Effective July 2, 2009, Handbook F-101, Field Accounting Procedures, is revised with established requirements and timelines for maintaining cash retained credits, removing accountable roles assigned retail associates (RAs), and removing (terminating) RAs from the POS system.
An RA’s cash retained credit is considered inactive when there is no activity during the timeframes as follows:
n RA cash retained credit with funds reported in AIC 753 — No activity during a month.
n RA cash retained credits with a $0 (zero) balance reported in AIC 753 — No activity during a 4-month period.
Conducting a count of an RA’s cash retained credit signifies activity. RAs must not retain funds in AIC 753 if no activity has occurred during a month; instead they must deposit the funds or transfer them to another RA.
This new policy allows the accountable role to remain open and the RA to retain assigned money orders in POS as long as the RA’s cash retained balance (AIC 753) is $0 (zero) and a count is conducted in POS at least once every 4 months. If a count of the RA’s cash retained is not conducted to verify the assigned money orders at least once every 4 months, assigned money orders must be returned to the unit reserve and the accountable role removed.
To remain active, cash retained credits with a balance in AIC 753 must be counted randomly at least once a month, and cash retained credits with a $0 (zero) balance must be counted at least once every 4 months. Note: Cash retained credit counts (including those with a $0 balance) must be conducted using the POS workflow, which includes the verification of money orders assigned.
When a cash retained credit becomes inactive, postal retail unit (PRU) managers/supervisors at POS offices must remove the accountable role from the RA in the POS system. Prior to removing an accountable role from an RA, the following must be done:
n Conduct a physical count of the inactive cash retained credit, and enter the results of the count in the POS system. (This is a “final” count of the cash retained credit; therefore, no tolerance is allowed.)
n Once the count is completed in the POS system, bank or transfer any funds from the inactive cash retained credit to another RA, reducing the AIC 753, Cash Retained Today, amount to $0 (zero).
n Ship back all money orders assigned to the RA to the unit reserve. (If the RA has sequentially omitted money orders, refer to the POS ONE Procedures Guide.)
In addition, an RA must be removed (terminated) from the POS system when any of the following occurs:
n The RA is separated from the Postal Service.
n The RA bids to another position that does not require use of the POS system.
n The RA bids to another Postal Retail Unit (PRU). (Exception: Relief and pool RAs do not have to be removed from the POS system at a unit where they occasionally work.)
Handbook F-101, Field Accounting Procedures (FAP)
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13 Stamp Stock and Cash Credits
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13-8 Cash Credits
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13-8.2 Cash Retained
[Revise 13-8.2 to read as follows:]
RAs that are only consigned a cash credit are authorized a cash retained amount of up to $100.99 for which they are individually accountable. The maximum authorized cash retained amount is documented on PS Form 3369, Consigned Credit Receipt.
Individual RA cash retained amounts must be reported in AIC 753, Cash Retained Today, on the individual’s PS Form 1412 and cannot exceed the approved amount.
Cash retained credits are considered inactive if there is no activity at least once a month for credits with funds reported in AIC 753, or no activity at least once every 4 months for credits that have a $0 balance in AIC 753. See part 13-8.6. for handling inactive cash retained credits.
Document any new cash retained credits on the Cash Retained/Unit Cash Reserve List with justification for the change on the Cash Retained/Unit Cash Reserve Notification Letter (see Appendix III, Exhibits 5 and 6).
An RA must be removed (terminated) from the POS system when any of the following occurs:
n The RA is separated from the Postal Service.
n The RA bids to another position that does not require use of the POS system.
n The RA bids to another Postal Retail Unit (PRU). (Exception: Relief and pool RAs do not have to be removed from the POS system at a unit where they occasionally work.)
To remove (terminate) an RA in the POS system, see the POS ONE Procedures Guide, which is available on the POS ONE Program Office Web site.
a. Go to http://eagnmnsxfb0/posone.
b. Under “User Information,” click Training.
c. Click NCR POS ONE Training Links and Online Guides.
d. Click NCR Procedures Guide (the most current version available).
Note: Only an employee assigned a POS ONE Administrator role at the PRU can remove (terminate) a user (employee) from the POS system.
