To: Major Organizational Unit (MOU) Leads
University Business Managers
From: DeAhn Baucom, Director, Student Accounts and University Receivables
Dennis Press, University Controller
Stan Koziol, Director, Internal Controls
Date: September 25, 2014
This memorandum is a reminder and additional guidance regarding the impending cutover for departmental deposits.
Key Dates
| Friday, Sept. 26, 4:30 p.m. | Last day to create and deliver cash/check deposits in the Departmental Deposit System. Please create deposits for funds received this week and deliver to the Cashier’s Office by 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, 2014.This is also the last day to enter bankcard/electronic deposits to be recorded in FRS. |
| Monday, Sept. 29 | Receipt and safeguard funds per usual business processes. See below for additional guidance. |
| Tuesday, Sept. 30 | Receipt and safeguard funds per usual business processes. See below for additional guidance. |
| Wednesday, Oct. 1 | Begin entering deposits collected previously in the new system.This includes funds received electronically during the cutover. |
Deposits received after the Sept. 26 deadline will be safeguarded in the Cashier’s Office and will have to be re-entered in ConnectCarolina as deposits on Oct. 1 in order to be finalized, deposited, and recorded in the new financial system in accordance with state law. The Cashier’s Office will directly contact departments who submit deposits that have to be re-entered.
Additional Guidance for Receipting and Safeguarding Funds
Receipting/Recording Funds
Your office should already have a process for receipting funds that is independent of the deposit system as a record against which you check your deposits. If you do not have such a system, now is a good time to put a system in place.
A simple spreadsheet or log can be used to record each receipt of funds transaction. Note the date, cash amount, check account and person or entity making the payment. This can be used for mail payments and in-person payments. If your department typically receives a variety of such, add a column to note whether the payment was received in person or by mail. If you receive payments in person, consider using a simple multi-copy receipt book so that a copy can be provided to the payer.
Proper Safeguarding of Assets
- Funds collected on Sept. 27 through Oct. 1, should be kept separately/daily, for example, separate deposit envelopes/bags for each day. This allows the funds to be kept in a neat order and prevents funds from accidentally being commingled.
- Checks must be restrictively endorsed. (i.e. “For Deposit Only”)
- Cash, checks, and receipts must be kept in a secure location. To protect the funds, they should be kept in a lockable container, such as a cash box, and stored in an area that is not visible to unauthorized personnel. The container should not be left unattended during the working day. At night, all funds must be kept in a secured (locked) storage area, such as a file cabinet or safe located in an interior locked office.
- At no point should funds be stored away from campus, taken home and/or left in vehicles.
- Departments that have an excessive amount of cash that cannot be safely stored in their offices can contact the Cashier’s Office at deposit@unc.edu and make arrangements for the funds to be receipted and stored until the department can enter the deposit in the new system.
Once the new system is online, please observe the following controls for safeguarding funds:
- The person that receipts funds shouldn’t be the person that delivers those funds.
- Never send cash through campus mail.
- Departments collecting cash should bring their receipt bags to the Cashier’s office in nondescript packages at varied times so to not draw attention to the receipts being delivered. With large deposits, it is also recommended that two employees from the cash-collecting department go together to deliver the receipts to the Cashier’s office.
- Timely reconciliation of receipts and deposits should be completed and reviewed by a supervisor.