Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I.
Introduction
Audit Environment
Student organizations, just like any other organizations have basic financial needs necessary for
them to operate and perform their functions. These financial needs are being provided by the
members and the school (also referred to as the stakeholders), and it is the responsibility of each
organization to make good use of available financial resources.
As this financial responsibility of organizations to their stakeholders arises, they are required to
establish a system of control that will ensure the integrity of all financial transactions. This financial
integrity should then be completely and accurately captured in all financial records and reported
periodically to the stakeholders. In essence, the system will be the organizations first line of
defense against error, fraud, negligence, or dishonesty in arriving at the financial information. This
system is aptly called the organizations internal control.
However, it is not enough that organizations utilize their own internal control. There is a need to
examine or review critically and systematically the organizations reports, documents, records,
financial policies, and controls for the purpose of arriving at an objective conclusion regarding
their accuracy, completeness, and reliability. This is called the external audit. Both the internal
control and the external audit comprise the audit environment.
There are five key players in an organizations audit environment: the President, the Treasurer,
the Finance Officer, the Internal Auditor, and the External Auditor. Each of them has certain
responsibilities to ensure the credibility of the audit environment. The following enumerates their
respective responsibilities and functions pertaining to the audit environment:
1. President
Ensures that the organizations activities are in accordance with its mission/vision and
that budget proposal for each activity is reasonable
Approves budget proposals and cash disbursements
Regularly updates himself with the organizations financial position and audit reports
Ensures that the organizations financial policies are set and implemented
2.
Treasurer
Custodian of cash
Facilitates cash receipts and disbursements and records them accordingly
Keeps copies of the necessary cash inflow and outflow supporting documents
Prepares liquidation report for administrative expenses
Periodically reports the organizations cash position to the Finance Officer
Ensures that cash disbursements are properly approved by the Finance Officer and
the President
3. Finance Officer
Reviews the organizations financial policies and proposes updates if necessary
Ensures that the organizations activities are properly budgeted and that there are
enough financial resources to support the budget
Approves budget proposals and cash disbursements
Maintains a complete and accurate cash book
Property of Student Activities and Leadership Development Office of Student Affairs
Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan
Editor: Mart C. Amores, SY 2015-2016
2nd Revision (May 12, 2016)
Periodically reviews budget and cash report and updates the President of the results
Keeps the organizations copies of the liquidation reports
4. Internal Auditor
Ascertains the extent of compliance with established plans, budgets, and procedures
Evaluate and review the quality of performance of the officers in carrying out their
responsibilities
Ascertains the reliability of financial data developed within the organization
Proposes corrective actions to be taken if any lapses in the internal control system
occur
5. External Auditor
Evaluates the organizations compliance with the standards set by SACDEV
Provides audit report in the form of opinion as to the accuracy, completeness, and
reliability of the organizations financial data and reports
Shares audit findings with the organization and SACDEV as part of the audit report
The credibility of the audit environment as well as the role of each key player in it is very important
not only to ensure that the organization would be able to meet all its financial needs, but also to
maintain the integrity of the organization and thereby keep the precious trust that the members
place in the officers and the organization as a whole. There have been many instances not only
in the school organizations, but also in the bigger organizations in our community wherein the
trust of the members towards the organization is broken because of fraudulent or erroneous
financial information. This could be avoided if necessary controls are set in place within each
organization and if proper external assessment is done resulting to an effective audit environment.
Moreover, an effective audit environment would also be achieved with proper education and
training for all the key players.
II.
The very first step in conducting a project is the crafting of the Project Proposal. Following the
template provided by SACDEV, the project proposals should be signed by the Project Head,
Budget and Finance Officer, President, and Moderator. The diagram below shows the process of
approval of the proposals:
Step 2: Submit it to
SACDEV for approval
Step 2: Submit to
SACDEV for approval of
SACDEV Head and DSA
trips, etc.) The organization however should ensure that a project proposal
for the activity has been approved, and the fee has been declared thereto.
When receiving payments from members or participants, the
organization is required to issue an Acknowledgment Receipt like the one
illustrated below:
Refer to the diagram below to see the flow of securing and using the
Acknowledgment Receipt:
Step 1: Accomplish
approved project
proposal for the
collection activity (e.g.
Enrolment, GA,
BOLTS)
Step 2: Go to
SACDEV and ask for
blank
Acknowledgment
Receipts (AR)
Step 5: After
collecting, segregate
the remaining copies
of the AR. The yellow
copies should be kept
by the organization.
