Follow-Up Audit of Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT) Bus Operations Cash Handling, December 2017

9 | F o l l o w - u p o f S C A T B u s O p e r a t i o n s C a s h H a n d l i n g D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 7 6. Monitoring of over/short detected by the bank Current Status, Follow-Up Audit dated August 2017: Procedures have not been updated to record the overages and shortages detected and reported by the bank. [See No. 4, Departmental Policy and Procedures for reconciliation, page 5] The auditor observed in testing deposit documentation from February 1, 2017 through April 30, 2017, that there were 36 instances of shortages ranging between $0.04 and $101.46 and thirteen instances of overages ranging between $0.01 and $98.81 detected by the bank and recorded in the general ledger. Only one of these instances was recorded on the spreadsheet maintained by SCAT management. Original Audit Observation, Report dated November 2016: The Comptroller validates bank deposits to the secure online bank portal on a daily basis. In the process, overages and shortages detected and reported by the bank are shown as adjustments on the RFDCFs and recorded in the general ledger. The reconciliation worksheet maintained by SCAT includes a column for recording this information, but no data was observed for fiscal year 2016. The auditor observed in testing farebox receipts for July 2016, four (4) instances of over/short detected by the bank for the currency deposits (one shortage of $75.00 and three overages totaling $4.00) and fifteen instances for the coin deposits (twelve shortages totaling $17.29 and three overages totaling $1.76). Original Recommendations, Report dated November 2016: To enhance oversight of the deposit process, management should monitor the overages and shortages detected by the bank and recorded to the general ledger. Management Action Plan: To ensure oversight of the deposit process and monitor for overages/shortages, SCAT fiscal staff is following Sarasota County Accounting Policies and Procedures Chapter 9.6 Cash Over and Short.