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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-11-23 93-37 ORDERWas WV,11-2392 Item No. 93-37 OlMER, AdopLL Cash ""`adl 9 and nmm "s l ity Follcy as an Item/Subject: F1ao?nt of t3 C£ty of Bon9ot's Ffsoncial Pxocrfbines Memel Responsible Department: Ffnarea DapacmemK Commentary: Aa } ate aeons, we have been paciotlitally co,dm2 foxwe 1 to ttie Cn :l with vanioue ft mrc l palicies to De adopted one an element of crux overall Fitatciel e...v,a..o= Manual. g putty eA.ich is before } Ude everdm deals vrith cash heMling ane +s�ity. 'this a rot x....saMfseas reit in of Uie City's pretties, esquires an arnual neriew of x1w is hartllincj cash on bela.lf of the Uty, and robot safeguards ane 1n place t i protect the City's assets. It also tha tnmie£er of infomation bet n axaide offices aM the lkeasuty tlffice, aM requires a starsdazd report boom for auditing p rpcees. Since tha Leat mdit saapsnct was Lannert, tbs xeca p; force used in Tcessuny Office have been xe Ignsrl amt aerial mmbad. T E licy w 1 provide ilie far tracking traneactiwls cxt : of Ura Tnaaemy Office. Th1a poLicy bas been xeviea9i am appnmed by the Ftnege Cmmittee aid 3 before yce tonight for your adoptias. Deportment Head Manager'sComments: This Le an ongoing project. I iecaaved }out apl¢wal of ttsis el®ent of tris policy. tyMvwger Associaxtl Information: Order, policy Budget Approval: Finance D"et" Legal Approval: 11 ASn➢vavr Introduced For Passage L First Reading Page _ of ❑ Referral 9i -i: A%igoedto Councilor Sallivnn, November 23, 1992 CITY OF BANGOR (TITLE.) (PtUTs--------- .xtptUg case..Handling _aw..rccaurcnnil.fcy. mluy-ea. en........... eleoent of t City of Bs is Ffiwioial Awed aes tivmal Bywo"Rouasl!Olds CUVODa : OEDEEEDv MT tee a[fxt i Cash IN 1l and ParomKability P Ili is emeby a arcl made art elesent of t City of By 's Fineecial Ptocxlu2es Mvmal. IN CITY COUNCIL November 23, 1992 Passed CITY CIM 93-3] O RDCR Title, Ado ting Cash Handling and Accountability Policy as an ' � urh of te City of Bangor's Financial Procedures eeN .............. CC' �gned to I........... Councilman 93-3] City of Bangor Financial Procedures Manual Cash Handling and Accountability - Purpose: The purpose of this section is to document the manner in which payments e received by the City of Bangor and bank deposits are made. The handling of cash and checks received on behalf of the City of Bangor requires standardized practices and segregation of duties to protect the city and the public from the loss of its assets. This section is not intended to be all inclusive, and is subject to change as conditions warrant. Responsibility of the City Treasurer: The City Treasurer is responsible for the receipt of payments on behalf of the City of Bangor, assuring adequate controls to safeguard the city's seta, timely deposit of monies, investment of funds and disbursement by warrant. Payments of real estate and personal property taxes,, excise taxes, permits and Licenses, accounts receivable, loans receivable, and other fees and charges will be made at the Treasury Office, except where the interest of the city and the public are served by other payment locations. Such other payment locations include, but are not limited to, City Clerk's Office, The Bus, school lunch and adult education programs, Airport, Nursing Facility, Golf Course, Bass Park, parking lots and Police Station for parking tickets. The City Treasurer will be knowledgable of the payment, proof and deposit practices and procedures of each payment location to assure the public's protection. Responsibility of Other Department Payment Locations Each year, departments will provide a statement for each payment location they operate an behalf of the city. That statement will include the purpose or nature of those receipts which they collect, the name of the personnel assigned to collect payments, and the controls in place to - protect the city's interest. From time to time the statements will be verified by appropriate internal audit testing and review. These statements will also be available to the city auditor for external audit review, and for insurance company review in preparation of bond applications and any claims which the city may file. The information contained on the statements should be kept up date. and refiled when there are changes in procedures and/or personnel. Based n the information contained departments may be required to change certain of their practices to assure segregation of duties and appropriate security levels. The purpose of any change is be the protection of public �J assets. (See SAMPLE 1�. Cash Controls: Each customer who pays monies to the city will be provided a receipt for that payment, except in the case of The Bus. That reeipt may be a cash register receipt, validated copy of a city invoice or tax bill or a preprinted and prenumbered receipt. A customer's check will not act as a receipt. Each