ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES
PR-9-1
PROCEDURAL DOCUMENT
Effective Date: 4 September 2012
Board Responsibilities
Within the powers and obligations
established by legislation it is the Board of Trustee’s responsibility
to have in place procedures governing:
- The collection, expenditure and safe keeping of all monies by the School
- The incurring of any financial liabilities and commitments on behalf of the School
- The safe custody, maintenance, protection and proper use of the School’s resources.
Within the legislation and Board Policy, it is the responsibility of the Principal to manage the school’s operations.
Internal Control
Wherever practicable procedures will
be in place, which ensure that the risk of error or misappropriation of
the School’s resources are minimised. The Board Chairperson, Principal
and the individual responsible for Finance will monitor the transactions
and may from time to time undertake internal control checks to ensure
that procedures are being properly followed. All staff are required to
co-operate in any checks undertaken.
Budget Approval
Formal approval by the Board of
Trustees of the Annual Plan and Financial Budget, constitutes
authorisation to the Principal to collect and expend monies consistent
with the Plan and Budget.
Any expenditure over $1,000.00 within
the provisions of the Plan or Budget requires agreement of Bursar and
Principal prior to payment and Board notification.
Any expenditure under $1,000.00
outside the provisions of the Plan or Budget requires agreement of
Bursar and Principal prior to payment.
Any expenditure over $1,000.00 outside
the provisions of the Plan or Budget requires agreement of Bursar,
Principal and at least two other Board members prior to payment.
The Board Chairperson, or designate,
is to review the month end print out of invoices and sign to acknowledge
that the expenditure looks reasonable and appropriate for the school.
School Bank Accounts
Only bank accounts formally authorised
by the Board will be used for School purposes. The school will operate
only one current account which will be used for all school operational
transactions. All monies received or paid on behalf of the School will
be deposited into and paid from the School’s Operating Bank Account.
The Board may approve the use of investment accounts from time to time.
Only those formally authorised by the
Board will have authority to sign cheques or otherwise authorise
payments from School Bank Accounts. The Bursar, the Principal and Deputy
Principal are authorised to sign cheques, and the Principal and Bursar
are authorised to make payments through internet banking.
Those authorised to make payments can
obtain receipt books, cheque books and deposit books as required. These
will be kept in a locked cupboard or drawer when not in use.
Investments
School funds will be invested only in
investments authorised generally or specifically by the Board. Any
investments must be low risk, e.g bank term deposit. All investments
will be managed with Board approval.
Bank Reconciliations and Monitoring
The current bank account will be
reconciled at least fortnightly, and the call account and investments
will be reconciled at least monthly with the School records by the
School’s bursar.
The Bursar, in conjunction with the
Principal or the Board Chairperson will monitor the position of the bank
accounts and ensure that they are kept in funds.
Mail
Preferably the mail is to be opened by
the Office Assistant (or another staff member not in charge of paying
accounts) except envelopes addressed to specific staff/BOT members or
marked Confidential. In the absence of the Office Assistant (e.g. school
holidays) the Bursar may open and record incoming mail. The Office
Assistant will record all incoming mail and record to whom it is issued
to. All monies received must be handled as detailed below. Sensitive
financial information must not be removed from the premises.
Receipts of Monies
All monies received on behalf of the
School will be forwarded as soon as possible to the School Office
together with full details of the payer and the purpose of the payment.
The Office Assistant (or in their absence the Bursar) will:
- Enter money into the till under the appropriate department.
- Immediately cross and mark NOT TRANSFERABLE all cheques received on behalf of the school if applicable.
- Each week a “Z” total is printed
off the till, which shows exactly how much money should be in the till.
Individual deposits are recorded in the Office Assistant’s banking book,
and subsequently reconciled against the actual cash, then entered into
the accounting package. A copy of the batch report is given to the
Bursar. The batch report should match the till report, this is checked
by the Bursar. The Bursar is to recount the money and process it for the
bank. Later the Bursar is to reconcile the bank statements with the
batch reports. The Chairperson or Principal carries out random checks
of batch reports against bank statements and signs to confirm
acceptance.
- Ensure all monies received are
recorded and banked as soon as possible. The bank lodgement form or an
accompanying schedule must detail all receipts including levy receipts.
- Best practice is to not have
$1,500 or more on School premises overnight, large amounts of money
should be transferred to the bank as soon as is practicable. All money
on the school premises is kept in the safe overnight.
- Prepare a summary each month
showing the dates and the amounts of bankings made. This summary should
form part of the Report for the Board for its meeting.
