Audit Report on the Manhattan Borough President’s Office’s Cash Controls over Receipts from Minor Sales
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This audit determined whether the Manhattan Borough President’s Office (MBPO) is in compliance with cash control procedures as set forth in Comptroller’s Directive #11, Cash Accountability and Control.
The MBPO has a Topographical Unit that, for a fee, supplies the public with street maps, grade studies, and certifications related to building and development, and issues new or alternative street addresses. The MBPO accepts certified checks and money orders as payment for these services. According to the City’s Financial Management System, the MBPO deposited a total of $236,575 in revenue generated from sales made by the Topographical Bureau during Calendar Year 2014.
Results
The audit found that the MBPO generally complied with the cash control procedures set forth in Comptroller’s Directive #11 for its Topographical Unit sales. Our review found that the MBPO adequately segregated duties with the various cash handling processes; the receipt amounts agreed with the amounts deposited into the bank account; the deposits were entered in to the City’s Financial Management System; all checks received were made payable to the MBPO; a rubber stamp endorsement was placed on the back of all checks; copies of bank deposit slips and customer receipts were maintained; and customer receipts were pre-numbered. Additionally, the MBPO does not accept cash, personal check or company checks as payment, a practice strongly recommended by Directive #11.
However, the audit found that the MBPO did not deposit proceeds from the Topographical Unit’s sales into the City’s Treasury daily as required by Comptroller’s Directive #11, §3.4 which states, “The inordinate accumulation of in-office cash receipts is not acceptable and, generally, all funds received must be deposited in the bank on at least a daily basis.” Our review of the six bank deposits made during August 2014, totaling $9,300, found that the bank checks and money orders were held anywhere from one to five days before being deposited in the bank. These six deposits ranged from $800 to $2,650.
In addition, the MBPO did not adequately secure the accumulated funds in a safe overnight as required by Comptroller’s Directive #11, §3.5, which states that “cash and checks received too late to be included in the daily deposit must be stored overnight in an agency safe. Safes should also be used for temporary security of cash receipts awaiting the daily deposit.” Our inspection of the Topographical Unit’s envelope containing receipts, certified checks, and money orders on April 14, 2015, found that collections from April 8, April 10, and April 13 were inside the envelope awaiting transfer to the MBPO unit responsible for making the deposit.
In its response, the MBPO did not dispute the report’s findings and recommendations and described steps they will take to ensure that “deposits of any checks and money orders are made as expeditiously as possible, and that in no event will they be kept in individual offices overnight.”