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CHAPTER 4: CASH HANDLING SYSTEMS <br />FINDING Oversight and monitoring of the mail -in payment <br />Process by Finance Division managers is inadequate. <br />DWS procedures dated June 29, 1999, Cashier Procedures, <br />included detailed procedures for proper accounting and <br />verification of the cash deposit process, but none included any <br />responsibilities for oversight or reconciliation of the mail -in <br />payment process by Finance Division managers. According to the <br />Assistant Controller, there are roughly 620 daily mail -in payments <br />(750 total mail -in and walk -in, less 132 walk -in payments) received <br />in the Hilo office, averaging from $1,383 to $6,300 in cash <br />deposits and $56,000 to $373,000 in check deposits per day, of <br />which the majority are water bill payments. However, after mail -in <br />payments are processed, Finance Division managers do not verify <br />or reconcile the actual number and amount of payments received <br />against the actual number and amount of payments posted by <br />Cashiers. <br />Following issuance of its revised procedures dated October 20, <br />2009, DWS Checks and Cash Receipts Control — <br />Recommendations for Change, the Finance Division and its <br />Management Accounting Branch have implemented certain <br />oversight and monitoring procedures. The Assistant Controller <br />now performs a daily review and reconciles the Cash Receipts <br />Journal report generated by the Public Utility Billing System <br />(PUBS) for each Cashier to the daily deposit slips. The Assistant <br />Controller also maintains a spreadsheet to track all cash, checks, <br />credit cards, and other manual receipts submitted for deposit in <br />the daily cash packet by each Cashier. However, these control <br />procedures still fail to address reconciliation of the actual number <br />and amount of mail -in payments received at their first point of <br />receipt in the Customer Service Branch to the actual number and <br />amount of mail -in payments posted to customer accounts by each <br />Cashier. <br />DWS management has failed to require that sufficient <br />independent data be collected and reported to permit efficient <br />monitoring and review of the mail -in payment process. Without <br />proper oversight, there is no assurance that mail -in payments are <br />accurately and completely accounted for in a timely manner after <br />receipt. Management's failure to implement necessary control <br />procedures has created a weak control environment and elevated <br />the risk of customer monies being mishandled or misappropriated. <br />27 <br />