Financial Procedures. 3.0 Section 3 - Bank and Cash. 3.1 Stopped cheques. 3.2 Cheque log. 3.3 Authorities for signing. Panel A

Transcription

1 Procedures 3.0 Section 3 - Bank and Cash 3.1 Stopped cheques On being informed of a lost/stolen/issued in error cheque, the Assistant / completes a stop payment form and faxes it to the bank to stop the cheque. A cheque is reissued promptly after the stop payment form is issued. The e-financials system is updated to reflect the stopped cheque and replacement cheque when the replacement cheque is raised. Details are filed and available to the / Finance Officer for bank reconciliation purposes. 3.2 Cheque log A cheque log is held and maintained by the Ledger Administrator and reviewed on a monthly basis by the Finance Officer. All cases of issue of manual chequebooks, cancellation of cheques, cheque spoilage etc. are recorded. All spoiled / cancelled cheques are stamped / marked as cancelled. These items will be retained for a minimum of six months. Following this they will be destroyed, subject to approval by the Deputy Director of Finance. 3.3 Authorities for signing The bank mandate for all accounts in the name of and / or controlled by Blackburn College is as follows:- Authorised signatories are: Panel A Principal : Ian Clinton Vice-Principal (Quality and Innovation) : Lisa O Loughlin Director of Finance : Jane McCann Director of Learning and Organisational Development : Paul Kellett Director of Academic Studies and Progression : Christine Kenyon Director of Resources and Estates : Rachel Curry Deputy Director of Finance : Deborah Sanderson Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 1 of 15

2 Procedures Panel B Senior Management : Mark Houldsworth Management : Angela Healey Management : Shelley Bolan Finance Systems Manager : Ian Ready Cheques over 1,000 two panel A signatures Cheques up to 1,000 two signatures from either panel A or panel B Cheques and expenditure vouchers / purchase invoices relating to the same transaction should not both be signed by the same person. 3.4 College investment policy The procedure is as contained in the College s Regulations. A review of bank credit ratings for each institution where funds are placed will be carried out monthly by the and filed with the monthly reconciliations. Any reductions in rating from the previous month will be reported to the Director of Finance. 3.5 Cash management The procedure is as contained in the College s Regulations 3.6 Postal cheques received in finance All cheques received within the Finance department are totalled daily and entered on a statement by the Ledger Administrator/Sales Supervisor before being handed to the Cashier. The Cashier receipts the cheques and the total amount receipted is reconciled to the total on the statement. 3.7 Cash posting Cash posting is processed under the control of the. Receipts To assist in securing effective debt recovery, the Finance Income Officer processes sundry sales ledger receipts on at least a twice weekly basis. Sales ledger BACS receipts are identified via regular bank statement review and processed on an ongoing basis throughout the month. Details of the step by step process is within the Sales Receipt Loading to E-financials Guidance. Other monies received are normally processed weekly. The Finance Income Officer reviews the bank statements in conjunction with banking records and produces a cash Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 2 of 15

3 Procedures analysis schedule. This is passed to the Assistant who reconciles the cash analysis schedule to the bank statements, produces a banking / income analysis and processes a journal to post the income through the general ledger. The reviews the journal. Based on a review of the bank statements, the prepares further cash analyses, incorporating the above, to ensure all other direct credits and standing order receipts are identified and accounted for. Direct credits are matched to supporting documentation e.g. notifications of income / remittance advices from e.g. SFA, DfE, HEFCE and Barclays (treasury deposits). Payments Purchase ledger items paid by BACS are posted to the purchase ledger and matched to supporting invoices by the Ledger Administrator. Following a review of the bank statements / supporting documentation the prepares a cash analysis schedule detailing payments made e.g. other BACS payments / direct debits and matches items to notifications received. Relevant items here include monthly employee net pay and statutory payroll deductions paid to Inland Revenue. Review Monthly cash analyses (receipts and payments) should be passed to the Deputy Director of Finance for review prior to posting. Manual cheques Manual cheques may be raised in respect of a variety of urgent / ad hoc requests. These payments are processed based on a review of supporting documentation and the cheque stub. The Ledger Administrator processes items relating to supplier invoices with general ledger items processed by the or Assistant. Unpresented cheques will be investigated after 6 months and appropriate action taken by the Assistant. To prevent duplicate entries being made, the cheque stub should be clearly marked to indicate processing has taken place. 3.8 Cash in transit All monies received in College must be paid intact into the Registry. The following procedures must be followed as per the Escort Warranty policy on the College Insurance documents. Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 3 of 15

4 Procedures Individual members of staff may transport up to 1,500 cash/cheques, postal orders, vouchers & travellers cheques unaccompanied. Any amount in excess of 1,500 shall be escorted as follows: 1,501 to 4,000 to be escorted by 2 able bodied persons (including carrier). 4,001 to 7,500 to be escorted by 3 able bodied people (including carrier) Amounts over 7,500 a specialist security company is to be used. In all the above cases one of the able bodied people should be a security guard which can be requested through switchboard as a code 1 request. Money should be deposited over the counter at Registry in a sealed envelope/cash bag along with a completed cash analysis sheet. Z readings should also be submitted where tills are used to receipt monies. Counter staff make an entry in the counter book for each deposit of: Date Amount deposited per envelope/cash analysis sheet Description e.g. Bakery takings Both the counter staff and the member of staff depositing the monies sign the counter book. A Finance cashier will subsequently count and reconcile the money. The Finance cashier will follow up any discrepancy between the amount received and the counter book entry / Z reading. The Finance cashier will sign the counter book and record the date the cash was banked thus completing the transaction. A formal college receipt will be issued to the relevant area for every cash deposit made. 3.9 Preparation of banking Monies are normally banked twice weekly. The co-ordinates the preparation of bankings. All cash is counted and reconciled for individual areas e.g. - Refectory, Fitness Centre, Bakery, Hair and Beauty, Bar to cash analysis sheets and Z readings. - Curriculum centre / service area cash to cash analysis sheets. The Finance Clerk reconciles the total cash to supporting documentation e.g. Z readings, analysis sheets. The Finance Clerk shall maintain a spreadsheet record of all individual cash deposits received / collected from areas using a till e.g. refectory. The record shall schedule (and highlight discrepancies between):- Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 4 of 15

5 Procedures cash actually counted cash per area s cash analysis sheet cash per Z reading The shall place copies of the detailed spreadsheet and a rolling summary on the month end reconciliation file for review by the Deputy Director of Finance. All cash and cheques are bagged, secured in a G4Security envelope together with the paying in slip pending collection. A receipt is provided by G4Security on collection. This is retained with the paperwork relating to that particular banking Management review of banking The is responsible for checking the accuracy of the banking carried out from Registry. Currently all receipts (cash, cheques etc) are banked each week on Wednesdays and Fridays. A review is done each period, randomly selecting one of the bankings. Depending on the nature of the receipt, the banked amounts are checked back to the relevant source documents, usually to a signed receipt or till roll. Checks are also carried out by checking from the source documents to the banking record. Examples of the different source documents are: Counter Book used to record total cash received by Registry from different College departments. Cash reports for each cashier receiving money which is recorded on the EBS system. Manual Receipt Book, used occasionally if required. Any anomalies are noted and referred back to the Deputy Director of Finance. On completing the review, a copy of the relevant Banking Record is dated and signed off by the and kept in the relevant periods reconciliation file Physical security & insurance Registry Access to the Registry is by doors controlled by a numbered combination lock and have electronic ID card access. (The Deputy Director of Finance shall arrange with Estates for the combination to be changed at 12 monthly intervals) Prior to banking, all income counted shall be held in a safe(s) within the Finance storeroom which has a key lock. Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 5 of 15

