1. Financial Management Best Practices for County, Area, or District Operations

2. Objectives
This lesson will help you learn best practices for financial management and apply them to the areas of:
Ethical Handling of Funds
Collecting Funds
Making Purchases
Monitoring Financial Activity

3. Core Principles Ethics are rules of conduct.
Ethics principles are guidelines that help individuals know what is expected from those handling funds and what is and what is not acceptable.
Ethics are based on the values of the organization.
Lesson 1

4. Core Principles Principles should be:
simple, understandable, concise and active.
communicated to everyone who handles or manages funds for the county.
reviewed periodically to identify any adjustments that are needed.
Using ethical standards could result in better community relationships as well as in a higher trust level among those in the organization.
Lesson 1

5. Collecting Funds - Sources
Training Class Fees
Newsletter Subscriptions and Publications
Diagnostic Services: Plants, Soil and Water Testing
Fund Raising
Food and Snacks
T-Shirt Sales
Other Items
Lesson 2

6. Collecting Funds- Receipts
Cash Receipt Form
Pre-Numbered
Date of Payment
Payee
Amount
Method of Payment
Program (Purpose)
Cashier’s Name
Lesson 2

7. Collecting Funds - Safeguarding
Designate Custodian (different than the person who collected funds)
Make Timely Deposits
Administrative
Verification
Lesson 2

8. Collecting Funds Common Audit Weaknesses
Not depositing funds intact
Paying expenses out of collections before the
funds are deposited
Mixing change funds with revenue
No designated custodian
Not depositing funds timely
Deposits not independently verified
◦ Cash receipts not pre-numbered
◦ Cash receipts not used in numerical order
◦ No supporting records necessary to facilitate
verification
Lesson 2

9. Making Purchases – Invoice Approval
Received in good condition
Billed to appropriate unit
Original invoice
Fair price
Math is correct
Signature of employee
Pre-approval (if required)
Tax exempt
Lesson 3

10. Making Purchases - Checks
Voucher
Invoice or receipt
Administrative approval
Proper # of signatures
Do not pre-sign checks
No food or alcohol
Not made out to “cash”
Lesson 3

11. Making Purchases – Procurement Card
No food or alcohol
Only card-holder or card-holder approval
Submit receipts in timely fashion
Lesson 3

12. Making Purchases - Travel Advances
To employees or pay registration, airline tickets, etc. directly
Approval of administrator
Employee submits receipts within a few days after returning
Administrater verifies advances in a timely manner
Lesson 3

13. Making Purchases - Common Audit Weaknesses
Pre-sign checks
Making checks payable to cash
Not independently monitoring expenditures
Not saving expenditure documentation
Lesson 3

14. Reconciling Use standard computer accounting program
Administrator compares
bank statements with
computer printout
- monthly
Lesson 4

15. Donations and Gifts Types: Reporting: In-kind Cash restricted
or unrestricted?
Reporting:
What are the benefits of reporting?
Lesson 5

16. Audits What exactly is an audit? What will an auditor be evaluating?
Record of audit filed
What are some benefits to using an internal audit committee?
Lesson 6

17. What to do if you suspect……
DO NOT confront the suspected perpetrator
DO NOT investigate the case yourself
Work within your management chain of command,
Contact your supervisor