| HOW TO SET UP BASIC
ACCOUNTING
PROCEEDURES
It is very important that there is
uniformity in your accounting procedures to ensure the integrity of
your books and records,avoid duplication of work and effort and
allow us to provide timely financial reports on a consistent
basis.Turnover of officers and accounting personnel should not cause
a disruption in the accounting process. The system should
stand on its own meaning that it should be simple, well documented
and easy enough to understand that a layperson could work with it.
The information that we need as your accountants is really quite
simple and consistent. I will sum it up as follows:
Any money received
and/or disbursed needs to be documented and the information conveyed
to us.
The information we need
includes the following:
1: The date it transpired
2: Who it was paid to (Checks) or where it came from (Deposits)
(PAYEE/SOURCE) 3: What it was for (CATEGORY)
How
you provide this information to us is as follows:
1: Check stubs-every check written has to
have this information on the check stub:
A: Date B:
Payee C: Category
We will provide you with a list of categories to
follow. We call this a Chart of Accounts. Every check has to fall
under one of these categories. If a check is for
more than one category, IE reimbursement for office supplies, travel
and printing you will list each category on the check stub with its
corresponding amount. The total has to add up to the check
total. If the category is not listed you can use account a "suspense
account" untill it is clarified. A clear description of
what the check was for is a tremendous help.
2:
Electronic payments- these are the same as checks except for the
fact that there is no actual paper check.
This poses a problem because the individual
remitting payment does not have to write anything out. There is a
chance entering this info in the checkbook can be overlooked. In
order to reduce these kinds of oversights you should create a LIST
OF ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS to
document those payments. This does not replace the requirement of
entering the information in the checkbook.
3:
Deposits- Every deposit slip has to include the source, date and
amount.
All deposits will be entered in the LIST OF
DEPOSITS we have designed for you. The deposit has to be entered in
the check book and the as well which should include the same
information that is on the deposit slip. A: Date B: Source C: Amount
If there are multiple sources on one deposit slip make sure you note each
one separately.
Please keep in mind that your internal
procedures may require additional steps and internal controls that
is beyond the scope of our this article. You should have in place
policies and procedures that comply with IRS and NYS record keeping
requirements.
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