In these instances, units should first obtain approval from the Office of Business Affairs to establish and maintain their own accounts receivable. Sound practices include a continuous review or internal check of routine transactions, whereby the work of one person is proved independent of or complementary to the work of another. There should be division of duties and responsibilities so that no person has complete control over all aspects of a financial transaction. A primary internal control is adequate separation of duties. As such, no one person could misappropriate assets or improperly record or account for transactions without reasonable assurance of detection by another person.
Segregation of duties helps detect errors in a timely manner and deters improper activities.
Accepted internal control procedures dictate that periodic reconciliations should be made between general ledger and related subsidiary accounting records. Should all collection efforts fail, the State Collections Act prescribes processing requirements to be followed. Unit management should exercise supervisory control over the unit's accounts receivable to assure that records reflect the actual condition of the accounts. Past due accounts should be followed up to expedite collections. Amounts that will not be collected should be removed from Accounts Receivable after all appropriate follow-up has been attempted.