PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
C.O.
Reference :-
•885
17 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
48
319. If it is necessary for any officer other than a sub-accountant to have at his disposal, for disbursement on the public service, money for which vouchers cannot be presented direct to the Treasurer or a sub-accountant for payment, he will receive an imprest of such amount as the Governor may sanction.
320. The Governor's sanction will be conveyed by Imprest Warrant, and the Treasurer will be held responsible that no imprest is made without such warrant, and also for seeing that all imprests are duly accounted for in accordance with the terms of the warrant covering them. The Governor may give a general Imprest Warrant to the Treasurer authorising him to make imprests, as may be necessary, for any regularly recurrent service.
321. Imprests are not to be charged in the accounts as final expenditure, the actual payments only, out of such imprests, being so charged. Cash payments made by the Treasurer or his sub-accountants by way of imprest will be entered in the cash-book and totalled with the rest of the payments in balancing it. Imprests will not be treated by the Treasurer as "Advances "Remittances
Or
but will be accounted for, below the line, under a separate head "Imprests." The imprests and the amounts of the authorised payments accounted for will be posted to a personal imprest account of the officer concerned, which will be kept in a special Imprest Ledger.
§ 30.—Custody of Public Money and Stores.
322. The Governor may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, avail himself of the services of any banks in the Colony for the custody of public money either on current account or on deposit. He will be responsible for seeing that effect is given to any instructions from the Secretary of State for limiting the amount of public money that may be at any one time in the custody of a bank. He will communicate such instructions to the Treasurer, who will be responsible to him for their strict observance, and also to the Auditor, whose duty it will be to report at once to the Governor for the information of the Secretary of State, if he should find that the prescribed limit has been exceeded.
323. The Governor will take care that a secure fireproof vault or safe is provided for the custody of money not in the charge of a bank. The door of such vault or safe will be furnished with three different locks, the keys of which will be kept in the personal charge of the Treasurer and such two other principal officers of the Government as the Governor may appoint.
324. The Colonial Treasurer will keep in his own immediate charge such sums of money only us may be necessary to meet the current disbursements of his department, not exceeding a certain fixed maximum.
325. The strong vault will on no occasion be opened, nor will any money be deposited therein or withdrawn therefrom, except by the three officers entrusted with the keeping of the separate keys, and on every such occasion they will sign a joint record of every sum deposited, which record will be retained by the Treasurer.
326. The Treasurer will sign receipts in duplicate for every amount re-issued to him, which receipts will be delivered to the other officers in charge of the keys of the vault.
327. All cash received by public officers will be deposited as soon as possible in the safe or vault provided for the purpose, or paid into a bank. Negligence in this respect will throw the entire responsibility for any loss upon the officer concerned. No public officer shall keep or allow to be kept in any Government safe under his charge any money except public money or such as by virtue of his office he is bound to receive and account for.
328. Where public money is deposited in a bank, the Treasurer and the sub- accountants so instructed will pay into the bank, at the close of business on each day, all public money received by them up to that time. Private money will in no circumstances le included in a public banking account.
329. The Treasurer's lank account must not be overdrawn, nor any temporary advance obtained from the bank, without the special sanction in writing of the Governor.
330. The main stock of stamps, both postage and revenue, will be kept in the safe or vault appointed for that purpose. A stock book will be kept, in which will be entered under each denomination, the number and value of stamps received and issued ; and this book, on each occasion of either a receipt or issue, will be initialled by the Treasurer and by any other officer appointed to have joint charge of stamps with him. Stamps will be issued on requisition and a receipt taken from the officer to whom they are issued.
49
331. Boards of Survey, to be held on the last business day of each year, will be appointed by the Governor to examine the Treasury cash, bank balances and stamps, both at head quarters and as far as practicable at the outstations. Boards will also be appointed from time to time to hold surprise surveys of the cash and stamps in the custody of the Treasurer and his sub-accountants.
332. Officers entrusted with the receipt, custody or disbursement of public money are required to give security, in accordance with the local law and regulations, for the faithful discharge of their duty. In every case of default the liability of sureties must be enforced.
333. An officer appointed to act for another officer on leave will be required by the Governor to give the same security as that required to be given by the officer for whom
§ 31. Accounts and Bookkeeping.
he ncts.
•
334. Every entry in the accounts will be supported by a voucher containing full particulars of the item or items to which it relates.
335. The Treasurer will keep in his Office the following principal books of account :----Cash Book, Daily Abstract, Journal, Ledger, and Monthly Abstract; together with such subsidiary books as may be necessary.
The
336. In the Cash Book will be entered all cash transactions as they occur. entries will be numbered consecutively, on each side of the book, in the order of the receipts or payments and corresponding numbers will be affixed to the support- ing vouchers. The Cash Book will be balanced at the close of each day, and the balance shown compared with the cash in hand. If the balances do not agree, the discrepancy will forthwith be investigated by the Treasurer. If they agree, a certificate will be filled in by the officer in charge of the Cash Book, showing the opening cash and bank balances, the receipts and payments for the day and the closing balances. This certificate will be countersigned by the Treasurer and sent to the Colonial Secretary next morning, or as often as may be prescribed by the Governor.
337. Every sub-accountant will keep a cash book, in which he will enter all sums of money received or paid by him as a public officer, for whatever service, whether they form a part of the colonial revenue or not. He will balance his cash book weekly at least and check the balance with the money in his hands. Officers having large financial responsibility will be required to balance their cash books daily.
338. Every sub-accountant will send his cash book or a certified transcript or summary of it to the Treasurer immediately after the close of each month, accompanied by the necessary supporting vouchers.
339. When the various cash books, or the transcripts or summaries thereof, are received in the Treasury, they will be checked with the supporting vouchers, and any items insufficiently accounted for will be disallowed. Amounts so disallowed will remain with the balance of the account as a charge against the sub-accountant and, if not in due time properly vouched and justified, must be either recovered from such officer as the Governor may hold responsible or provided for by proper authority.
340. The Daily Abstract will be posted by an officer or officers other than the officer in charge of the Treasury Cash Book, when the Treasury staff permits of this arrange- The posting will be done every morning from the vouchers put in on the previous day, checked by comparison with the Cash Book and tested by the Treasurer.
ment.
341. The accounts of the various sub-accountants and of the Crown Agents will be abstracted as soon as they are received below the record of the transactions of the Treasurer for the period to which they relate.
342. In the Journal will be entered, from day to day, all adjustments authorised to be made between the various ledger accounts; and also, at the close of each month, any adjustments appearing in the accounts rendered by sub-accountants.
343. As soon after the end of each month as the sub-accountants' accounts have been abstracted the entries in the Daily Abstract will be totalled, and the totals for each head of the estimates or Ledger Account be posted into the Journal. The totals of the other entries which have been made in the Journal for the month will then be posted into the Daily Abstract; the expenditure credits (including recoveries of overpayments) will be deducted from the expenditure, and the revenue debits from the revenue; resulting totals will be entered in the Monthly Abstract.
and the
344. The Ledger will be posted monthly from the Journal. It will contain one account for revenue and one for expenditure, an account of surplus and deficit, accounts of loan funds, of advances, deposits, drafts and remittances and of every fund in the custody of the Government, and such other accounts as the Governor of the Colony