6 Procedures These safes shall be kept locked at all times when not in use and the store room door will be closed when not in use. Whenever monies are being counted / handled by the cashiers in their office, the office door shall be closed. Similarly, the cashier s office must always be locked when unattended. The Finance Clerk shall ensure that insurance limits for cash / monies held in the Registry are adhered to. Where it appears likely that insurance limits are going to breached (currently 20,000), the Finance Clerk will notify the Deputy Director of Finance and the Deputy Director of Resources who is responsible or notifying insurers to ensure that cover continues. Other safes The CLT member responsible will ensure that amounts of money held in any safe are in line with the insurance limits, currently 1,000 per safe, arranged by the Deputy Director of Resources. The CLT member must ensure that a record is kept of all safe keys and who has access to them and communicate this to the who maintains a central record. Safes must be kept locked when not in use. Nominated safe-key holders are responsible for the security of the safe keys at all times and should e.g. take the keys off site / home with them rather than leave them on the college premises overnight and at weekends etc. Under normal conditions any monies held overnight should be kept in a locked safe. In exceptional circumstances, monies held overnight may be kept in an otherwise secure and locked environment. When safes are empty and not in use for prolonged periods e.g. during the summer break the door should be left open to signify this fact General cash handling Tills The issue of till operating keys will be formally recorded by the manager of the area concerned. Till keys will be returned and accounted for from staff who no longer operate the till to which the keys belong. Cash floats should be removed from tills at the end of shifts and kept in a secure location. When till drawers are empty they should be left open to signify that there is no cash in the till. Where possible, high denomination notes should be removed from till drawers to a more secure location at irregular intervals during each shift. Tills should not be left unattended when containing cash. Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 6 of 15

7 Procedures To provide for adequate segregation of duties, the counting of takings, reconciliation to Z readings and preparation of cash analysis sheets will be undertaken by two members of staff one of whom will be independent of the till operation process. The cash analysis sheet will be signed by both members of staff to evidence that this procedure has occurred and the balancing Z reading attached. Manual Receipts Where tills are not used, manual receipts will be issued for all monies received. To provide for adequate segregation of duties, cash takings and cash analysis sheets will be reconciled to the manual receipt books by two members of staff one of whom will be independent of the cash collection / receipting process. The cash analysis sheet will be signed to evidence that this procedure has occurred. Manual receipt books will be securely stored when not in use. The Finance Income Officer shall maintain a log of all manual receipt books issued to staff. Compliance checks will be carried out in all areas of the college on an annual basis Petty cash Petty cash is for incidental expenditure. Invoices should be submitted and BACS payments and cheques raised for significant amounts. The College s petty cash will be kept on the imprest system; i.e. the amount of the float will be fixed and replenished as required by the exact amount expended since the last replenishment. Thus, the total of cash plus unreplenished expenditure should always equal the imprest amount. The Deputy Director of Finance will fix the amount of the petty cash imprest. The petty cash imprest comprises a central float, located in Registry, and a number of sub / temporary floats. The /Cashiers will keep a full record of all sub / temporary floats incorporating details of the individual identified as being responsible for their maintenance. Issuing new / increasing existing floats requires authorisation by Deputy Director of Finance. A nominated individual must sign to acknowledge their responsibility in maintaining new / revised floats. On leaving the post identified as being the responsible one for the float, a new authorisation must be sought from the and the new nominated individual must sign to acknowledge their responsibility in maintaining the float. Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 7 of 15

8 Procedures Central float When not in use, the central float will be kept in a locked box. The Finance Clerk will hold the key. The Finance Clerk will ensure the petty cash box will be kept in a locked safe within Registry when the Registry is closed. The central float will be counted and reconciled a minimum of once per week by the Finance Clerk and a member of the Registry team. This reconciliation will be documented / signed and forwarded to the for review. Authorisations Payments above 50 (other than to students re Access funds) need to be countersigned by the, Deputy Director of Finance or Finance Director prior to reimbursement. The normal upper limit for petty cash payments is 100. This may be exceeded, in exceptional cases, if authorised in advance, in writing, by the Deputy Director of Finance or Finance Director. All requests for approval of petty cash above 50 should be ed in advance to / Finance Cashier. All requests for reimbursement from petty cash must be made on the standard form. This is available on the staff intranet under the forms section. The following details must be completed: - - Cost Centre - Account Code - Brief Description - Authorised by the budget holder who is confirming that the expenditure agrees to the receipts and is a valid college expense - Signed by the claimant on receipt of the cash - NO INDIVIDUAL CAN AUTHORISE THEIR OWN PETTY CASH CLAIM If petty cash is required by 2 or more members of staff, the more senior member of staff should claim the money and have the transaction authorised by their line manager. No member of staff can authorise expenditure to which they have been a party to (excluding the Chairman). Supporting bills, receipts, etc. must be attached to the claim form, the will follow up any missing receipts. Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 8 of 15

