ALL AGENCIES, DEPARTMENTS, AND DISTRICTS GOVERNED
BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
EFFECTIVE:
12/83
REVISED: 02/2001
_________________________________
David E. Sundstrom, Auditor-Controller
1.
POLICY
All monies collected or received by County departments/agencies
shall be deposited, whenever practical, with the
County Treasurer-Tax Collector, or other legal depository,
no later than the working day following the date
received, except for trust fund monies which must
be deposited on the date received according to law.
If it is not practical to deposit monies by the
working day following the date received, then deposits
should be made at least monthly or whenever $100
is accumulated, whichever occurs first. Special
circumstances, such as remote locations, may warrant
a larger accumulation of monies before a deposit
is practical.
1.1
Purpose
To provide adequate internal control over
all County receipts and to maximize interest
earnings and cash flow.
1.2
Authority
1.2.1
Board of Supervisors’ Resolution
No. 82-162
Board of Supervisors’ Resolution
No. 82-162, dated February 2, 1982,
authorizes the Auditor-Controller to
prescribe the accounting policies for
all offices, departments, and institutions
under the control of the Board of Supervisors.
1.2.2
Government Code Section 24351
Government Code Section 24351 requires
that each officer of the County or judicial
district shall on the certificate of
the auditor immediately deposit all
trust money in the County Treasury.
1.2.3
Government Code Section 27008
Government Code Section 27008 requires
the certificate of the auditor for all
deposits made in the County Treasury.
1.3
Definitions
1.3.1
Monies
Includes currency, coins, checks,
warrants, money orders, etc.
County of Orange Deposit Order Form
(See Exhibit
I.) This 4-part form is distributed
as follows:
White – Tax Collector
Goldenrod - Auditor-Controller
official file copy
Canary – Department/Agency
official file copy
Pink - Auditor-Controller memo
copy
1.3.4
Validated Deposit Order
Canary-colored copy returned to department/agency
by Treasurer-Tax Collector.
1.3.5
County Accounting and Personnel System/Advantage
Financial System
(CAPS AFNS)
County accounting system used to access
current financial information through
the use of various tables.
1.3.6
County Accounting Procedure (CAP)
Accounting procedures established
by the Auditor-Controller.
2.
INTERNAL CONTROLS
As stated in CAP No. S.2., Internal Control Systems,
"All County departments/agencies shall maintain
effective internal control systems as an integral
part of their management practices. This is because
management has primary responsibility for establishing
and maintaining the internal control system."
2.1
Segregation of Duties
Responsibilities for receiving and depositing
monies should be segregated between several
employees to establish internal control over
collections. An essential segregation of duties
is having someone other than the employee
receiving monies preparing the Deposit Order.
Similarly, the person verifying the final
Deposit Order should not be the person who
prepared it. (See Section 2.3 of this Procedure.)
Another essential segregation of duties is
having a supervisor or individual with no
other cashiering or depositing duties comparing
each amount on the Deposit Order to the initial
collection records, to help ensure that all
collections received were deposited.
2.2
Accountability
Accountability should be established when
monies are initially collected or received
by preparing some type of Initial Collection
Record (examples include receipt forms, lists
and calculator tapes.) This Initial Collection
Record should be signed and dated by the person
receiving the monies. Over-the-counter receipts
or field collections should be documented
by the issuance of a County of Orange handwritten
cash receipt or a cash register receipt. Mail
collections should be documented by the preparation
of a detailed listing by an employee with
no other deposit or cashiering responsibilities.
Additionally, when monies are subsequently
transferred between employees during the collection
and deposit process, the employees should
document the transfer of accountability in
writing. It should be stressed to employees
that it is to their own benefit to verify
the amounts being transferred to them, prior
to signing for the funds. In the event of
a loss, the transfer of accountability provides
management with a method to determine where,
when and possibly how the loss occurred.
2.3
Deposit Order Verification by Departments/Agencies
Upon receipt of the validated Deposit Order,
the department/agency shall compare it to
the original Deposit Order and to the Initial
Collection Records to ensure that no unauthorized
changes were made and that all collections
were deposited. An independent person with
no receipt or Deposit Order preparation duties
shall perform this comparison.
2.4
Endorsement of Checks
All negotiable instruments, such as checks,
warrants, and money orders, should be endorsed
with a restrictive endorsement stamp immediately
upon receipt.
2.5
Check Payee / Payor Identification
The payee on each check should be the County
of Orange, a County department/agency name,
or a department head/agency director. Each
check received over the counter should have
the payor's name, address, and telephone number
imprinted. The person accepting a check should
write payor identification such as driver’s
license number on the check. All of this information
provides documentation that may be needed
for subsequent collection efforts.
