Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — During the Airport cash report, auditors found that records were not checked for completeness and accuracy.

 “There is no evidence of an independent check of Daily Cash receipt to cash reports at the end of the day.

 “Cash is subject to inherent risk of being misappropriate by employees.

“The recommended practice is to have cash reports prepared by someone other than cashier(s) and reviewed by a responsible supervisory person independent of handling cash.” Cash receipts should be reconciled daily to register tapes, manual receipts or theatre tickets prior to submission of the Treasury Transmittal Letter.

“Cash shortage should be identified, documented and analyzed to determine if corrective action is necessary.

“Cash-to-check composition of the receipts and deposit is verified by an independent person to ensure integrity.

It is recommended that Daily Cash reports be prepared at each location and before deposits are submitted to the Revenue Division — reviewed by the senior accounting officer independent of cash handling.

“Evidence of review shall be documented on each individual’s Daily Cash report.”

PORT ADMIN

Among the issues cited by the Territorial Audit Office on the surprise cash count conducted in August for the Port Administration Department, were deposits not made on time; and there is a practice of using cash collected proceeds for office purchases, was among the issues found.

According to the Audit Report, “All cash receipts are to be strictly accounted for and never issued out of order.

The Auditors “strongly recommended” that all cash receipts shall be issued in strict numerical sequence.

 “The custodian of all cash receipts records shall make sure documents are issued in the order of book numbers and receipts sequence.

 “The in-charge officer must ensure these procedures are effectively carried out and evidence of such shall be documented, for instance: custodians and supervisor(s) are signed off on the physical register during issuance and returning of used receipt books.

“Any missing sequence(s) has a financial impact and allows for significant breakdown(s) in the control environment and personnel can take advantage of those weaknesses to cover for misappropriation of funds.

“Furthermore, it facilitates the monitoring process which helps ensure that all cash collected is deposited intact.”

Furthermore, the cash count reveals that proceeds from receipts are not submitted to the ASG treasury Revenue Division on time.

 “Sometimes funds are withheld beyond reasonable periods. “The ASG Cash Receipt Policy Manual; states that “all deposits should be made daily and intact — no cash should be retained or expended.

“ASG Treasurer may make exceptions to the daily deposits requirement in writing.”

The auditors strongly recommend that all receipts shall be deposited on a consistent and timely basis to reduce misappropriation and security risks The ASG Cash receipts policy manual and Cash Procedures” require that ALL receipt deposits shall be remitted on a daily basis.

“The spot counts shall be spaced and randomly selected. “The SOP (standard operating procedure) should include and require that custodian funds shall be spot checked periodically to ensure that funds the property of the Department are safeguarded.

“This is an important issue and we will follow up in the next audit visit.”

Auditors urged the Port management to establish written procedures that emphasize voiding receipts and adequate policies and procedures. The failure to apply best practices can results in the possibility to concealed errors in the normal course of duties,Segregation of Duties (SOD) requires the separation of key processes that disperses critical functions to more than one person