Effective April 9, 2009, Handbook F-101, Field Accounting Procedures, is revised to update procedures for using and ordering tamper-evident plastic bags for remitting bank deposits, along with a change to bank deposit witness requirements. See also “Bank Deposit Envelopes Replaced With Tamper-Evident Plastic Bags” on page 1.
Handbook F-101, Field Accounting Procedures (FAP)
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9 Cash Management
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9-1 Banking
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9-1.2 Banking Procedures for PRUs
[Revise 9-1.2 to read as follows:]
Postal retail units (PRUs) consolidate funds generated from daily transactions into one bank deposit (or two deposits if you must deposit cash separately from checks).
PRUs must not make bank deposits for less than $100. Exception: Checks should be deposited within 5 business days, even if the total deposit is less than $100.
When funds exceed normal operating needs during the day, retail associates (RAs) must make advance deposits in addition to regular deposits.
If excess funds are generated throughout the day, PRUs may prepare a consolidated advance deposit. In the event that the financial institution requires separate deposits for cash and checks, no more than four (4) bank deposits may be prepared on a business day.
[Add new section 9-1.2.1 to read as follows:]
9-1.2.1 Reporting Bank Deposits
Report bank deposit remittances on PS Form 1412, Daily Financial Report, in the appropriate AIC as follows:
Offices that remit their final bank deposit for the day and continue their window services operation must report the additional funds as follows:
a. The RA remits funds to the closeout employee and reports the amount in AIC 752 on PS Form 1412.
b. The closeout employee consolidates the funds, prepares the bank deposit, registers the deposit to the safe, and reports the amount in AIC 753 on the unit’s PS Form 1412.
c. On the following business day, the closeout employee must report these funds in AIC 751 on the unit’s PS Form 1412 and send the funds to the bank.
Note: Under unusual circumstances, the district finance manager (DFM) may authorize an office to prepare the bank deposit and register it to the safe to be picked up early the next morning and received by the bank as the previous day’s funds. Then, this bank deposit must be recorded in AIC 752 on the unit’s PS Form 1412 the same day it is prepared and registered to the safe.
[Add new section 9-1.2.2 to read as follows:]
9-1.2.2 Preparing and Dispatching Bank Deposits
The procedure for preparing and dispatching bank deposits is as follows:
a. The preparer completes a two-part deposit ticket: the original for the bank and the copy for the unit.
b. The preparer enters the amount of currency on the deposit ticket by denomination. Do not deposit coins. (SSPCs follow local procedures for depositing coins.)
c. The preparer ensures that all check items (checks, money orders, traveler’s checks, etc.) are properly initialed and endorsed by the accepting employee (see part 9-3.4).
d. The preparer enters the total amount of check items (checks, money orders, traveler checks, etc.) on the deposit ticket. Enclose a system-generated list or an adding machine tape showing the value of each check item.
e. The preparer counts the funds in the presence of a witness (see ‘Note’ below).
f. The witness (if available) counts the funds in the presence of the preparer.
g. Both the preparer and the witness (if available) must sign the deposit ticket.
h. Both the preparer and the witness (if available) must ensure that the original deposit ticket, cash, check items (checks, money orders, traveler checks, etc.) and the list of check items are included in the tamper-evident plastic bag. Only use the tamper-evident plastic bags, ordered through the national contract, for remitting bank deposits.
i. Prepare the tamper-evident plastic bag following instructions in the Bank Deposit Preparation Quick Reference guide available at the accounting website. The direct website address is http://blue.usps.gov/accounting/_pdf/BankDepositPrepGuide.pdf.
j. Dispatch the tamper-evident plastic bag containing the bank deposit via Registered Mail service following established procedures for accepting and handling Registered Mail items.
k. Maintain the duplicate copy of the deposit ticket as supporting documentation for the unit PS Form 1412. The duplicate copy of the deposit ticket must show the preparer signature (Verifier) and the witness signature (Witness) (if applicable).
l. If there are no bank deposits on a scheduled business day, do not prepare a zero bank deposit ticket. Report a contents bill or nil-bill, as applicable, following procedures in DM-902, Procedures for Preparing a Postal Bank Remittance for Mailing, chapter 2.
Note: A witness must be used to verify the unit’s bank deposit whenever possible. When a witness is not available, the preparer signs the deposit ticket on the “Verifier” line, and the “Witness” line is left blank. The preparer of the bank deposit has a financial responsibility regardless of whether a witness is or is not available.
It is the responsibility of the postmaster or unit manager to ensure proper procedures are followed in preparing daily bank deposits by monitoring banking differences issued by Accounting Services. Postmasters or unit managers must ensure expenses from banking reconciliations are researched and resolved in a timely manner (see subchapter 8-3).
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9-1.4 Ordering Banking Supplies
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[Add new section 9-1.4.3 to read as follows:]
9-1.4.3 Ordering Bank Deposit Remittance Bags
The procedure for ordering tamper-evident bank deposit remittance bags is as follows:
n Use the eBuy on-catalog requisition system to order the bank deposit bags from the Material Distribution Center (MDC) — Supplies, Equipment, and Retail Catalog. Each order must be for exactly 100 bags.
n Search for items using PSN 8105-11-000-0545.
n Offices without access to eBuy, use touch-tone order entry (TTOE). For TTOE ordering instructions, visit the Material Customer Service website at http://blue.usps.gov/purchase/_doc/ops_ttoeins.doc, or call 800-332-0317, option 4, option 4.
n Allocate all charges to the FEDSTRIP number in the order.
Note: The host Post Office of a CPU must order the bank deposit remittance bags for the CPU using one of the two methods described above based on the host Post Office’s access to eBuy. All orders will be sent to the host Post Office.
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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 the Handbook F-101, Field Accounting Procedures (FAP) link.
The direct URL is http://blue.usps.gov/accounting/_pdf/HandbookF-101.pdf.
— Corporate Treasury and Accounting Policy,
Controller, 4-9-09