transaction will be documented and the documentation included in the day's cash up work. No office will accept payments without the knowledge and consent of the Treasurer or without a system which tracks and records payments and provides receipts. Access to cash, checks and receipts will be limited to cashiers. Cashiering isnot a shared responsibility which anyone in the office may exercise but must be prudently exercised by, identified personnel. The cashier's work and cash drawer most be removed from public access and the the drawer must be secured when unattended by the cashier. Cash up at the day's end will be removed from public access, and to the extent possible, removed from public sight and/or other employee operations. Each day's work shall be proved up between the transaction register or cash register, the receipts, and the cash/checks on hand. A bank deposit will be prepared for all cash and checks, except for the change fund. Overage and shortages will be reviewed by the office supervisor, division r department head or other designated employee. The day's start and end transaction numbers will be recorded, and each day's start number will be compared to the prior day's end number to assure that no anunted for activity w entered. The change fund will not be left inaccash register overnight and receipt forms should not be left out. Both should be secured under lock and key in a limited access area. The daily deposit will be brought to the bank by the department i a n locked bank bag. Non-locking bags, including c money bags and pencil case bags will not be used. The Treasury Office will pickup the bank bags at the bank, verify and record the deposit amount and date, and then make the bank bags available for pickup. Dm not hold daily reports to the Treasury Office waiting for bank deposit receipts. Departments will review their cash handling procedures to determine how well they comply. The City Treasurer can meet with you and review your practices and working arrangements to determine if you are appropriately safeguarding the city's assets and what improvements, if needed, could be made. Certain safeguards include but are not limited to: 1. Limiting public and non ashier employee access to cash, checks, cash registers and receipt forms. 2. Recording the start and ending transactions and receipts numbers with each day's work, and verifying that the next day's start number s the same as the prior day's end number. 3. Saving any and all spoiled forma, marking them -VOID- and forwarding to the treasury Office with the day's work. 6. Accurately and completely preparing the daily deposit assuring that each check is listed on the deposit form and that any check which may be returned is treatable to a transaction. 5. That cash drawers, receipts and related forme are kept under lock and key, especially if the cashier is away from the area and that the change fund and receipts are not left in the cash register overnight but are secured under lock and key in a limited access area. 6. That only authorized cashier personnel have access to a safe, locking cabinets or other secure places during and after business hours. y. That discrepancies, including overages and shortages, are dealt with immediately and not delayed. 8. Cash register tapes are appropriately label for each days work and retained, as are daily cash register clearing totals. Reporting to the Treasury Office: Department will report their cash/check receipt activity to the Treasury Office daily. The Report of Daily Cashier Activity and Proof Statement will be prepared daily and forwarded to Treasury. That form will be used to report the day's transaction start and end numbers, receipt start and end numbers, total of transactions, total cash and checks, and the deposit amount. A separate statement of accounts to be credited along with copies of receipts will also be included. Where an office uses cash register rather than written receipts, a photocopy of the and of day registered total should be attached for verification. This report should be prepared and forwarded every day, even if there were o transactions to report. Also, do not hold this report pending receipt of the validated bank receipt, it will be received and cross-referenced at the Treasury office. The daily cashier report will be prepared in triplicate with the department retaining the third copy for its files and forwarding the original and one copy to the Treasury Office. After verifying the report and entering the account data, the report will be validated and one copy returned to the department as proof of receipt. The sending department and the Treasury Office will each maintain a log of receipts and amounts sent and received showing the serial number of the r eipt. Spoiled receipts and forms should not be destroyed. They should be marked "VOID", listed on the log as voided and forwarded to the Treasury Office. A deposit log showing each day's activities will