The pink ones will be
used later on for
liquidation purposes
Step 1: Accomplish
approved project
proposal for the
collection activity
(e.g. Intramurals, GA)
Step 3: Submit
approved Project
Proposal, Application
for Solicitation
(Declare how many
letters you'll send),
and Draft of
Solicitation Letter to
SACDEV for approval
Step 5: Reproduce
copies of he
Solicitation Letter
based on the the
approved number of
copies
Step 1: Accomplish
approved project
proposal for the
collection activity
(e.g. Raffle prizes)
Step 3: Submit
approved Project
Proposal, Application
for Ticket Selling and
Ticket Proto-type to
SACDEV for approval
Step 5: Reproduce
tickets based on the
the approved number
of copies
Please take note: If the payment is through check, make the check
payable to Xavier University. Do not name it to you organization. This is
for easier encashment of the check. Once the check is received, deposit the
check to your orgs account in Finance Office.
If payment is made through bank transfer. Instruct your clients to
deposit the payment to XUs Bank accounts (seek further assistance from
Finance Office for the account number.) Ask for the deposit slip from the
client, and inform Finance Office to credit the bank deposit to your SOF
account.
viii. Issuance of Official Receipt in lieu of Acknowledgment Receipt
There are instances where the donor, participant, or client will be
asking for an official receipt for the funds they gave to your organization. On
this situation, the Acknowledgment Receipt shouldnt be used. You can ask
for a BIR valid receipt from Finance Office upon depositing the payment to
your SOF account. You may release the deposited funds through regular
processing of Cash Advance Form.
ix. Control of Excess Funds
All excess funds gained from the income of fund raising activities
should be deposited to the Org Account in Finance Office. The deposit
receipt will be used for Liquidation purposes. Student Orgs are prohibited to
hold cash outside its account. Furthermore, student orgs are forbidden to
open an external bank account to save its funds in replacement with SOF.
This serves as internal control of the org against mismanagement and theft.
III.
The project head has the responsibility in implementing the projects planned by the organization
each year. To accomplish its objectives, the project head has the vital role of proper management
of human and financial resources. To accurately get a picture of the financial outcome, a
Liquidation Report should be prepared at the end of every project. This document will show how
the funds were spent for the project. It is an important part of a project lifecycle since it serves as
part of the documentation process in terms of the actual use of the financial resources allocated
to it. It seeks to help stakeholder of the orgs to use the information as part of evaluation (where
did the org spend less or much) and disclosure (for transparency and compliance.)
a. Essentials of the Liquidation Report
i. Template and Format
1. File may be downloaded online through this URL:
tiny.cc/sacdevforms
Go to SACDEV Forms series 2016 folder and download the file
name: Form A3_Liquidation Report_2016,
Property of Student Activities and Leadership Development Office of Student Affairs
Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan
Editor: Mart C. Amores, SY 2015-2016
2nd Revision (May 12, 2016)
2. Project Heads are the ones who are primarily responsible in making
the liquidation report of their project. They should follow the basic
format prescribed by SACDEV. It should be in Portrait orientation,
short coupon bond and the scale should not be changed anymore.
3. Upon submission, regardless of its thickness, it should be
enclosed in a short brown envelope together with its necessary
attachments.
are food expenses significantly higher than the maximum amount per
person, the organization should be able to provide ample reason for such
expenses.
iv. Liquidation Reports of previous activities are required to uninterruptedly
release the budget of incoming activities. Failure to accomplish the reports
will result to placing the new projects budget release on hold. Newly
finished projects are expected to submit the Liquidation Reports 15 days
after implementation.
V.
b. Presentation
i. For both payment voucher and acknowledgment receipt, always attach the
pink copies to the Liquidation Report.
ii. Payment Vouchers, since they represent expenses without official receipts,
are attached to the Liquidation Report
VI.
b. Solicitation Report
Attachments:
1. Pink copies of the SACDEV Acknowledgment Receipts for funds or
in-kind received from sponsors
2. Returned solicitation letters from recipients who didnt push through
their sponsorship
3. Deposit of unused raised funds
c. Ticket Selling Report
Attachments:
1. Unsold tickets of the activity
2. Deposit of unused raised funds
d. Transportation Report
i. Should enumerate transportation expenses of a very few groups of people
who commuted via public transport within the vicinity of the location of the
activity.
ii. This should not include chartered trips. Use the Payment Voucher
instead.
VII.
In cases where an organization provides budget grants to other organization, Follow the regular
process of project proposal (this time, the project proposal should be about the details of the
grant/donation) and cash advance form. But instead of releasing the budget as cash, choose the
Fund Transfer option in the Cash Advance Form to directly transfer the grant to the beneficiary
organization.
Property of Student Activities and Leadership Development Office of Student Affairs
Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan
Editor: Mart C. Amores, SY 2015-2016
2nd Revision (May 12, 2016)
The beneficiary organization should then submit another project proposal to SACDEV regarding
the project or activity; and follow the regular process of cash advance form to release the budget
to the project head.
VIII.
When procuring fixed assets or properties (e.g. printer, filers, hard drives, couch, tables, chairs
etc.,) use the Request to Purchase Form. The form should be attached with a price quotation from
the target supplier of the items signed by the Manager of the establishment. Together with the
Request to Purchase Form and Price Quotation, submit 4 copies of the Cash Advance Form and
follow the regular process of the latter.
IX.
If there are payables of the organization to a person, supplier or company outside XU, the org
may opt to pay the external party directly through Cash Advance Form. But the Payee (Instead
the project head and name of the organization) should be replaced with the legal name of the
company they owe. The advantage of this is that the organization wont be required to submit for
a Liquidation Report since the supplier will be the one who will claim for the check and exchange
it with the official receipt.
X.
Audit Procedure
a. Project Head:
i. Should make Liquidation Report and attach receipts and other documents
needed
ii. Make sure all receipts are complete and valid
iii. Signs the report and submit to the Treasurer
b. Treasurer:
i. Should check if the project head followed the required format of the report
ii. Records the ACTUAL expenses versus the amount disbursed
iii. Signs the report and submits it to the Auditor
c. Internal Auditors Responsibility
i. Double check if the format is followed
ii. Check if the particulars are arranged properly
iii. Check if the expenses are properly supported with official receipts and
disbursement documents
iv. Check if the expenses are reasonable and in line with the proposed budget,
and if not, find satisfaction to the reasonableness of the difference
v. Review if realignment of budget is justifiable
vi. Report to appropriate authorities, if necessary, when in the course of audit,
certain intriguing circumstances are discovered.
vii. Sign the report and attach a note of his/her comments on the report
viii. Submit to the President
d. President
Sign/Approve the report and making it an official document of the organization
e. Moderator
Notes the approval of the President by signing it, and now ready for submission
to SACDEV
Once submitted to SACDEV, it is implied that the organization has checked the validity and
reliability of the report. If inconsistencies emerge after submission to SACDEV, the signatories
are the ones liable to answer.
f.
XI.
What should be done when the auditor feels uncomfortable with the information presented in the
liquidation report?
7. What should be done when officers are not doing their jobs in establishing internal control?
Report the matter to the president. If the president is the one in question, report to the moderator.
8. What should be done by the auditor when the organization incurs expenses more than the
budgeted amount?
SACDEV considers 10% excess expenses of the budgeted amount as just and equitable; and as
such, may be reimbursed. Provided, however, that supporting documents are proper and the
nature of overspending is reasonable. Expenses incurred more than 110% of the budget are not
entitled for reimbursement. Thus, an organization must plan their budgets properly during the
planning stage for their activities.
Though a 10% allowance is given, the role of the auditor is to check the appropriateness of the
expenses. He/she must have the sense of skepticism as to the facts presented to validate the
appropriateness of overspending. The auditor must assess every expense. If the auditor, after
his/her assessment, concludes that the nature of overspending is not reasonable, he/she will
follow the guidelines set in question 6 of the Audit Procedures. If the auditor concludes that the
nature of overspending is reasonable, he signs the liquidation report.
Application for reimbursement for activities implemented without the approval of SACDEV is also
not allowed.
XII.
At the end of the Academic year, student organizations are required to accomplish the following:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
The President, Budget and Finance Officer, Treasurer, Auditor and Project Heads are the
accountable persons to accomplish the aforementioned documents. Each organization is
expected to provide the best help and cooperation it can give to the said officers to be cleared for
the Academic Year.
XIII.
Final Provisions
These guidelines are set by the Student Activities and Leadership Development of the Office of
Student Affairs to aid the organization in maintaining a system in processing and managing its
finances. As stewards of the resources provided by their members, student organizations should
comply and cooperate in preserving a transparent and reliable reporting to all its stakeholders.
Prepared by
MART C AMORES
Program Coordinator
Student Activities and Leadership Development