Purpose: To establish policy and procedures for the handling of cash receipts and deposits, to include currency, coin, checks, ACH transactions, and credit card transactions.
Scope: This policy applies to all school and district operations, administration, licensed educators, staff, students, organizations, and individuals that handle cash receipts or accept payment in any form on behalf of the district or any school. The scope includes all activities and locations where funds are collected.
Segregation of Duties: Wherever possible, duties such as collecting funds, maintaining documentation, preparing deposits and reconciling records should be segregated among different individuals. When segregation of duties is not possible due to the small size and limited staffing, compensating controls such as management supervision and review of cash receipting records by independent parties should be implemented.
Definition: "Public funds" are defined as money, funds, accounts, regardless of the source from which the funds are derived, that are owned, held, or administered by the state or any of its political subdivisions, including LEAs or other public bodies (Utah Code 51-7-3(26)).
BANK RECONCILIATION POLICY
(Proposed March 2014)
Bank and investment account reconciliations are considered to be one of the most critical procedures for proper internal control. Bank and investment account reconciliations help monitor and safeguard cash assets and can be an important process that reveals both positive and negative aspects of accounting operations. Because of the importance of this procedure, segregation of duties is critical. Bank reconciliations should never be done by someone who is assigned to daily cash receipts/deposits and cash disbursement assignments in relation to the reconciliations being performed.
District Bank & Investment Account Reconciliations. All District bank reconciliations shall be done by the Business Administrator. Because of this, all accounts payable, payroll, and cash receipts daily processing should be performed by someone other than the Business Administrator.
School Activity Fund Bank Reconciliations. School bank reconciliations should be performed by the Business Administrator or district office designee that is not involved with daily cash receipts and cash disbursement assignments at the school level. This should be done under the direction of the Business Administrator but can be delegated to someone else in the district office. School bank reconciliation processes may include sample testing of transactions for purchasing policy and procedures compliance as well as other accounting procedures and internal control testing; sample testing can be done to provide schools with necessary feedback for improvement and validation of correct procedures.