Separation of duties discourages theft
Separation of duties discourages theft
By having more than one person involved in the handling of payments, purchasing, bank deposits, and other activities that give employees access to the assets of your program, you cut down on opportunities for fraud or theft, says John W. Kolbas, CHBC, an executive in the health care service group of Crowe, Chizek, and Co., a South Bend, IN-based accounting firm that does business, public sector, and information technology consulting. Even with a small staff, separate duties by having the manager review certain activities and by having policies that specify review and oversight responsibilities, he adds.
Kolbas suggests that a manager segregate the following tasks as much a possible:
- opening mail;
- accepting payments at front desk;
- posting charges;
- preparing patients statements;
- filing insurance;
- mailing statements;
- posting receipts;
- preparing bank deposits;
- taking deposit to bank;
- approving write-offs;
- posting write-offs;
- summarizing employee hours for payroll;
- preparing payroll;
- ordering supplies;
- receiving supplies;
- confirming supplies have been ordered and received;
- preparing accounts payable;
- signing checks;
- maintaining petty cash;
- monitoring appointment schedule, daily charge and receipt entries, and bank deposit;
- verifying all sequential route slips are recorded;
- reconciling bank statement;
- preparing the financial statements.
"Splitting job responsibilities and making sure that your policies and procedures clearly define the day-to-day responsibilities and the oversight responsibilities of the manager will help a same-day surgery manager protect the assets of the program," Kolbas adds.
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