Accounting, for any company, deals with the measurements, processes, and communications of all financial information about the economic bodies such as corporations, businesses, or organizations. The following are the most effective methods to streamline successful accounting procedures in a drug treatment center.
Cash Control
One of the most important aspects of internal accounting control is that only specific people should be authorized to access and control the cash deposits. They must be guided to make these deposits and keep bookkeeping records of them as regularly as possible. Records for all deposits held in the drug treatment center, including the records generated internally and bank deposit slips, should be maintained and compared to the bank statements every month.
Cash should be held in safe and secure locations. Pre-prepared deposits should be kept in locked safes until there is a need to make a deposit. Authentication procedures must be maintained so that you know who used the cash register. Approvals should be required from selected employees for cash disbursements including refunds, payroll, etc.
Separation of Employee Duties
Cash handling and accounting duties should be divided among employees and departments. Always assure that cash reporting responsibilities are divided and spread out evenly in order to avoid any kind of theft by collusion. This can be made possible by assigning managers the responsibility to keep a keen check on all of the transactions taking place in the drug treatment center.
Documentation
Copies of all of the documentation that records cash transactions should be maintained and kept safely. These include receipts, cash register tapes, canceled checks and other types of documentation. These documents are used as a paper trail to investigate any kind of cash losses or discrepancies held between the internal records and the bank statements.
Information Security
Important and sensitive documents should be locked in filing cabinets and should only be accessible to limited employees. Implement electronic and physical security measures in order to ensure the safety of financial documents.
The financial data stored on the company’s network can be protected by hiring a network of the administration team. Another option is contracting with a network security company. Anyone who has electronic and physical access to important financial data can change, swap, take, or abolish any evidence of financial management or theft.
Audits
Require third-party audits of accounting occasionally in order to attain an outside look into the control systems related to finances. Work with auditors who do not have any kind of materialistic connection to the company or drug treatment center.
Remember, auditors need to discover the truth about the financial status, even if the condition is negative. Using third-party auditors for discovering financial mismanagement within the drug treatment center can save it from any undergoing costly lawsuit or financial disorder in future.
Approval Authority
Require specific managers who will authorize specific types of transactions. This will improve the level of responsibility to records of accounting through proving that transactions are analyzed, seen, and approved by authorized authorities. Requiring an approval for large expenses and payments will prevent corrupt employees from making any deceitful transactions.
Reconciliations
Occasional accounting settlements can ensure that balances in the accounting system match up with the balances in the department of accounts held by any other entities including suppliers, credit, customers, and banks.
Trial Balances
Using an authentication system for accounting will add reliability as it ensures that the bookkeeping records remain balanced. Even so, there is a possibility for errors, bringing an authentication system out of balance at a given time. Calculating balances on a weekly or daily basis provides regular insights into the current state of the system, allowing discovery and investigation of discrepancies as soon as possible.
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