9 Procedures Payments to Students Payments to students will be made using the appropriate form. Students should not normally collect cash from the College. Any payments due should be phoned through to Registry and the student accompanied by a member of staff to collect the monies. The normal procedure of signing for cash and checking identity should be applied. Vouchers issued to students must be recorded and signed by the student as evidence of receipt, further details are within the Voucher Guidance. Enrolments For enrolment refunds only, the Registry Manager may sign off petty cash refunds for up to 100 after obtaining approval from the Finance Officer / Sales Ledger Clerk. Sub floats Sub-floats in areas such as shops, restaurants, etc. must be authorised by the Deputy Director of Finance or. Such floats form part of the main imprest float and must be evidenced by receipts kept by the /Cashier. Petty cash analysis An analysis of petty cash should be kept showing details of expenditure items. When replenishment of the imprest is required, the following action will be taken: - The petty cash analysis should be totalled for transactions occurring since the last replenishment. This total and the total of the counted cash in hand (including subfloats) should be included - the grand total should equal the imprest amount. Petty cash is reimbursed out of money collected prior to banking, and shown as such on the banking analysis as a separate journal entry BACS Payment / Collections BACSTEL IP (Internet Platform) software is installed and functioning on the dedicated PC in the finance department. Operational control / responsibility for BACS operations rests with the Deputy Director of Finance supported by the Finance Systems Manager. The expenditure limit for payments via BACS is currently set at 4,900,000 (including the One Connect Ltd limit) per month. The BACs software contains standard security features including user specific operator passwords and the ability to restrict user access and privileges. It also includes the security feature of Smart Card Technology. Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 9 of 15

10 Procedures The Deputy Director of Finance and Finance Systems Manager are designated as super users. There are five operators also with the authority to transmit payment / collections requests to BACS (within limits set by the Deputy Director of Finance). Cardholders: Deputy Director of Finance Finance Systems Manager Finance Officer Senior Management There are operators without transmit rights who are able to prepare / amend data only. Sales Ledger Clerk Purchase Ledger supervisor Purchase Ledger Clerk Only the Super Users can : Create further operators Alter user privileges Review / amend audit trail & activity reports Where appropriate, operators are restricted so that they can only access the submission types relevant to their role. Currently there are submission types set up within the software respectively for:- Learner support fund payments Travel and expenses payments Student direct debit collections Sundry salary payments Supplier payments Student fee refunds Redundancy payments Misc one-off payments Process Creation Direct debit collection files are created by the Sales ledger Clerk based on information collected on the Direct Debit Instructions. Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 10 of 15

11 Procedures Learner support payment files are loaded by the Purchase Ledger Supervisor/ Purchase Ledger Clerk from excel spreadsheets received from Learner Services and authorised / certified in accordance with these Procedures. Salary and redundancy payment files are created by the based on instructions from Human Resources, authorised by the Head of Human Resources or HR Manager. Student fee refund files are created by the Purchase Ledger Clerk / Supervisor based on authorised instructions from Registry following review by Sales Ledger Clerk / Finance Officer. Travel and expenses files are created by the based on approved claims received. The file / claim is reviewed and certified by the Deputy Director of Finance / Finance Officer / Senior Management. Supplier payment files are created within the E-financials system and copied into the BACS IP (see below) Review Payment and collection files must be reviewed by a minimum of 2 people prior to transmission to BACS. System controls (maintained by the Finance Systems Manager) e.g. use of passwords, are in place to ensure this minimum condition is met. The system is set up to force users to change their password every 99 days. Payment and collection files are to be reviewed and signed off by 2 of the following officers prior to submission. Deputy Director of Finance Finance Officer Senior Management The Management s and Finance Systems Manager provide cover for these arrangements as required. Before any transmission is submitted, a pre transmission report shall be run from the BAC s software. This report outlines the core standing data and amount to be processed for each individual. The 2 officers concerned will check this report against the source authorising documentation. This check will cover Individual amounts to be processed (sample) Bank details (sample) Control totals (batch value, number of items) Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 11 of 15