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[Insert new 13-8.6 to read as follows:]
13-8.6 Handling Inactive Cash Retained Credits
An RA’s cash retained credit is considered inactive when there is no activity during the timeframes as follows:
n RA cash retained credit with funds reported in AIC 753 — No activity during a month.
n RA cash retained credits with a $0 (zero) balance reported in AIC 753 — No activity during a 4-month period.
Note: Conducting a count of an RA’s cash retained credit signifies activity.
Postal retail units (PRUs) handle inactive cash retained credits as follows:
n Conduct a physical count of the RA’s cash retained credit. In the absence of the RA, see part 3-8.6 for designated witness procedures.
n Enter the count results in the POS system (see part 13-9.3, Cash Retained Credit Counts). When initiating the count in the POS system, select <yes> when prompted “Is this a final count?”
n The RA assigned the credit does the following:
n Acknowledges the count in the POS system.
n Ships all assigned money orders to the unit reserve. (If the RA has sequentially omitted money orders, refer to the POS ONE Procedures Guide.)
n Banks or transfers to another RA any funds reported in AIC 753, reducing the AIC 753 balance to $0 (zero).
n Remove the accountable role from the RA in the POS system (see criteria for removing an accountable role in part 13-8.2). It is not necessary to remove (terminate) the RA from the POS system if the RA’s job description requires the use of the POS system at that PRU.
To transfer cash retained funds to another RA, follow this procedure:
n The RA remitting the funds and the RA receiving the funds verify the amount of the funds being transferred.
n The RA remitting the funds creates a Financial Differences — Shortage (AIC 647) in the POS system.
n Enter the amount shown in AIC 753 on the RA’s PS Form 1412 (after a count of the credit was entered in the POS system).
n Use Reason Code 11, Cash Transfer.
n The RA receiving the funds creates a Financial Differences — Overage (AIC 247) in the POS system.
n Enter the amount of funds received.
n Use Reason Code 11, Cash Transfer.
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13-9 Conducting Cash Counts
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13-9.3 Cash Retained Credit Counts (POS Units Only)
[Revise 13-9.3 to read as follows:]
Each employee working from the retail floor stock under segmented inventory accountability (SIA) has a cash retained credit.
Cash retained credits must be counted randomly within the timeframes as follows:
n At least once each month — Credits that have funds reported in AIC 753.
n At least once every 4 months — Credits that have a $0 balance in AIC 753.
Counts can be conducted any day within the month, but should be conducted randomly to avoid establishing a pattern. This includes bargaining and nonbargaining employees and postmaster reliefs (PMRs).
Cash retained credit counts (including those with a $0 balance) must be conducted using the POS workflow. Each employee’s domestic and international (MP-1) money orders must be counted in conjunction with the cash credit count. (See the POS ONE Procedures Guide, subchapter 12-5, for instructions on conducting counts in the POS system.)
If an employee has a reassigned portion of the unit cash reserve, it must be counted in conjunction with the cash retained credit count.
The assigned employee and another employee perform the count(s), one of whom must be a nonbargaining employee.
Note: If a nonbargaining employee is not domiciled at the unit, the employee assigned the unit reserve (unit reserve stock custodian) may conduct the count with the assigned RA. The postmaster, manager, or supervisor responsible for the unit monitors these counts by the unit reserve stock custodian and is required to perform independent cash credit counts at the unit no less than once every 3 months.
13-9.4 Cash Retained Count Tolerance
[Revise 13-9.4 to read as follows:]
Each employee is authorized a tolerance of $5 during his or her cash retained credit count regardless of the amount of the cash retained credit.
No tolerance is applied when conducting a final count of a cash retained credit. A final count of a cash retained credit must be conducted if any of the following conditions apply:
n The accountable role is being removed from the RA in the POS system due to nonuse or inactivity.
n The RA is separated from the Postal Service.
n The RA bids to another position that does not require use of the POS system.
n The RA’s cash retained balance (AIC 753) is reduced to zero (a zero balance in AIC 753 allows the role to remain open for up to 4 months without activity).
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next updated version of Handbook F-101 available on the Accounting website:
n Go to http://blue.usps.gov/wps/portal/accounting.
n Under “References”, click Handbook F-101, Field Accounting Procedures (FAP).
The direct website address is http://blue.usps.gov/accounting/_pdf/HandbookF-101.pdf.
— Accounting Policy,
Controller, 7-2-09
