Part3-FS-6500-0279_COAuditCheckList.pdf

USDA Forest Service FS-6500-0279 (v11-2014)

FS-6500-0279, Collection Officer Audit Check List for POSS Sites – Example R6 Financial Mgmt / April 2017

Collection Officer Audit Check List for POSS Sites (Ref: FSM 6530; FSH 6514 and FSH 6509.11k-30)

Note: Collection Officer Auditors must have access to ‘‘reports only’’ report from the Point of Sale System (POSS) Central Office.

Collection Officer Name: ______________________________________________

Unit Name & Location: _______________________________________________

Date of Current

Previous Review: ____________________________ Date: _________________________

Reviewer’s Name: ___________________________________

Part 1: Collection Officer (CO) and Unit Collection Officer (UCO) Review

Required Reports from POSS Central Office

By CO by Item – Located under Sales tab

Cash Deposit Report – Located under Financial tab

Over/Short Report – Located under Financial tab

Transaction Report – Located under Settlement tab

Type of Collection Activities Authorized X Federal Recreation Fees (Campground) Donations X Forest Product Permit (FS-2400-1)

X Minerals Material Permit Sales Map Sales X Christmas Tree Tag

X Recreation Passes X Other, (Such as Jury Duty & Bill Pay), specify:

X Imprest Change Making Fund ($50.00)

Yes No N/A Review Items

Collection Officer Designation in Order (Review Collection Officer File)

X 1. Does the collection officer (CO) have a signed designation of authority? For each “No” answer, record a note at the end of this section and discuss with supervisor.

X 2. Was the designation signed by the appropriate management official? Per FSM 6533.3, Line

Officer for employees and hosted participants; WO Directors, RF, or FS for volunteers.

X 3. Was the CO properly designated before performing collections duties?

Date CO authority was granted: __________

X 4. Has the CO received collection officer training? Is training documented in CO folder?

Remind the CO about the training available in AgLearn.

Date latest training was received:___________ Number of training hours: _____

X 5. For a final review, are termination actions being completed, including plans to:

___ Complete a form FS 6500-247, Revocation of Collection Officer Designation, Collection duties will cease on: _____________ (MM/DD/YY)

___ Transfer safe and or cash box keys to the line officer or designee, or arrange to change the safe combination.

Smokey Bear, Information Receptionist

Deep Woods NF, Sunshine Ranger Station / Sunny, WA

July 11, 2016 July 23, 2017

Robert Johnson, ABC Auditing Company

1/03/2016

1/04/2016 4

Jury Duty

___ Schedule a transfer of undeposited remittance and records to another CO. Ensure form

FS-6500-0275, cash transfer form is used to transfer undeposited remittances to another CO.

___ Complete and submit a form FS-6500-214, Financial Information Security Request Form to remove access to CO-related financial systems (i.e. POSS and FTRS)

Yes No N/A Review Item

~ Adequate Safekeeping Facilities ~ X 6. Has management provided each CO with adequate safekeeping facilities for the amount of funds collected during a normal business day or week? Both short-term and overnight facilities must be adequate. Short-term: A locking drawer, locking cash box or equivalent. Drawers in system furniture (locking or not) are not adequate facilities. Overnight safekeeping facilities:

Fireproof safe or safe-type cabinet with bar and combination lock that is out of sight of the general public.

X 7. Does the CO keep the key or combination to the safekeeping facility (ies) under strict personal control i.e. not written in the file or shared by multiple employees?

X 8. Has a copy of the key or combination to short-term and overnight safekeeping facilities been given to the administrative head of the unit for emergency access?

X 9. Are collection files retained in a secured location separate from remittances?

X 10. Was the safe combination changed within the last year or when use of the drawer changed to the current user?

X 11. If the CO is designated to receive donation collections, does the CO have the only key to this box? And is the key stored in a safe or secure drawer?

X 12. Does the CO ensure that government funds are not comingled with other officials funds, semi-official funds (e.g., Interpretive Association receipts), or personal funds?

X 13. Was the safe combination changed within the last year or when use of the drawer changed to the current user?

Operating Procedures X 14. Retrieve cash deposit report and verify when last deposit was made. Was cash deposit made within last week, especially on Thursday?