2.6
Counterfeit Bills
Some departments/agencies have incurred
cash losses because they unknowingly have
accepted counterfeit bills. Departments/agencies
should use the most effective, practical counterfeit
detection devices available to prevent acceptance
of counterfeit bills.
When the Treasurer-Tax Collector is notified
by the bank of a counterfeit bill, the accepting
department/agency will be charged for the
loss. See CAP No. C.3., Cash
Losses, for relief of accountability and
replenishment procedures for losses attributable
to counterfeit bills.
2.7
Timely Deposits - Special Circumstances
2.7.1
Remote Locations
Each department/agency making a deposit
from a remote location should analyze
the cost of processing the deposit in
employee time and mileage compared to
the risk of loss, lost interest earnings,
and decreased cash flow, and determine
the optimum deposit amount for each
remote location.
Deposits at these locations should be
made at least monthly, or whenever the
optimum amount is accumulated, whichever
occurs first.
2.7.2
Other Special Circumstances
Special circumstances, other than
remoteness of location, may warrant
an accumulation of monies greater than
the $100 stated in the Policy section
before a deposit is practical. Such
circumstances should be reviewed with
the Auditor-Controller before a decision
is made to use an amount greater than
$100.
3.
PREPARING THE DEPOSIT ORDER
Deposit Orders should be prepared to record the
receipt of monies. Deposit Orders should not be
used to record movement of monies that have previously
been recorded by a Deposit Order. Movement of monies
should be recorded by a journal voucher prepared
in accordance with CAP No. J.3.,
Journal Voucher Preparation and Review. Therefore,
negative (bracketed) entries on deposit orders should
be a rarity. Only refunds or reimbursements should
be recorded with a bracketed entry on deposit orders.
Additionally, these types of transactions should
be fully explained in the explanation area of the
deposit order.
To help ensure that the deposit order information
is input correctly, the deposit order information
should be legible. The Deposit Order can be prepared
using a photocopied template. The information should
be printed or typed neatly, in large, dark font.
A font size of at least 10 should be used for computer-generated
deposit orders.
3.1
Deposit Order Sections
Following the three distinct sections of
the Deposit Order (See Exhibit
II,) the following information should
be included:
3.1.1
The Upper Section
The "Agency/Department"
box at the top of the Form shall display
the name of the department/agency. The
"Agency Code" box at the top
of the Deposit Order Form is used to
identify the preparing agency (e.g.,
003 for Auditor-Controller.) The Auditor-Controller
Administrative Services Unit will assign
the "Deposit Number."
3.1.2
The Middle Section
3.1.2.1
General Description
The "General Description"
area at the left of the Form shall
include a brief description of
the type and source of monies
being deposited for each line
on the Deposit Order. If the Deposit
Order Form can accommodate the
information, the description should
include check number, invoice
number, invoice payor, and date
received, if different than date
of deposit, etc.
Include any invoice numbers for
accounts receivable in the "General
Description" area.
3.1.2.2
Account Coding
Following the Deposit Order
columns, the proper account coding
for a deposit order should include:
COLUMN
REVENUE SOURCE CODES
BALANCE SHEET
(B/S ACCT) CODES
FUND
Required
Required
AGCY
Required
Required
ORG
Required for Org Code
Users
Do Not Use
ACTV
Optional
Optional
REV SOURCE
Required
Do Not Use
SUB REV
Optional
Do Not Use
JOB
Required for Job Users
Do Not Use
REPT CATG
Do Not Use
Optional
B/S ACCT
Do Not Use
Required
OBJ
Do Not Use
Do Not Use
SUB OBJ
Do Not Use
Do Not Use
All payments received for County
invoices originally booked as
accounts receivable should be
coded to:
Balance Sheet Account Code
8200, "Accounts Receivable,
Misc. A/C," for invoices
billed to individuals or businesses,
or
Balance Sheet Account Code
8470, "Due from Other
Governmental Agencies-A/C,"
for governmental invoices,
or
Other appropriate Accounts
Receivable accounts.
County General agencies (001-100)
should use Fund 100. Trust fund
agencies (301-399) should use
Fund 300. Other agencies should
use the appropriate funds for
the monies being deposited.
3.1.2.3
Amounts
Record the amount to be deposited
for each line of account coding.
The preparer of the Deposit Order
should verify that the total agrees
to the total of the Initial Collection
Records.
The "Total Deposit"
should equal the sum of the individual
amounts listed in the "Amount"
column and should be mathematically
correct.
3.1.2.4
Explanation
The "Explanation"
area at the bottom of the Deposit
Order Form should display additional
information about the deposit,
such as an explanation if the
date of deposit is different from
the date of receipt. Any additional
pertinent information should also
be included in this area.
