Subject: A/R Collection - Payment received by mail Date Issue: June 6th, 2016
CC: Accounting Effective Date: August 1st, 2016
Prepared by:
Position: Financial Controller
Signature:
Approved By:
Position: General Manager
Signature:
OBJECTIVE
To guarantee the safety of the payment collection flow from the external mail into the hotel.
POLICY
1. Segregation of duties should be maintained with advance deposits and A/R payments in cash or cheques not directly handled by Accounts Receivable staff or any person having access to A/R system or general ledger.
2. Post-dated cheques should never be accepted in payment of current transactions.
3. All payments received by mail or from the Bill Collector must be entered into a cheques received register before handing over to the General Cashier.
4. The cheque received register must be reconciled to the bank deposits.
5. All payments received by mail or from the Bill Collector should be banked the same day, if possible (or within three working days maximum).
PROCEDURE
I- Payments received by mail
(Mainly payments related to city ledger and advance deposits)
1. The Financial Controller should formally designate the person to inspect all incoming mail for cheques (Secretary of Finance, GM Secretary, etc).
2. Once received, all cheques should be recorded on a “cheques received register” in 2 copies, stating for each cheque:
• Date received
• Date Issued
• Bank issuing and branch
• Payer’s name
• The cheque number
• Amount paid
• Description (invoice reference) if any
The last entry must be underlined and the page totaled. All cheques should be photocopied and any papers accompanying the cheques should be stapled to the cheque photocopy.
3. The cheques received with one copy of the register, dated and signed by the remitter should be immediately handed over to the General Cashier for subsequent banking.
4. The General Cashier will reconcile all cheques with the register and sign both copies of the register in acknowledgement. The General Cashier must inspect all cheques for proper signature or endorsement:
• If a cheque is received without a proper signature, the Financial Controller should immediately be informed and follow-up with the issuer.
• All cheques should be endorsed with the restrictive endorsement “For Deposit Only” along with the hotel’s designated bank deposit account number.
5. Distribution of the “cheques received register” should be as follows:
• First copy: to General Cashier to be attached with the daily General Cashier Report.
• Second copy: to Accounts Receivable with attached a copy of all cheques for subsequent posting; once done, the register should be filed permanently in
chronological order.
II- Payments received from a Bill Collector (mostly applies in Asia)
1. When receiving payments from a Bill Collector, the General Cashier should receive an Official Receipt (prepared in 3 copies) stating the date, nature of payment (cash or cheque
#), description, total amount paid and to be signed by both the client and the Bill Collector. All cheques given must be inspected for proper signature and endorsement.
2. The Official Receipt is distributed as follows:
• Original copy : to the client
• Second copy : to General Cashier
• Third copy : permanently filed in numerical order
In addition, the Bill Collector should record individually all payments received on a Daily Collection Report in 2 copies, stating:
• Means of payment (cash or cheque)
• Payer’s name and invoice reference
• Amount paid
with the last entry to be underlined and the page totaled.
3. All collections of the day with attached related official receipts and the Daily Collection Report dated and signed by the Bill Collector should be handed to the General Cashier for subsequent banking through a separate bank deposit.
4. The General Cashier will reconcile all cash and cheques received to the Daily Collection Report and sign the 2 copies of the report in acknowledgement.
5. Distribution of the Daily Collection Report should be as follows:
• First copy kept by General Cashier to be subsequently attached with his daily General Cashier Report.
• Second copy with attached copy of all cheques (if any) should be handed over to the Accounts Receivable for posting and should then be filed in chronological order.