Accounts Payable. Scope Applies to: All Forensicare staff who use the accounts payable function as part of their daily duties.

Transcription

1 Policy and Procedure Accounts Payable Version 2.0 Corporate Finance and Commercial Document Statement Overview & Purpose This policy and all other financial policies are to be used as the principal formal documents in guiding Forensicare in its financial responsibility. At no point should procedures in existence vary from those approved. This policy and all other financial policies aim to support the mission of Forensicare through the provision of a high quality, flexible and responsive financial management and advisory service together with a productive investment philosophy aimed at maximising the return of funds and property held by Forensicare. This policy informs staff of the procedure for the correct, uniform and consistent treatment of creditor invoices. Scope Applies to: All Forensicare staff who use the accounts payable function as part of their daily duties. Document Implementation and Authority Written by: Financial Controller Authorised by: Policy and Procedure Committee Reviewed by: Executive Director, Finance and Business Services Next review: April 2019 Definitions Outcomes No expenditure of Forensicare funds is incurred or committed unless: o funds are available o the proposed expenditure is appropriate for Forensicare purposes o the proposed expenditure is appropriately approved in accordance with the Forensicare Delegations Manual o the expenditure incurred is in line with approved policies and procedures. Effective control of accounts payable functions. Procedure Accounts Payable staff process two types of payments: invoice related payments personal reimbursements; (these are essentially for reimbursements of unexpected incidental expenses). UNCONTROLLED WHEN DOWNLOADED Page 1 of 6

2 Invoice Requirements All official supplier invoices must be raised by the Accounts Payable (AP) staff who have access to the AP system. This is not only to ensure all monies payable from Forensicare are recorded in the books of account for audit and control purposes but to ensure compliance with GST legislation. All GST must be remitted at the end of each month and includes the GST components of any invoice whether paid or not. Invoices raised outside the AP system and without a valid reference may be seen to be in breach of current GST legislation unless arrangements have been made to remit the appropriate GST by the due date. Supplier payments will only be made on receipt of a valid tax invoice or signed ABN exemption declaration. This is to satisfy the requirements of the ATO and to assist with prevention of duplicated payments. Invoice Payment Processes Accounts Payable staff will: Date stamp all invoices received. Conduct an ABN search for external parties making first time supplies to Forensicare and store the results in the Creditor Details folder for future reference. Match invoices to requisitions / purchase orders where applicable. Where invoices are not matched to purchase orders, the invoice must be authorised in accordance with the Procurement and Purchasing Policies and the expenditure limits contained within the instrument of delegation. The price in the invoice is to be checked against the purchase order. If there is no purchase order associated with the invoice, the invoice is sent to purchasing or returned to the supplier for action. Payment processing occurs weekly within defined payment groups. Ensure that invoices where discount is offered for prompt payment are paid within the time limit required to obtain the discount. Make any necessary changes to the creditor master file e.g. addresses, by filling out a Vendor Creation/Variation form which is to be signed off by the Financial Controller/Executive Director of Finance and Business Services. Verify and record changes to the Creditor Master File EFT data in the Creditor Master File Changes folder. The Accounting Finance System sends an each time a change is made to the Financial Controller. Ensure that all invoices are paid within the creditor terms agreements. Allocate expenditure to the appropriate general ledger account and cost centre. Staff authorising expenditure must ensure that account codes properly portray the nature of the expenditure and the funding source against which the expenditure has been charged. Maintain a signatory s register of all approved managers that is reviewed quarterly. Any staff changes (recruitment, termination, etc.) must be actioned immediately. Process only original invoices must be processed. Where an original document does not exist the copy invoice must be checked and authorised by the appropriate manager prior to forwarding to AP for processing. UNCONTROLLED WHEN DOWNLOADED Page 2 of 6

3 The Financial Controller will: Undertake a reasonableness check of the cash balance. At the completion of the reasonableness checks, cheques are then processed and the signatures of the two cheque signatories are printed on the cheques by the Accounting Finance System. An EFT payment file is generated and attached to support the WPAC on-line batch authorisation. The cheques are mailed to the creditors and the EFT file is authorised by two signatories and payment sent to the bank. Management of Cheques Cheque stationery must not be pre-signed. A delegated officer must undertake a reasonableness review of the payments to be made. This is undertaken by the authorising officer(s). Authorised Officers for Westpac EFT Transfer Requires any two authorised officers to approve payments Financial Controller ED - Finance and Business Services ED - Human Resources Chief Executive Officer Financial Accountant Authorised Cheque Signatories Requires any two authorised officers to sign cheques Financial Controller ED - Finance and Business Services Chief Executive Officer ED - Human Resources Purchasing Manager Corporate Lawyer Human Resources Co-ordinator ED - Inpatient Services Cheque stationary should always be kept in the locked, fire safe medical records room and only removed for cheque processing. Cheque and EFT signatories should undertake a reasonableness review of the payments to be made and should always be independent of employees responsible for processing invoices. The expenditure policy is reflective of current Australian Accounting Standards and, as a result the recognition of expenditure should be on an accrual basis. Personal Reimbursements All expenditure that is reimbursement for cash expended on Forensicare business must be made in accordance with Petty Cash Policy. Accounts Payable Balancing and Reconciliation Expenses shall be recognised on an accrual basis and fees and charges shall be in accordance with UNCONTROLLED WHEN DOWNLOADED Page 3 of 6

