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Cash Receipts, Expenditures, & Financial Review

Adopted:  3-12-25

Philosophy

These policies, guidelines, and procedures are applicable without exception to all funds owned or administered by the District. This policy applies to all District administration, licensed educators, staff, students, organizations, and individuals that handle cash receipts or accept payment in any form on behalf of the District or individual school or initiate, authorize, or process cash disbursements on behalf of the District or individual school. The scope includes all activities at the District and individual schools and in all locations where District activities and public funds are collected or expended. All expenditures of the District are to be consistent with applicable state and federal laws and regulations; any restrictions, rules, or regulations placed on the use of the funds by donors and granting agencies; and prudent management practices. It is expected that in all dealings, District employees will act in an ethical manner that is consistent with the District’s code of ethics, the Utah Educators’ Standards, the Public Officers’ and Employees’ Ethics Act, and State procurement law.

Definitions

“Public funds” for purposes of this policy are defined as money, funds, and 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 Districts or other public bodies.
Utah Code § 51-7-3(26) (2024)

Segregation of Duties

Wherever possible, duties such as custody of purchase cards and blank checks, initiating expenditures, approving expenditures, maintaining documentation, issuing checks, collecting funds, 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 of the District or individual school, compensating controls such as management supervision and review of cash receipting records by independent parties should be implemented.

Cash Receipts Procedures

  1.         All receipting of funds at the District and at schools should be done at the cashier’s The cashier should receipt all funds immediately. Employees shall instruct payers to take all cash, checks, and credit card transactions to the cashier for receipt.
  2.       Provisions should be made for cash receipting/collection at games and other school sponsored activities that are approved off-site activities or Cash count sheets will be used and will be completed by two individuals, signed by a member of administration on the day of collection, and retained for verification in the daily or register detail.
  3.        No collecting or receipting of funds is to be done in other offices or at unapproved offsite activities or functions. Employees should never hold funds in any location for any reason.
  4.        District employees, school employees, and volunteers associated with school- sponsored activities should not open bank accounts, outside of the control of the District, for the receipting or expending of public funds associated with school- sponsored activities. The business administrator or designee must approve all checking and savings accounts used in District or individual school business.
  5.       All funds shall be kept in a secure location controlled by the cashier until they can be deposited in a District-approved financial institution. Funds should be deposited daily or within three days after receipt, in compliance with Utah Code 51-4-1(2), in a District-approved account. Employees should never hold funds in any location for any reason.
  6.       If the cashier has left for the day or funds are receipted after normal business hours, administrators should be available to lock cash receipts or cash boxes in the school safe until the next business Cash receipts should not be taken home by employees or volunteers, or left in offices.
  7.       All checks should be made payable to the District or individual school and restrictively endorsed upon Checks should not be made payable to an employee, a specific department, or a program.
  8.       Appropriate internal controls and segregation of duties should be implemented for all cash activity. Cash should always be verified. Where verification is difficult, cash should be counted by two individuals.
  9.       Under no circumstances are disbursements to be made directly from cash receipts (i.e., for purchases, reimbursements, refunds, or to cash personal checks).
  10.       Periodic and unscheduled audits or reviews should be performed for all cash activity. Documents should be available, and should demonstrate that proper cash controls are in place (signatures for approval, tally sheets, reconciliations, etc.).
  11.       All activities involving cash must be supervised by a District employee or authorized volunteer to ensure adequate controls are in Training should be given to those involved in handling cash.
  12.       The District and all individual schools will comply with all applicable state and federal laws. All payments of fees shall correspond with the approved fee schedule, as required by Board Administrative Rule 277-407.
  13.       Mail should be opened by an individual independent of the cash receipt process.
  14.       Bank reconciliations should be performed on all District approved accounts on a monthly basis. These should be completed by the 15th of the month or sooner.
General Expenditure Procedures
  1.       Expenditure transactions must be approved by an individual having sufficient knowledge and authority to evaluate the transaction for reasonableness and appropriateness.
  2.       All expenditures made using cash, checks, credit/purchase cards, electronic fund transfers, etc. shall be recorded in the school or District’s accounting records.
  3.       Passwords should be established on user access to the accounting system and changed periodically.
  4.       Checks should be made payable to specified payees and never to “cash” or “bearer.”
  5.       Blank checks should never be signed and ready for use.
  6.         All Disbursement activity should be substantiated by supporting documents. Documents should be available, and should demonstrate that proper disbursement controls are in place (signatures, for approval, travel forms, journal entries, reconciliations, etc.) Quotes shall contain the following
      1.              Date received or dates that the quoted price is valid, delivery date
        •        Company name, address, salesperson
        • Each item, description or specifications, unit, total price, and quantity listed
        •       Shipping and freight charges
        •        Salesperson and contact information
        •        Vendor, District employee name and position
          Quotes may be obtained and documented by printing pages from a website; however, all of the quote elements must be documented. Better prices are usually obtained by contacting vendors directly. Telephone quotes must be documented and include all quote elements. Written quotes should be requested on the vendor’s letterhead      All disbursement activity should be substantiated by supporting documents. Documents should be available, and should demonstrate that proper disbursement controls are in place (signatures for approval, purchase orders, receipts, invoices, bids or quotes, reimbursement forms, travel forms, journal entries, reconciliations, etc.). Quotes shall contain the following information:
  7.        Bank and credit card statements should be reviewed and accounts reconciled in a timely manner. Activity accounts should be reviewed quarterly by the custodian of the activity
  8.         All checks or check stock, credit/purchase cards, access to bank accounts and statements, shall be secured and controlled by the accounting/front office with limited access. All disbursing of funds at the school or District should be done through the accounting/front office.
  9.        If an outside entity reimburses employee expenses (meals, travel, ), these expenses should not be submitted to the District for reimbursement.
  10.        The District’s tax exempt status number should only be used in conformity with the Utah State Tax Commission’s guidelines
  11.        Purchases of goods or services for personal use or personal benefit of any amount are strictly prohibited.
  12.        The school or District must comply with applicable District and state purchasing
      •        Contracts must follow the guidelines outlined in the District’s procurement policies and State Procurement Code, specifically regarding the length of multi-year contracts.
      •        Construction and improvements must comply with the provisions of the District’s procurement policies and the State Procurement Code (Utah Code Ann. ' 63G-6a-101 et seq.), the Utah State Procurement Policy Board Rules, and Title IX.
      •         Exclusive contracts must comply with the guidelines outlined in the State Procurement Code (Utah Code ' 63G-6a-101 et seq.), the District’s procurement policy, and the Utah Public Officers’ and Employees’ Ethics Act (Utah Code Ann. ' 67-16-1 et seq.).
      •        Purchases of goods or services with District funds for personal use or personal gain are strictly prohibited; see the Utah Public Officers’ and Employees’ Ethics Act (Utah Code Ann. ' 67-16-1 et seq.).
      •         Expenditures will follow the guidelines outlined in the District’s procurement policies and the State Procurement Code (Utah Code Ann. ' 63G-6a-101 et seq.) and federal purchasing laws.
Review of Financial Information
  1.       Bank reconciliation(s) should be performed on all District-approved accounts on a monthly basis. Other financial reports such as check registers, school program reports, and journal entry reports should be produced each month. The bank reconciliations and other financial reports should be filed in a binder by month. The bank reconciliation and other financial reports should be reviewed and approved by the principal on a monthly
  2.      Administration should review credit card statements, and other purchase card statements and document the review and approval.
  3.       District Administration or designated members of management shall review the schools financial information periodically to verify that all District and State policies and procedures are being followed.