Receipt and Control of Public Money

Transcription

1 Subsection: Control of Public Money Page: 1 of 5 Receipt and Control of Public Money Objective Authority Applicability The objective is to ensure that all public money is properly received, safeguarded, recorded, and promptly deposited. The Financial Administration Act, 1993, clauses 5(a) and 5(e), subsection 10(2) and section 22 This policy applies to the General Revenue Fund (GRF), and special purpose funds and trust money that are administered by ministries. See Appendix C Public Money. Treasury Board Policy.01 In accordance with The Financial Administration Act, 1993, all revenues of the Province unless otherwise specified, are to be deposited into the GRF..02 The permanent head is to ensure the following controls are present: All money received is promptly and appropriately recorded upon receipt. All money received is appropriately acknowledged. All money is adequately protected against loss or theft. All money received is disposed of properly and promptly. The disposition of money received is appropriately recorded. Cheques returned due to non-sufficient funds (NSF) are recorded, replaced and re-deposited. Adequate information regarding money received is supplied to the appropriate financial system..03 Every ministry will keep its accounting records in such a form as to indicate: the total revenue received, allocated into revenue classifications, established and approved by the Provincial Comptroller; the total deposited in the GRF; and the total accounts receivable, allocated into the classifications as may be determined by the Provincial Comptroller.

2 Subsection: Control of Public Money Page: 2 of 5 Provincial Comptroller.04 Unless an exemption is provided by the Provincial Comptroller Directives (see paragraph.20), the following minimum control requirements regarding the receipt, handling and disposition of moneys must be present in a financial system..05 All incoming mail is opened by two persons designated for the purpose. All money received is to be immediately recorded upon receipt. The record should include, at a minimum: the date; the name of the remitter; the amount of the remittance; and the signature of the two people opening the mail..06 Cheques, money orders and other negotiable instruments are restrictively endorsed immediately upon receipt..07 Moneys received are acknowledged by issuing official receipts, cash register slips, licenses or certificates when: the moneys received are cash; the remitter, other than a government agency, pays in person; or the remitter requests a receipt..08 Forms that acknowledge money received must be: pre-numbered; issued by authorized employees and recorded; and periodically reviewed to ensure all forms are accounted for..09 Money is kept secure until proper disposition is made. Access to money is limited to those employees who are responsible for the cash function..10 Moneys are disposed of as follows: deposited to the bank; or transferred to another ministry (obtain a receipt for cash transfers); or returned to the remitter if received in error or if none of the services can be rendered and/or none of the goods can be supplied.

3 Subsection: Control of Public Money Page: 3 of 5.11 Deposits are made as follows: daily, if the total amount to be deposited exceeds $1,000; at least weekly, if the total amount is $100 to $1,000; and monthly, if under $ Deposits of cash and negotiable securities totaling more than $5,000 should be transported by an armoured car service. For deposits under $5,000, a bonded courier may be used. Employees may transport deposits that are less than $1,000. For safety reasons, staff should not transport such deposits over $1,000. In locations where armoured car service is unavailable, a bonded courier may be used..13 Restrictively endorsed cheques and money orders are exempt from the above policy because they are difficult to cash and, therefore, present a lower risk of monetary loss. Consideration should be given, however, to using an armoured car service when transporting large volumes of or high value restrictively endorsed cheques and money orders. The additional cost associated with using an armoured car service in these cases should be weighed against the difficulty of recovering the amounts from payees if the endorsed cheques and money orders are lost or stolen..14 It is possible that the requirement to use an armoured car may make it impossible to comply with the requirement for daily deposits. In the event of a conflict between these two requirements, the requirement to use an armoured car should take precedence. In such situations, an armoured car service should be hired as soon as practically possible..15 If any cheque, draft or other negotiable instrument deposited is not honoured by the bank, the collecting ministry is to take steps to protect the Government s interest. Refer to Section 3515 NSF Cheques..16 Documents to account for the receipts are to be properly prepared. The receipts are to be recorded in the accounting system in a timely manner. Deposits for GRF receipts must be entered promptly to the Government s central financial system. This is required in order to detect and resolve any discrepancies, and to ensure banking timelines for the correction of discrepancies are met.

4 Subsection: Control of Public Money Page: 4 of 5.17 Deposits should be stamped by the financial institution..18 The record of cash received is to be reconciled to the bank deposit and the accounting records..19 Duties of employees are segregated so that employees responsible for accounting for the money do not have access to it..20 All transactions entered to the Government s central financial system (e.g., journal entries) are to be reviewed on MIDAS reports on a regular basis for reasonableness and for unusual items such as correcting or reversing entries. Any discrepancies are to be followed up on and resolved on a timely basis. Exemption.21 A permanent head may request an exemption if it is felt that any of the rules for the receipt, recording and deposit of moneys are inappropriate and other procedures would be more appropriate in the circumstances. A plan of the revised procedures, together with reasons for proposing them, must be submitted in writing to the Provincial Comptroller. The Provincial Comptroller may: approve the plan submitted; approve the plan with modifications; or reject the plan. GRF Processing.22 For information on revenue refunds from the GRF, refer to Section 3015 Revenue Refunds..23 For information on application for remissions from the GRF, refer to Section 3010 Application for Remissions. References 3000 Control of the GRF 3010 Application for Remissions 3015 Revenue Refunds 3020 Suspense Accounts and Conditional Receipts 3500 Control of Public Money 3510 Minor Errors in Remittances 3515 NSF Cheques 3520 Credit and Debit Card Receipts 3525 Receipt of Donations

5 Subsection: Control of Public Money Page: 5 of Control of Bank Accounts 3700 Control of Accounts Receivable Province of Saskatchewan General Revenue Fund Year End Reporting Requirements and Procedures