Financial Administration Manual Public Money and Property

Financial Administration Manual

Part: Public Money and Property Number: 3505
Section: Receipt, Deposit and Control of Public Money
Subsection: Control of Public Money Date: 2008-12-12
Policy: Receipt and Control of Public Money
Page: 1 of 5

Receipt and Control of Public Money

Objective The objective is to ensure that all public money is properly received,
safeguarded, recorded, and promptly deposited.

Authority The Financial Administration Act, 1993, clauses 5(a) and 5(e),
subsection 10(2) and section 22

Applicability This policy applies to the General Revenue Fund (GRF), and special
purpose funds and trust money that are administered by ministries.
See Appendix C Public Money.

Treasury Board Policy .01 In accordance with The Financial Administration Act, 1993, all
revenues of the Province unless otherwise specified, are to be
deposited into the GRF.

.02 The permanent head is to ensure the following controls are
present:

• All money received is promptly and appropriately
recorded upon receipt.

• All money received is appropriately acknowledged.
• All money is adequately protected against loss or theft.
• All money received is disposed of properly and promptly.
• The disposition of money received is appropriately

recorded.
• Cheques returned due to non-sufficient funds (NSF) are

recorded, replaced and re-deposited.
• Adequate information regarding money received is

supplied to the appropriate financial system.

.03 Every ministry will keep its accounting records in such a form
as to indicate:

• the total revenue received, allocated into revenue
classifications, established and approved by the Provincial
Comptroller;

• the total deposited in the GRF; and
• the total accounts receivable, allocated into the

classifications as may be determined by the Provincial
Comptroller.

Ministry of Finance, Provincial Comptroller’s Office

Financial Administration Manual

Part: Public Money and Property Number: 3505
Section: Receipt, Deposit and Control of Public Money
Subsection: Control of Public Money Date: 2008-12-12
Policy: Receipt and Control of Public Money
Page: 2 of 5

Provincial Comptroller .04 Unless an exemption is provided by the Provincial Comptroller
Directives (see paragraph .20), the following minimum control
requirements regarding the receipt, handling and disposition of
moneys must be present in a financial system.

.05 All incoming mail is opened by two persons designated for the
purpose. All money received is to be immediately recorded
upon receipt. The record should include, at a minimum:

• the date;
• the name of the remitter;
• the amount of the remittance; and
• the signature of the two people opening the mail.

.06 Cheques, money orders and other negotiable instruments are
restrictively endorsed immediately upon receipt.

.07 Moneys received are acknowledged by issuing official receipts,
cash register slips, licenses or certificates when:

• the moneys received are cash;
• the remitter, other than a government agency, pays in

person; or
• the remitter requests a receipt.

.08 Forms that acknowledge money received must be:

• pre-numbered;
• issued by authorized employees and recorded; and
• periodically reviewed to ensure all forms are accounted for.

.09 Money is kept secure until proper disposition is made. Access
to money is limited to those employees who are responsible for
the cash function.

.10 Moneys are disposed of as follows:

• deposited to the bank; or
• transferred to another ministry (obtain a receipt for cash

transfers); or
• returned to the remitter if received in error or if none of

the services can be rendered and/or none of the goods can
be supplied.

Ministry of Finance, Provincial Comptroller’s Office

Financial Administration Manual

Part: Public Money and Property Number: 3505
Section: Receipt, Deposit and Control of Public Money
Subsection: Control of Public Money Date: 2008-12-12
Policy: Receipt and Control of Public Money
Page: 3 of 5

.11 Deposits are made as follows:

• daily, if the total amount to be deposited exceeds $1,000;
• at least weekly, if the total amount is $100 to $1,000; and
• monthly, if under $100.

.12 Deposits of cash and negotiable securities totaling more than
$5,000 should be transported by an armoured car service. For
deposits under $5,000, a bonded courier may be used.
Employees may transport deposits that are less than $1,000.
For safety reasons, staff should not transport such deposits over
$1,000. In locations where armoured car service is
unavailable, a bonded courier may be used.

.13 Restrictively endorsed cheques and money orders are exempt
from the above policy because they are difficult to cash and,
therefore, present a lower risk of monetary loss. Consideration
should be given, however, to using an armoured car service
when transporting large volumes of or high value restrictively
endorsed cheques and money orders. The additional cost
associated with using an armoured car service in these cases
should be weighed against the difficulty of recovering the
amounts from payees if the endorsed cheques and money
orders are lost or stolen.

.14 It is possible that the requirement to use an armoured car may
make it impossible to comply with the requirement for daily
deposits. In the event of a conflict between these two
requirements, the requirement to use an armoured car should
take precedence. In such situations, an armoured car service
should be hired as soon as practically possible.

.15 If any cheque, draft or other negotiable instrument deposited is
not honoured by the bank, the collecting ministry is to take
steps to protect the Government’s interest. Refer to
Section 3515 NSF Cheques.

.16 Documents to account for the receipts are to be properly
prepared. The receipts are to be recorded in the accounting
system in a timely manner. Deposits for GRF receipts must be
entered promptly to the Government’s central financial system.
This is required in order to detect and resolve any
discrepancies, and to ensure banking timelines for the
correction of discrepancies are met.

Ministry of Finance, Provincial Comptroller’s Office

Financial Administration Manual

Part: Public Money and Property Number: 3505
Section: Receipt, Deposit and Control of Public Money
Subsection: Control of Public Money Date: 2008-12-12
Policy: Receipt and Control of Public Money
Page: 4 of 5

.17 Deposits should be stamped by the financial institution.

.18 The record of cash received is to be reconciled to the bank
deposit and the accounting records.

.19 Duties of employees are segregated so that employees
responsible for accounting for the money do not have access to
it.

.20 All transactions entered to the Government’s central financial
system (e.g., journal entries) are to be reviewed on MIDAS
reports on a regular basis for reasonableness and for unusual
items such as correcting or reversing entries. Any
discrepancies are to be followed up on and resolved on a timely
basis.

Exemption .21 A permanent head may request an exemption if it is felt that
any of the rules for the receipt, recording and deposit of
moneys are inappropriate and other procedures would be more
appropriate in the circumstances. A plan of the revised
procedures, together with reasons for proposing them, must be
submitted in writing to the Provincial Comptroller.

The Provincial Comptroller may:

• approve the plan submitted;
• approve the plan with modifications; or
• reject the plan.

GRF Processing .22 For information on revenue refunds from the GRF, refer to
Section 3015 Revenue Refunds.

.23 For information on application for remissions from the GRF,
refer to Section 3010 Application for Remissions.

References 3000 Control of the GRF
3010 Application for Remissions
3015 Revenue Refunds
3020 Suspense Accounts and Conditional Receipts
3500 Control of Public Money
3510 Minor Errors in Remittances
3515 NSF Cheques
3520 Credit and Debit Card Receipts
3525 Receipt of Donations

Ministry of Finance, Provincial Comptroller’s Office

Financial Administration Manual

Part: Public Money and Property Number: 3505
Section: Receipt, Deposit and Control of Public Money
Subsection: Control of Public Money Date: 2008-12-12
Policy: Receipt and Control of Public Money
Page: 5 of 5

3600 Control of Bank Accounts
3700 Control of Accounts Receivable

Province of Saskatchewan – General Revenue Fund – Year End
Reporting Requirements and Procedures

Ministry of Finance, Provincial Comptroller’s Office