12 Procedures Both officers will certify the pre transmission report to evidence that this check(s) has taken place. Submission Following satisfactory review as noted files can be electronically submitted to BAC s for processing. Full submission guidance is available at -bacstel ip for direct submitters. BACS IP requires authorisation to process payment and access reports by use of smart cards Cards in use are held by the:- Senior Management -card is authorised and set up for payment transmissions and access to BACS web site for reports Deputy Director of Finance -card is authorised and set up for payment transmissions and access to BACS web site for reports. Finance Officer - card is authorised and set up for payment transmissions and access to BACS web site for reports. Finance Systems Manager - card is authorised and set up for payment transmissions and access to BACS web site for reports. - card is authorised and set up for payment transmissions and access to BACS web site for reports. All cardholders are designated Primary Security Contacts with BACS-see note Smartcards & PIN. Segregation of duties All payments submitted require a signed review of submission documents evidenced on the BACS IP summary. Any 2 of the named officers detailed below must review:- Deputy Director of Finance Finance Officer Finance Systems Manager Senior Management Management In exceptional circumstances based on operational need the Deputy Director of Finance may request the Finance Systems Manager to amend privileges e.g. in order to provide operational cover for a given period. All submission reports are reviewed as Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 12 of 15

13 Procedures noted above in order to maintain adequate control. Changes to transaction and Batch limits are recorded and the process is detailed in the BACS IT Changing Control Limits Guidance. Signed submission reviews are held by the Finance Officer. Online review of BACS IP submissions and processing reports are undertaken on a minimum weekly basis by the Finance Officer. BACS IP Smartcards & PIN. Smartcards plus pin numbers unique to the named cardholders are required to operate via BACS IP. Named individuals are responsible for the safe keeping of their smartcard. In the event of loss, theft or if card details are compromised, the cardholder should inform Barclays by telephone on the following number option 1 and notify the Deputy Director of Finance / Finance Systems Manager. Under no circumstances must the user PIN number be disclosed to any other individual. Requests for additional cards and amendments must be submitted via Barclays on the BACSTEL IP Service User Amendment Form. Applications for amendment require approval by the Deputy Director of Finance. The application must have two executive signatures one of which must be the Director of Finance. BACS supplier payments Supplier payment files are generated within the E-financials finance system. All suppliers are identified as being payable by BACS or cheque. On a weekly basis, payment runs are produced following arrangements detailed in Procedures (section 6) e.g. an actual run will only be carried out once a proposed list has been satisfactorily reviewed and signed off. When a BACS payment batch is run in E-financials, a txt. payment file is created on the e-financials/bacs directory on the system s middle tier server. Access to this file on the server is password controlled (limited to the Deputy Director of Finance, Senior Finance Officer and. The payment file is copied on to a pen drive and transferred to the BACSTEL IP workstation for processing. Review / submission arrangements and controls are then as outlined above. The Finance Officer will use the submission files for journal processing and for matching to the subsequent entry on the bank statement as part of the month end bank reconciliation process. Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 13 of 15

14 Procedures Forms relevant to this Section: Name of Form Dept. Owner Latest Version Stop Payment Form Cheque / Expenditure Voucher Cheques Received Statement Cash Analysis Schedule Cheque Log Finance Officer Cash Analysis Sheet College Receipt Petty cash float acknowledgement Petty Cash Request Form Petty Cash Analysis Postal Payments Log Finance Officer Best Practice Notes: Name of Best Practice Notes Dept. Owner Latest Version Sales Ledger cash Posting Weekly Banking Notes Worldpay Postings EBS fees posting BACs Payments Finance Officer PDQ Machine set-up Petty Cash Currency Order Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 14 of 15

15 Procedures Other Associated Policies, Procedures or Guidance: Name of Document Dept. Owner Latest Version BACS IP Changing Control Limit Process Finance Systems Manager Sales Receipt Loading to E-financials Guidance Finance Systems Manager Voucher Guidance Deputy Director of Finance May 2012 Section Owner: Name (Position) Dept. Latest Version Finance January 2013 Procedures January Issued by the Services Department and Approved by the Principal Section 3 Bank and Cash Page 15 of 15