Receipts Handling Assessment

1. Are there procedures to establish accountability for revenues immediately upon receipt?

Ø     Ideal Answer: YES. A cash register, pre-numbered receipts, or other mechanisms should be used to establish accountability immediately when payments are received. This will provide an audit trail of the funds received and support the recording of the transaction into the University records.

2. Are all checks properly endorsed "for deposit only" to the University?

Ø     Ideal Answer: YES. Checks should be promptly endorsed "for deposit only" to the University to prevent diversion and unauthorized cashing.

3. Are cash and related items (checks, credit card receipts) physically safeguarded against theft and loss?

Ø     Ideal Answer: YES. Cash items are extremely vulnerable to theft and should be secured at all times with access limited to authorized personnel. Locks and safe combinations should be changed when employees with access terminate. Combinations and keys should not be left where easily found by unauthorized persons. Any substantial shortage or apparent theft must be reported immediately to Campus Police and Internal Audit.

4. Is the person preparing the deposit slip someone who does not reconcile cash to department accounts or record sales in department records?

Ø     Ideal Answer: YES. There should be proper separation of duties between the employees accepting payments and the employees responsible for maintaining the accounting records applicable to the payments. Deposit records should be reconciled to the monthly accounting reports to ensure deposits have been posted to the appropriate account for the appropriate amount. To ensure that differences are discovered, someone who does not handle cash should do this.

5. Are cash shortages identified, analyzed, recorded, and reported?

Ø     Ideal Answer: YES. Operational cash overages and shortages should be recorded to provide an audit trail of these occurances. The reconciliation process should identify the amounts of cash overages/shortages and management should investigate to determine the underlying cause. Appropriate corrective action should be taken to prevent further losses or errors. Any substantial shortage or apparent theft must be reported immediately to campus police and Internal Audit.

6. Are funds collected and deposited within 7 days of collection?

Ø     Ideal Answer: YES. All funds collected on behalf of the University must be deposited within 7 days of collection.

7. Is someone independently reviewing and approving voids and refunded transactions?

Ø     Ideal Answer: YES. A good control activity is to require someone review and approve voids and refunds before they are processed. The person reviewing and approving voids and refunds should not be the same person initiating them. The person reviewing and approving voids and refunds should document that approval.

8. Is supporting documentation kept for all deposits?

Ø     Ideal Answer: Yes. Supporting documentation should be kept for all deposits, so that it can be used to reconcile the deposits, and also to leave a good audit trail.