be maintained by the department which shows the date of activity, the amount deposited, the bank bag number, and the date Treasury returned the validated report. Departments must use the prenumbered daily cashier reports in sequence to assure the integrity of the loge. Monthly the log will be cross footed for comparison to the monthly revenue report and to assure that there a n unreasonable delays i receiving validated reports from Treasury. If validated receipt forms r a not returned by Treasury i n a timely manner, the department should check with Treasury to determine if the reportwas received and processed. Treasury should also check with departments if the numbering sequence is broken. Discrepancies should be reported to the Accounting Office. Timing maybe issuean since a department's daily work on the last day of the month may not bereceived and validated by Treasury until the start of the next month. (See SAMPLE 2). Treasury Office: The Treasury Office will maintain a log of daily cashier reports. The purpose of this log is to maintain a audit trail of reports received, and u to assure timely processing of those reports. Voided reports will be logged on the same log and marked "VOIDED", and the spoiled form will be maintained inseparate file for the balance of the fiscal year. A separate log will also be maintained for spoiled forms. At the end of the fiscal year, all "VOIDED" receipt forme will be bundled and filed with copies of the receipts processed. (See: SAMPLE 3). Bank Deposit Tickets: Each department will be provided with a book of bank deposit tickets. Each check being deposited must be listed in the deposit ticket and the checks and cash totaled as required by the bank. Bach deposit ticket should have the name of the depositing department or office written on the ticket. The deposit ticket should be prepared in triplicate: original for the bank, oncopy for Treasury and o copy for the department. Photocopies maybe maintained by the department. The Treasury copy should be attached to the daily cashier report. Validated bank deposit tickets will be received at the Treasury Office when bank bags are picked up. The validated bank ticket will be verified and recorded on the Treasury log. If deposits are made ev r the counter at the bank by a department rather than through night drop, the receipt should be promptly forwarded to Treasury. Do not hold the daily cashier's report until the department receives the bank deposit ticket. Each check deposited must be cross referenced to a transaction so that returned checks can be traced. That cross reference could be a parking ticket number, account o receivable number, or part of the endorsement, such as "Deposit to City of Bangor, Parks s Recreation Department...". Returned checks are received at the Treasury Office, and cross referencing on the check allows researching of the transaction and account credited, Deposits: The Treasury Office will maintain a log of bank deposits made. Deposits made by other departments will be recorded from the daily cashier's report. The purpose of this log is to maintain a record of when deposits were prepared and forwarded to the bank and when the deposit ticket was returned by the bank. In this manner the Treasury Office will be able to determine if a deposit receipt from the bank is missing and the amount of deposits in transit for bank statement reconciliations. (See: SAMPLE 4). Checks: Each cashier will review the check for: name, address and telephone number, preferably preprinted( check is not postdated nor staled dated (more than 6 months old); the payee is "City of Bangor if its is some other variation than the endorsement most reflect the payee indicated; the numbers and written amount are the sees and the check is signed. A cross-reference of aaunt number, transactions or by endorsement must be written o stumpedoncheck by the cashier. Third party checks should not be accepted for payment. Checks will not be cashed and change will not be made. Overpayments by check will be refunded by check through the requisition process. The prohibition on check cashing extends to city payroll, city accounts payable and employee personal checks, Returned checks will be assessed a $20.00 fee per Council Order 92-71. Returned Checks: The Accounting Office isresponsible for collecting returned checks. The Accounting Office will deduct the value of the returned check from the account credited. Collection letters will be sent from the Accounting Office, and departments will be advised of deductions to heir accounts due to returned checks. Departments maybe requested to assist in locating o contacting the check writer, but custody of the check will remain with the Accounting Office and not be forwarded to another department. Checks will be returned to the check maker when redeemed. There is a $20.00 returned check fee which will be credited to General Fund revenues. The exception to this will be school