific items should be unique or different from a standard library item, whereby the agency cannot rely solely on the standard.
Standard IRs and Procedures
These items are available in SES to facilitate the harmonization of exam activities among state agencies, by offering a uniform set of information requests and procedures for use by all state agency users. CSBS works and coordinates with its sister trade associations and agency working groups to implement, maintain, and update the standards in the system.
Core
Core and non-core labels are attributes associated with information requests and procedures that control whether these items will be automatically retrieved from the library and inserted directly into an exam record given the exam’s business activities and scope selections.
The core designation can be applied to both standard and agency-specific procedures and information requests.
  • CSBS staff, with guidance from the appropriate governing bodies, manage the scope types for the standard IRs and procedures.
  • Agencies manage the scope types for their own state-specific library items.
Core Information Requests are automatically pulled on to an exam or investigation once scope is marked complete. Core procedures are automatically pulled on to an exam or investigation once the supervisory activity is moved to the “In-Flight” milestone. Attributes the system uses to make this determination:
  • Scope Type
  • Business Activities
  • AFR
Non-core
Non-core Procedures and Non-core Information Requests will not be automatically added to an exam or investigation, but can be easily added if appropriate. Attributes the system uses to determine IRs and procedures available for quick add:
  • Scope Type
  • Business Activities
  • AFR