X 15. Count the cash and checks on hand. Reconcile POSS Till Summary reports since the CO’s last cash deposit to cash and checks on-hand. Allow collection officer to explain differences if any.

___Did total in hand reconcile to POSS by tender type and the form FS-6500-0075, Collection

Officer Register?

___Were cash and checks stored in adequate safekeeping facilities, short-term and overnight?

X 16. Are the CO’s records or folder complete? Records are complete when they contain at least the following items:

___ Form FS-6500-248, Designation of Collection Officer, or letter of designation

___ Collection Officer Desk Guide for POSS Locations

___ Copy of most recent collection officer review checklist form (if applicable)

___ Copies of form FS-6500-0275, Cash Transfer

___ Copy of form FS-6500-0075, Collection Officer Register

___ None of the checks on hand is older than 14 days and have “Settled” status on the

Transaction Report? Checks that are more than 14 days old and completely processed should be shredded.

X 17. Does the Cash Deposit report show that the CO consistently transferred remittances or deposited collections when collections reach $5,000 and at least weekly regardless of amount accumulated?

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

X 18. Are the form FS-6500-275 correctly signed by both the collection officer and unit collection officer? Cash may be transferred to the unit collection officer or designee for the purchase of money order/cashier’s check for weekly deposit.

X 19. Is there evidence that the CO reviews the POSS unidentified reports and aged billing reports on ASC B&F web site?

Yes

No

N/A

Review Item

~ Additional Operating Procedures by Type of Collection Authorized ~

X 20. Campground Fee collections.

___ Does the unit have a collection officer verification check program in place? If no, discuss with supervisor at the end of audit.

___ Are unopened fee envelopes transferred and signed between COs on form AD-107?

___ Are the unopened fee envelopes stored in adequate safekeeping facilities and does only one CO have access to them?

___ When the fee envelopes are opened, are the contents counted by two people and do both sign a form verifying the amount?

___ If double locking fee boxes are used, are they securely stored in the office prior to the time when the contents are accessed and counted?

X 21. Donation collections. Are donations properly recorded in POSS? (Review donations in

Transaction Report to ensure donations are recorded timely).

X 22. Forest Product Permits (FS-2400-1) or Christmas tree tag sales.

___Has the CO retained a copy of National Resource Manager -Timber Information

Management System (NRM-TIM) collections register worksheet and bill for each permit sold?

___ Reconciliation between NRM-TIM system and POSS is critical to meet Agency financial reconciliation and audit requirements; as well as other standards. Are permit sales reconciled weekly between NRM-TIM and POSS?

X 23. Minerals Material Permit Sales.

___ Does the amount of contracts/permits for sale of mineral material match total minerals material permit sales on the Sales by CO by Item Report?

X 24. Map sales. (FSM 7149.11e).

___ Are maps under appropriate safekeeping? Maps should be treated as accountable property and stored in a secure area, i.e. where the CO has exclusive access.

___ Benefiting unit program funds must be charged for the cost of maps used for administrative purposes. If possible, review form FS-6500-261 – Internal/Admin Map Use to ensure unit personnel pay for internal, administrative map use. Is there evidence of internal map use? Did the CO submit the internal map use to the forest budget officer for an adjustment _____ (check if applicable) or process purchase card transactions in POSS ____?

___ Is physical inventory conducted annually and documented on form FS-6500-269 –

Accountable Property Reconciliation Form?

X 25. Recreation Passes and Permits (i.e., numbered window decals), Manual FS-2400-1

Permits, Forest Product Load Tickets, and Christmas Tree Tags.

___ Are accountable documents stored under appropriate safekeeping? Safekeeping requirements match the requirements for cash.

___ Does the CO properly use the required forms including forms AD-107, Report of Transfer or Other Disposition or Construction of Property, and AD-112, Report of Unserviceable, Lost or Damaged Property, to document the receipt, transfer or destruction of passes?

____ Is physical inventory conducted annually and documented on form FS-6500-269 –

Accountable Property Reconciliation Form?

X 26. Imprest Fund Cashier.

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

___ Is the designation as an imprest fund cashier documented on form AD-211 and signed by a

Forest Supervisor or Regional Forester?