- Ensure all receipts are entered
into MUSAC system and printed receipts are sent home. If parents request
a receipt at the time of passing money to the school a hand written
receipt will be issued and when entering the data into the accounting
package it will be recorded that a hand written receipt was issued or
that a duplicate has been issued.
NOTE: Care must be taken to ensure
that any private or Student Support Association monies held within the
School are clearly distinguished from School monies.
Under no circumstances are monies
received to be used to make payments rather than being banked. All
payments should be made by cheque, electronic means (this may include
direct debit, automatic payment etc) or petty cash.
Internet Banking
- The Bursar and Principal will have access to internet banking.
- Internet banking will be used to check account balances, transfer funds between accounts, and pay creditors.
- If creditors provide bank account details, invoices will be paid via electronic means.
- Invoices will be processed in the same manor as manual cheques, ie stamped “PAID” with reference number and date paid.
- Bursar will code to the appropriate ledger and write this on the invoice. Principal to approve as per manual cheques.
- Direct credits received will be
receipted at time of the bank reconciliation. Families who pay via
automatic payment or regular internet payments will be recorded in
separate ledgers to track income and expenditure. These accounts will
be reconciled at the end of each month, and a copy of the reconciliation
sent to the parent concerned.
Payments of School Monies
The Principal or their formally
appointed nominee(s) will authorise all payments. The Bursar will
determine the accounting classification. This authorisation will take
the form of an endorsement on the supplier’s invoice or equivalent,
which clearly identifies the person authorising the payment, the date of
authorisation and the accounting classification.
In general, payments should be made only on original invoices. Payments will generally be made at least monthly.
The Office Manager and/or Bursar will:
- Check that all invoices are properly authorised for payment.
- Prepare the cheques and envelopes
for payments and enter the cheque number and amount paid on each
invoice (this avoids the risk of double payment of an invoice).
- Reconcile monthly Supplier Statements and advise the supplier of any incorrect items shown.
- Ensure all payments are entered into MUSAC system.
- Prepare summary of payments for Board Meeting.
Payroll
The monthly SUE (Staffing Utilisation
Entitlement) report is to be reviewed by both the Principal and Board
Chairperson and signed. The Principal is responsible for ensuring that
that all payments are correct. The Board Chairperson responsibility is
to acknowledge that the payments looks reasonable and appropriate for
the school. The Office Manager /
Bursar is responsible for managing staff payroll and leave entries
(except the Principal's and her own payroll) via the Novopay Online
system. The Principal is responsible for entering all the Office
Manager / Bursar's payroll and leave entries into Novopay Online. All
entries with regard to the Principal's pay and leave will be sent to
Novopay via a manual form completed by the Bursar and signed by the
Chairperson or a nominated Board of Trustee representative.
Reporting
The Bursar will prepare a report for
the Board each month. This will be circulated to Board members together
with any appropriate narrative comments.
Taxation
The Bursar will be responsible for
preparing tax returns as required, with the assistance of the financial
advisor as necessary. The major tax returns currently completed by the
School are GST returns which are done 2-monthly on an invoice basis, and
the monthly PAYE schedule for the Out of School Care wages.
A designated Ministry contractor will
provide the School’s payroll accounting including salary deductions,
PAYE tax reconciliations and ACC levy returns. The Bursar is
responsible for supplying the contractor with details relating to
employees and arranging for the completion of IR330 certificates by
staff. The Bursar is responsible for Afterschool Care wages, PAYE and
ACC.
Financial Records
All financial records will be kept for
the periods required for taxation purposes (usually 7 years).
Arrangements may be made to archive records with a reputable records
storage organisation for security and space reasons.
The Bursar, in conjunction with the Principal, will be responsible for the custody of these records.
Donations
Parents will be advised of the
voluntary donation early each year. This will be followed up by
reminders in newsletters. New parents will be given a specific letter
giving them information on the donation payable.
The Office staff will maintain a list
of those parents who have and have not paid the donation. This will be
confidential to the Principal and Office staff and will be kept securely
by the Office staff.
Fundraising Ventures
- Any members of the school
community, ie children, parents, teachers, board members who wish to
fundraise for the school, must do so in the name of Plateau School.
- Permission must be sought from the Principal or Board Chair.
- All transactions must be recorded and persons running the operation are accountable to the BOT.
- The Board has the right to ask for accounts, and other financial details.
- The Board has the right to require the accounts/books audited.
- All profits from any such venture will be returned to the school.
