This lesson will help you learn best practices for financial management and apply them to the areas of:  Ethical Handling of Funds  Collecting Funds  Making Purchases  Monitoring Financial Activity

 Ethics are rules of conduct.  Ethics principles are guidelines that help individuals know what is expected from those handling funds and what is and what is not acceptable.  Ethics are based on the values of the organization. Lesson 1

 Principles should be:  simple, understandable, concise and active.  communicated to everyone who handles or manages funds for the county.  reviewed periodically to identify any adjustments that are needed.  Using ethical standards could result in better community relationships as well as in a higher trust level among those in the organization. Lesson 1

 Training Class Fees  Newsletter Subscriptions and Publications  Diagnostic Services: Plants, Soil and Water Testing  Fund Raising  Food and Snacks  T-Shirt Sales  Other Items Lesson 2

 Cash Receipt Form  Pre-Numbered  Date of Payment  Payee  Amount  Method of Payment  Program (Purpose)  Cashier’s Name Lesson 2

 Designate Custodian (different than the person who collected funds)  Make Timely Deposits  Administrative Verification Lesson 2

 Not depositing funds intact  Paying expenses out of collections before the funds are deposited  Mixing change funds with revenue  No designated custodian  Not depositing funds timely  Deposits not independently verified ◦ Cash receipts not pre-numbered ◦ Cash receipts not used in numerical order ◦ No supporting records necessary to facilitate verification Lesson 2

 Received in good condition  Billed to appropriate unit  Original invoice  Fair price  Math is correct  Signature of employee  Pre-approval (if required)  Tax exempt Lesson 3

 Voucher  Invoice or receipt  Administrative approval  Proper # of signatures  Do not pre-sign checks  No food or alcohol  Not made out to “cash” Lesson 3

 No food or alcohol  Only card-holder or card-holder approval  Submit receipts in timely fashion Lesson 3

 To employees or pay registration, airline tickets, etc. directly  Approval of administrator  Employee submits receipts within a few days after returning  Administrater verifies advances in a timely manner Lesson 3

 Pre-sign checks  Making checks payable to cash  Not independently monitoring expenditures  Not saving expenditure documentation Lesson 3

 Use standard computer accounting program  Administrator compares bank statements with computer printout - monthly Lesson 4

 Types: ◦ In-kind ◦ Cash  restricted or unrestricted?  Reporting: ◦ In-kind ◦ Cash ◦ What are the benefits of reporting? Lesson 5

 What exactly is an audit?  What will an auditor be evaluating?  Record of audit filed  What are some benefits to using an internal audit committee? Lesson 6

 DO NOT confront the suspected perpetrator  DO NOT investigate the case yourself  Work within your management chain of command,  Contact your supervisor