___ Is the allocation of imprest funds to sub-cashiers documented in the CO folder?

___ Are quarterly verifications documented in the CO folder on form AD-358?

___ Is the annual cashier audit documented in the CO folder on form AD-359?

X 27. Other – Such as Jury Duty Fees, Employee Overpayments, and Vendor

Overpayment. Are these collections supported by a bill for collection and documentation supporting the amount – shorthand code/job code/WBS, budget object code and vendor name?

~ Other Internal Controls ~

28. Does the CO file show that a line officer or budget officer approved each of the CO’s requests to cancel bill for collection? Enter N/A if the CO does not have FTRS access.

29. Does the CO file include an explanation of their items on the Over/Short Report? If not, allow the collection officer to explain.

30. Does the collection officer purchase their own weekly money orders/cashier checks for scanning into POSS? If yes, recommend to unit to purchase a consolidated cashier’s check or money order for all receipts by the unit collection officer.

31. Does the supervisor know of other internal controls that management should implement to reduce the risk of fraud?

Recommendations to resolve Review Items with “No” answers

Review

Item

Imprest Sub-Cashier, Change-Making

N/A

Y

Y

Y

N/A

N/A

NO

NO

# 9 CO had their CO folder in their safe. CO will start storing folder in locked file cabinet.

# 14 CO has been holding onto their collections for weeks at a time. CO was unaware of the liability risk associated with not making their deposits each week. CO said they will be sure to comply in the future.

# 17 See above recommendation for #14

Keep up the good work, Smokey!!!

Part 2: Certification of Understanding Regarding Supervisor’s Responsibilities. Initial items 1 thru 8 to confirm these responsibilities:

Collection Officer Name: ______________________ Unit Name: ____________

I understand the responsibilities associated with supervising collection officers, I:

_____ 1. Acknowledge that the collection officer(s) that I supervise have been thoroughly trained on collection activities and responsibilities.

_____ 2. Know the responsibilities for safekeeping and timely deposit of funds, and monitoring deposits in transit; such as cash for money order purchase.

_____ 3. Understand the short-term and overnight storage requirements to safeguard government funds.

If exception was noted in part 1 above, I will provide adequate facilities by _________ (date). I understand that I can be held personally liable if inadequate facilities contributed to a physical loss of government funds.

_____ 5. Will immediately report suspected loss or theft of collections to my line officer (or staff officer) and the unit Administrative Officer (or equivalent); and ask line officer to suspend the collection officer’s collection duties pending further investigation.

_____ 6. Will immediately notify LEI, police authorities and the nearest office of the Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI) in the case of an obvious robbery.

_____ 7. Understand that this collection officer’s next review is required by ________ (month & year).

_____ 8. Will notify the Administrative Officer (or comparable administrative head of the units) prior to a collection officer leaving the unit so that a final review can be performed and the delegated authority properly cancelled.

Signature of Supervisor Date of Signature

Supervisor Name Supervisor Title

Smokey Bear Sunshine Ranger Station

JB

JB

JB

JB

JB

JB

JB

August 2018

Janet Brown Support Services Specialist

Janet Brown July 23, 2017

Part 3: Reviewer Certification

Collection Officer Name: ______________________Unit Name: ____________

Check one of the following statements:

____ The answers to all review items in Part 1 were “Yes”. On the basis of the review, the collection officer meets all requirements in accordance with established policies and procedures.

____ The answers to most review items in Part 1 were “Yes” with a few “No”. Except as noted in Part 1 above, the collection officer meets the requirements defined in agency policies and procedures.

___________________, ________________ (name and title) will follow-up within ______ days/months as to the implementation of recommendations with the CO and their supervisor or line officer.

____ The answers to most review items in Part 1 was “No” or this is a review before termination of designation. On the basis of the review, the collection officer does not meet most of the requirements in accordance with policies and procedures. I recommend suspending collection designation until the recommendations described above are implemented. ________________, _____________ (name and title) will follow-up within ______ days as to the implementation of recommendations with the CO and their supervisor.

Signature of Reviewer Date of Reviewer Signature

Title of Reviewer

Collection Officer Signature, if present for review

Smokey Bear Sunshine Ranger Station

X

Robert Johnson

Auditor, ABC Auditing Company

July 23, 2017

Smokey Bear