4 the approved schedule of fees and charges. GST shall be charged on goods and services in accordance with taxation legislation requirements. Outstanding invoices are reviewed by AP staff on a monthly basis and monthly reconciliations are also performed between the AP system balance and the creditor controls in the general ledger for each fund. At the end of each month, the transactions must be checked, balanced and reconciled. The delegated staff member runs individual Vendor Ageing Reports. This figure should agree with the totals of all control accounts, obtained by doing an account enquiry in the General Ledger and Balance Sheet Reconciliations. Cancelling and Replacing Cheques Cheques are often returned due to incorrect addresses, people changing residences etc. In addition cheques are cancelled for a variety of reasons for example: the cheque is stale (over 12 months old) there is a duplicated payment cheque details are incorrect. The responsibility for checking that addresses are correct and requesting cancellation of cheques rests with the originating section except in situations resulting from the follow up of stale or un-presented cheques. The AP officer must approve the cancellation/voiding all system generated payments and the reasons for the cancellation must be documented on the void cheque/eft form which is completed at all times. Accounts Payable Related Cheques All cheques returned should be forwarded to accounts payable. On receipt of returned cheques AP staff checks the relevant invoice to ascertain if the address, payee name etc. is correct. Where the address in incorrect, the cheque should be returned to the payee at the correct address. Where the details are incorrect and a replacement cheque must be issued, the AP staff should cancel the original cheque and invoices in the accounting finance system. They should then raise a replacement cheque by entering a new invoice with the correct information. The returned cheque should be marked VOID and filed in numerical order. Original Cheque Lost/Destroyed If the cheque is missing or has to be cancelled, the AP staff will: prepare a Stop Payment Notice and initial it after ensuring that the cheque has not been presented fax the Stop Payment Notice to the bank and print a copy for the file. Where the invoice details are correct the accounts payable staff retain the original invoice information in Dynamics AX when processing the stop payment. A replacement cheque should then be re-drawn. Where the invoice details are incorrect the accounts payable staff should cancel the original invoice in the Accounting Finance System when processing the stop payment. The Finance Officer should then raise a replacement cheque by entering a new invoice with the correct information. Cheques Damaged During Printing Occasionally cheques are damaged during printing due to misalignment of cheques, jamming etc. Cheques damaged during cheque runs can be reprinted without adjustments being raised as the Accounting UNCONTROLLED WHEN DOWNLOADED Page 4 of 6

5 Finance System automatically updates the available cheque numbers and allows the relevant invoices to be re-assigned. In these instances the AP officer is to cancel the cheque within the Accounting Finance System, mark the printed cheque VOID and file them in numerical order. Outstanding Cheques At the end of each month the Finance Officer runs a Bank Reconciliation Report which lists all outstanding cheques. A copy is given to the Financial Controller indicating cheques for follow up action. The accounts payable staff must follow up cheques on the reports that have been outstanding for more than six months. The accounts payable staff should locate the invoice and ascertain whether the address, payee name etc. is correct. The payee should then be contacted (via letter or phone) and: where they have not received the cheque the procedures for lost cheques above should be followed where they have received the cheque but are unable to bank it they should be instructed to return the cheque and the procedures for returned cheques above should be followed where they have received the cheque and have done nothing with it they should be instructed to bank the cheque at their earliest convenience. Relevant Forensicare Policy or Guidelines Accounts Receivable Asset Management Bank Account Administration Delegations Manual External Financial Audit Policy Financial Code of Practice Fraud Financial Management Compliance Internal Audit Policy Petty Cash Purchasing Cards Patient Trust Procurement Reconciliations Reporting Requirements - Financial Management Act Policy and Procedure Relevant Legislation and Guidelines Financial Management Act 1994 Electronic Transactions Act 2011 Audit Act 1994 Financial Management Regulations 2004 Standing Directions of the Minister for Finance 2003 Compliance and Evaluation Annual Audit on Financial Management Compliance EQuIPNational National Standards Standard 15: Corporate Systems & Safety Standard 8: Governance, leadership & management UNCONTROLLED WHEN DOWNLOADED Page 5 of 6

6 for Mental Health Services UNCONTROLLED WHEN DOWNLOADED Page 6 of 6