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Count procedures

 

The cartoon on the count procedures is based on the following part of the book Once Upon Internal Control:

Monday mornings were a chatty time in the office. That is when the count teams prepared the deposit. Usually there were a few people sitting around waiting for the full team to arrive. On each team, there was one person who had the combination to the drop safe. Another person on the team had a key that opened up all of the bank deposit bags—those thick canvas bags with a heavy-duty zipper and substantial lock. When either the combination person or the key person was late, the count team would sit around and visit.

The bookkeeper had been around some less-than-ethical parts of the business community. She had seen others play games with the books. She did not think about it very hard, but she did have a vague awareness that the church was serious about all those policies they discussed. She knew it would not be possible to play those games here because the windows of opportunity were closed and locked.

Copyright © 2008 James L. Ulvog

Scenes from cartoons

Cartoon describing dual control over offering count in local church

 

Cartoon that describes dual control over the offering count.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuboFGqXAi4]

The cartoon is based on the book Once Upon Internal Control – A tale of good and bad ways to implement internal controls in a local church, written by James Ulvog, CPA.

Click for:

Internal control

Additional thoughts on bank reconciliations

Local churches normally have extremely tight staffing. This is not news to anyone.

Small churches and small parachurch ministries usually can get the bank reconciliations completed, do so accurately, and usually finish on a timely basis. I won’t go into detail on how to prepare a bank rec because I think everyone has that nailed.

Let’s take a moment to discuss the best practice for bank reconciliations. Then we’ll look at the reality and what could be done to improve controls.

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Bank reconciliations

 

The cartoon on bank reconciliations is based on these comments in the book:

Southside Community Church

Both churches were looking for a bookkeeper at the same time. The leadership at Southside Community Church was pleased to get an experienced bookkeeper on board quickly.

Her life journey had been rough—lots of emotional scars. She was relieved during the interview when the church did not dwell on the details about her life B.C.—you know, before Christ. She was a relatively young Christian. She did not know a lot about the Bible, but she knew she had been forgiven much and she was grateful much. She was absorbing everything she could.

(more…)

Scenes from cartoons

Bank reconciliations – chapter 1 cartoon

 

A cartoon that discusses some internal controls over bank reconciliations in a local church:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KLiK8vNDYs]

The cartoon is based on the book Once Upon Internal Control – A tale of good and bad ways to implement internal controls in a local church, written by James Ulvog, CPA.

Click for: