Receipt and Deposit of Funds

POLICY

A. The Chief Financial Officer (Vice President for Administrative Services) will be responsible to ensure that adequate record of all funds received by the University is maintained, identifying the payer and the purpose for which the funds were received. All funds received will be deposited intact in a designated depository daily to comply with Utah Code Annotated 51-4-2(2)(a).  Additionally, departments must comply with Schedule "A" of this policy.

B. Funds received from federal sources will be separately accounted for and may be deposited in a bank account with other University funds except where the terms of the contractual agreement require that a separate depository account be maintained.

C.  Multiple violations of this policy may result in a campus unit losing its privilege to accept and receipt funds.  The Chief Financial officer, based upon evidence presented by financial management staff, will make the final determination.

  

 

PPM 5-3 Receipt and Deposit of Funds

Schedule A
(10-02-12)

The following procedures must be followed by all university personnel unless prior written approval is obtained from the controller.  This approval must be kept on file by the department.  In addition to the following procedures, departments should develop and keep on file written departmental procedures for receiving and depositing funds associated with their department in order to help maintain appropriate procedures associated with their area.  Whenever feasible, departments should require individuals to make payments directly to the University Main Cashier's Officer (hereinafter Cashier's Office).

Receipt of Funds Collected

• If a cash register or other electronic cashiering system is not used to record the transaction and receipt of funds, a hand written pre-numbered receipt or other method must be used to document each transaction.
• Cashiers must be provided and operate out of separate cash register drawers.
• Each cashier must balance and reconcile their drawer at the end of their shift.
• Checks received must be restrictively endorsed with "For Deposit Only to Weber State University" immediately upon receipt.  Restrictive endorsement stamps can be obtained by request through the Cashier's Office.
• The student "W" number or driver's license number must be written on checks received and when possible, a picture ID should be verified.
• Checks received in the mail must be logged on a check receipt log and reconciled to cash reports and deposits made unless checks are entered in an electronic receipting system immediately upon receipt.  A check receipt log form is available on the Accounting Services web site [http://departments.weber.edu/accounting/accounting/forms.htm].
• If a department regularly receives checks in the mail, two people must open the mail together.
• Voided transactions and hand written corrections to cash register tapes must be approved by the appropriate supervisor.  This approval should be evidenced in writing.
• Departments may not cash personal checks for employees, students or other individuals.

Safeguarding Funds and Information Collected

• Funds kept in the department prior to deposit must be secured in a locked safe, locked file cabinet or locked drawer.
• Safe combinations and keys to cash boxes or files must be restricted to a minimum number of employees (generally 2-3 people).
• Safe combinations should be changed periodically and when personnel with knowledge of the safe combination terminate from the department or when their duties change and they no longer need to know the combination.
• Funds received and an individual's personally identifiable information should not be left on desktops or other non secure areas.  Federal laws and Payment Card Industry (PCI)  standards require the university to maintain proper procedures and controls to prevent an individual's identity and credit card information from being stolen.  Personally identifiable information should not be stored on a computer hard drive or external storage device unless it is encrypted and password protected and this information should never be thrown in the trash or recycle bin.

Deposits and Reconciliations of Funds Collected

• All funds received by departments must be deposited by the end of the next business working day (e.g. funds received over the weekend would be deposited on Monday) to the Cashier's Office or other location approved by the controller (e.g. the dean's office) in order for Weber State to comply with State law [Utah Code Annotated 51-4-2(2)(a)].  Deposits must be delivered in either a locked deposit bag or a university approved deposit bag.  After hour deposits must be placed in a university "after hours" deposit drop box.
• A cash report must be prepared and used to deposit funds received unless deposits are processed electronically.  Cash reports should identify the date prepared and a unique sequential report number to facilitate reconciliations.  In addition, supporting documentation for the deposit must be attached and/or kept on file.
• All overages/shortages should be recorded on the cash report per university policy 5-11a.  "Each change fund should be balanced on a daily basis and maintained at the authorized amount recorded by the controller.  All overages and shortages should be cleared from each change fund daily and recorded on the daily cash report sent to the Cashier's Office."
• Deposits over $1,000 must be picked up by University Police and delivered to the Cashier's Office.  Deposits between $500 and $1,000 must be picked up by University Police or delivered by two people from the department.  Deposits less than $500 may be delivered to the Cashier's Office by one person, although it is still preferred that two people deliver these deposits for the safety of funds and personnel.
• A reconciliation of funds deposited must be performed to ensure all funds received by the department were deposited in the appropriate departmental Banner account.  For example, reconciliations must be completed that verify deposit amounts recorded in Banner match associated cash deposit reports or other electronic cashiering system reports and also match to cash register tapes or hand written receipts or other supporting documentation.  This reconciliation must be performed by someone who did not prepare the cash report, and if possible, by someone who was not responsible for receiving funds.
• When applicable and feasible, the reconciliation process should also include comparing funds received to the number of inventory items purchased, sold and inventory still on hand.
• State record retention requirements generally require documentation for cash receipts be kept on file for three years.  To meet this requirement, departments must keep current year documents plus the previous three years.