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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReceipts Deposits - May 2016Page 1 Administrative Policies and Procedures Title: Financial Policies Resolution No.: Section: Receipts/Deposits Policy Date of Version: May 2016 SECTION I - POLICIES A. All monies and payments received must be processed the same day. If received after the daily reconcile, they must be held in a secure locked box or fireproof safe overnight and processed the next day. Cash and checks should not be held from the deposit for any reason. B. For a payment in an amount over $500 by an individual on a personal account that is in any form other than cash, such as personal checks, traveler’s checks, credit cards, etc., a personal I.D. such as a driver’s license is required and must be checked by the cashier. In the case of a personal check, driver’s license number or their identifying number and birth date must be written on the check; if it is pre-printed on the check, it must be verified and initialed. A sign must be displayed notifying the customers of the City’s NSF check fee of $25 per occurrence. C. All checks must be made out to the City of Iowa City or the facility that the City is doing business as (i.e., Iowa City Municipal Airport). Checks not issued to the City shall not be signed over as payment (not including checks issued by the City of Iowa City.) D. Checks or credit card payments to the City shall not be made for an amount greater than what is owed for the purpose of being returned to the customer as cash. E. Payments via credit card are limited to $15,000 per transaction. Payments should not be split into multiple payments to circumvent the limit, but the customer should pay using a different method of payment. F. Checks should be restrictively endorsed upon receipt. Page 2 G. No postdated checks will be accepted. H. Employees are not allowed to record transactions between the City and themselves. Another employee must receive the payment and tender the employee a receipt. Employees are expected to pay for all concessions, merchandise, etc. consumed. I. Cash shall not be loaned to any employee or any customer. J. No purchases of any kind may be made with starting change or with collected monies. Purchases must follow purchasing policy and petty cash policy. K. Cash should never be left unattended at the cash register or on desktops. Cash must be secured in a lock box or safe any time an employee is not present, regardless of the length of time absent. L. All cash handling processes are subject to daily review, and all departments are subject to random audits. M. Departments must implement procedures to detect counterfeit bills. Any cash payment in denominations of $50 or $100 bills should be validated by marking each bill with a Counterfeit Detector Pen or using a black light to verify the legitimacy of the bill, or the department can disallow customers to remit payment with larger bills. SECTION II - PROCEDURES A. Receipts in Person: 1. All payments received in person are to be handled by the cashier and entered in the cash register or cash box immediately. A receipt shall be offered to the customer at that time. 2. If possible, each employee receiving payments in person should have a separate designated cash drawer; access to the assigned cash drawer should be limited to the designated employee or their supervisor. Employees should never share secure passwords. 3. All voided receipts must be reviewed by an individual not responsible for entering receipts. If possible, a receipt must not be voided by the cashier entering the payment but should be voided by an individual not responsible for entering receipts. Page 3 4. All receipt numbers must be accounted for. Any gap in the receipt numbers or any missing receipt numbers should be investigated. B. Receipts by Mail: 1. Preferably, three people should be responsible for processing payments received through the mail. a. One person opens the mail and creates a remittance/receipts list of the checks/payments received. b. The remittance/receipts list is then given to another, separate individual other than the individual who prepares the daily deposit. c. The checks and payments received should be given to the cashier to enter into the cash register system. d. The cashier should record the mail payments into the cash register system. 2. If there are not three individuals available to process mail payments, the minimum requirement is two separate individuals. In this case, the individual who opened the mail and created the remittance/receipts list should also prepare the daily deposit. The cashier who records the mail payments into the cash register system should still be separate. 3. Each cashier should reconcile their cash drawer at the end of their work day back to the starting change amount (see the Starting Change Policy). The excess cash and checks should be transferred to the individual responsible for preparing the daily deposit. 4. If there are checks that are received that should be forwarded to a separate department, they should follow the Routed Check Procedures. 5. Payments received from other City departments should be accompanied by a Finance Receipt Form that is completed in its entirety. The form should include the org and object, a detailed description of what the payment is for, and the employee name and division. In addition, any supporting documentation that is available (i.e., closing statement, check stub, letter or memo) must be copied and attached to the form. Page 4 C. Deposits: 1. An individual that does not record payments or prepare the remittance/receipts list should prepare the daily deposit ticket(s) in order to comply with segregation of duties. If there is not another, separate individual who prepares the daily deposit, the individual who opened the mail and created the remittance/receipts list should prepare the daily deposit ticket(s). 2. The daily deposit ticket preparer should print a daily summary of receipt activity from the cash register system and also settle the credit card machine activity each day. The daily receipt activity summary should include the payment amount, payer, payment type, description, and information to code payment. The individual credit card tickets, batch settlement report, and credit card totals must accompany the daily receipt activity summary that is sent to the Revenue Division at City Hall. 3. The individual preparing the daily deposit should verify that the deposit ticket(s) totals match the daily receipt activity summary and reconcile any discrepancies. Any overages or shortages should be shown in the reconciliation. 4. The daily deposit ticket(s) should be from deposit books issued to the department by the Finance Department and should be three-part, carbon copy tickets. 5. Once the daily deposits ticket(s) are completed and verified, the original deposit ticket copy will be inserted into a locked bank bag along with the corresponding cash and checks. The second deposit ticket copy should be retained by the department for audit purposes. The third deposit ticket copy should be placed into an envelope along with the daily receipt activity summary and credit card information, and kept separate from the locked bank bag. 6. The locked bank bag with the original daily deposit ticket(s) and the cash and checks should be sent to either a) the bank via armored vehicle, or b) the designated individual in the Revenue Division at City Hall via authorized personnel, whichever method has been assigned by the Finance Department. The department name and responsible party should be noted on the outside of each locked bank bag. Page 5 7. The locked bank bag containing the daily deposit ticket(s) and the cash and checks that is sent to the Revenue Division at City Hall should be received by the designated individual and placed into the vault until it is delivered to the bank via armored vehicle. The designated individual should maintain custody of the locked bank bags that are in the vault until they are picked up by the armored vehicle. 8. The Senior Accountant-Revenue should receive the envelope containing the third copy of the deposit ticket(s) and the daily receipt activity summary and credit card information. 9. The Senior Accountant-Revenue should not receive or handle the daily deposits or locked bank bags and should not have access to cash. D. Reconciliation: 1. The Senior Accountant-Revenue will reconcile the daily receipt activity summary and the daily deposit ticket(s) with the actual bank deposit activity recorded by the City’s bank. 2. If the City’s actual bank activity does not match the receipt activity summary and the daily deposit ticket(s), the Senior Accountant-Revenue should contact the department to resolve any discrepancies. 3. Once the actual bank activity and the daily receipt activity summary and deposit ticket(s) are reconciled, the Senior Accountant-Revenue will then record the receipts into the City’s financial system from the daily receipt activity summary and verify the totals against the actual bank deposits. 4. A monthly bank reconciliation will be performed by the Senior Accountant- Revenue and Assistant Controller and reviewed and approved by the City Controller.