3.1.3
The Lower Section
In this section are boxes for the
preparer’s name and phone number,
and a box for a supervisor to document
that he/she reviewed the document for
accuracy and completeness.
The Treasurer-Tax Collector will validate
the deposit order and an Auditor-Controller
Deputy will sign the Deposit Order in
the designated area at the bottom of
the form.
4.
TRANSMITTING DEPOSIT ORDERS
4.1
Transmitting Department or Agency
The department/agency forwards the completed
Deposit Order to the Auditor-Controller. Deposit
Orders must be received in the Auditor-Controller
General Ledger Unit before 1:00 p.m. Deposit
Orders received after that time may not be
included in the accounting system processing
until the next day.
4.1.1
Deposit Order Transmittal
The preferred method of transmittal
is via fax to the Auditor-Controller
General Ledger Unit. If the Deposit
Order was transmitted via fax, and to
prevent against duplicate entry, the
department/agency should make a notation
on the original Deposit Order form stating
that it was "Faxed" along
with the fax date and time. (See Exhibit
II.) The original Deposit Order
form should not be sent to the Auditor-Controller
or the Treasurer-Tax Collector but rather
should be retained by the department/agency.
Prepared Deposit Orders can also be
hand-delivered to the Auditor-Controller
Administrative Services Unit, or monies
with adequate account coding can be
hand-delivered to the Auditor-Controller
Accounts Receivable Unit, where the
monies will be included in the Accounts
Receivable daily deposit.
The Treasurer-Tax Collector will return
the canary-colored copy of the processed
Deposit Order to the departments/agencies
confirming the deposit.
4.1.2
Duplicate Deposit Orders
Departments/agencies must not submit
the same Deposit Order twice. If a department/agency
is not certain whether a Deposit Order
has already been transmitted, they should
contact the Auditor-Controller General
Ledger Unit before transmitting it again.
If the total dollar amount of a Deposit
Order is determined to be incorrect
and the current month is still in progress,
a written explanation of the correction
should be sent to Auditor-Controller
General Ledger Unit to process. If the
month has passed or if the correction
is for anything other than the total
dollar amount (also see Section
6,) a written explanation of the
correction should be sent to the Auditor-Controller,
Accounts Receivable Unit in the format
shown in Exhibit
III.
4.1.3
Deposit Order Log
Departments/agencies are encouraged
to maintain a log of their Deposit Orders
and to reconcile the log to the monthly
and semi-monthly General Ledgers or
regularly to the FLX2 and FLX4 tables
in CAPS AFNS, to help ensure that their
deposits were recorded properly and
accurately.
4.2
Auditor-Controller
The Auditor-Controller records the receipt
of the Deposit Order on a log that lists the
date, transmitting department/agency, and
total amount of the deposit. The Auditor-Controller
creates a multi-part Deposit Order Form by
photocopying the faxed copy, assigns a sequential
identification number to the Deposit Order,
and submits the Deposit Order for data entry.
The Auditor-Controller retains the pink-colored
copy and forwards the other copies to the
Treasurer-Tax Collector for validation and
further distribution.
5.
BANK DEPOSIT
The department/agency places all monies and bank
deposit slips in a sealed moneybag. That moneybag
can then be sent to the bank using one of the following
methods:
5.1
Armored Car Messenger Service
The preferred method for transporting County
funds for deposit is the use of an armored
car. An armored car messenger picks up the
sealed moneybag and delivers the bag to the
bank. Arrangements for an armored car messenger
should be made with the Treasurer-Tax Collector.
5.2
Delivery to Treasurer-Tax Collector
The department/agency can deliver the sealed
bag directly to the Treasurer-Tax Collector
cash counter. It is located in Room G58, Building
12 in the Civic Center complex.
5.3
Direct Deposit at Local Bank Branch
An alternative to an armored carrier pickup
or delivery to the cash counter is delivery
of the deposit directly to a local bank branch,
currently the Bank of America. It does not
require a sealed bag; however, for security
purposes one may be used.
5.4
Alternate Deposit Method
If the department/agency has infrequent
deposits, the monies can be hand-delivered
to Auditor-Controller Accounts Receivable
Unit as noted above in Section
4.1.1.
6.
DEPOSIT ORDER CODE CORRECTIONS
Unless authorized by the Auditor-Controller Accounts
Receivable Unit, all journal voucher entries to
record Deposit Order coding corrections shall be
prepared by the Auditor-Controller Accounts Receivable
Unit. The department/agency requesting the correction
should send a memo in the format shown on Exhibit
III to request the correction.
Legal