department checks. The school department, at its choice, may redeem its returned checks and then undertaken its own collection activity. Data Entry: Currently, no department other than Finance has access to direct entry of ash receipts data into the accounting system. All postings of cash receipts are made by the Treasury or Accounting Offices. Changes in the computer system could make off-site collections part of the data input system, but this is not envisioned in the near term. In assigning account unt numbers for payments, no payments are to be credited to a expenditure or c a "99 Credits' account number without express permission of the Finance Director or School Business Manager. SAMPLE 1 City of Bangor Report of Cashier Locations Date Prepared: Name of Preparer: 1. The Department/Division collects revenues and Payments on behalf of the City of Bangor for the following purposes: 2. Payments are collected at the following location (prepare one report for each location): 3. Payments are received by the following personnel: 6. Receipts are _ are not provided to customers making payments. All customers? Some customers? If requested? Check serves as receipt? 5. Payments a are not rung through a cash register. If not, how are they recorded and verified at the end of the day? 6. Cash up of the day's receipts are counted and verified by one _ or more _ person. 7. Cash up variances, such as cash over or short, are resolved by whom, cashier or third party/superviaor . e. Do individual cashiers have restricted access to their cash or is there a coon cash drawer with multiple cashier access? Restricted multiple cashier access 9. Do other non -cashier personnel have access to cash drawers] Yes No , if yes who safe , locked desk drawer 30. The personnel primarily charged with verifying the cash up are: 11. Cash up is completed daily _, more than once a day _, or less then once a day _. 12. Deposits aanot made directly to the city's bank ac- count. Assigned bank deposit bag numbers are: 13. personnel with access to the bank deposit bag key(s) are. 14. Bank deposits are prepared by the following personnel:. 15. Monies a enot maintained o site overnight, i a: safe , locked desk drawer or cabinet _n other security (ex plain//pacify) 16. The following personnel have access to the secured storage location (DO NOT WHITE DOWN THE SAFE COMBINATION, ONLY THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO HAVE IT): Safe combination: Heya: Other (specify): 17. The department /division acknowledges $eash drawer change fund which is controlled by and the responsibility of the following personnel: 18. Personnel who deliver deposits directly to the bank are: 19. Personnel who deliver deposits to the Treasury Office are. 20. Estimated annual volume of cash and checks handled at this location are: Cash $ Checks $ Highest singles day's cash deposit S Signature of Department Head This information is requested to assure adequate safeguards for cash handling, and for bonding purposes. SAMPLE 2 City of Bangor Departmental Cash Receipts Log Department:_ _______ Office/Location: Amounts ________� Serial Date Bank Bank Cash Check Date Number Sent Bag Deposit Anount Amount Returned SAMPLE 3 City of Bangor Treasury Office Cash Receipts Log Interdepartmental Receipts I____________ Deposit ___________� Department Serial Date Date Deposit Date Back Received Number Recd Ret'd Amount Returned Bag SAMPLE 4 City of Bangor Treasury Office Bank Deposit Log Date Department Serial Bonier Amount Bank Receipt Deposited Receipt Deposited Received ___________________________________________ SAMPLE 5 City of Bangor Report of Daily Cashier Activity and Proof Statement Department/Office: Date: Transaction Total By Source Register/Location/Cashier Total Daily Transactions: $ Cash Proof Cash Checks Deposits Made Total Cash/Equivalents $ ______________ Less Change Bund Net Daily Receipts $ Cash Wer/Short ¢ Net Receipts Total $ Less: Total Daily Transactions Over/(Short) Counted and verified by: Register Transaction Numbers Start of Day End of Bay Receipt Numbers Start of Day End of Bay Deposit in Transit: Original to Treasury with List of Accounts to be Credited Duplicate Retained with Days Work SAMPLE 6 City of Treasury Cash Proof Date: Transaction Totals By Source Register/Location/Cashier Register 1 Register 2 Other ------------ Total Daily Transactions: $ Cash Proof Cash $ Checks Deposits - Department Receipt Total Cash/Equivalents $ Lose Change Fund Net Daily Receipts $ Cash Over/Short Net Receipts Total $ Less: Total Daily Transactions Wei/(Short( Counted and verified by: Bangor Office Statement Register Transaction Roasters Start of Day End of Day Receipt Numbers Tax Receipts Start of Day - End of Day Accounts Receivable Receipts - Start of Day End of Day Miscellaneous Revenue Receipte Start of Day End of Day Deposita in Transit Original Filed With Cash Sheet Back op Duplicate Retained In Book with Interdepartmental Reports