Fsh 6509.14 - Collection Officer's Handbook
EFFECTIVE 10/16/96 / 6509.14, Zero_Code
Page 9 of 9
FOREST SERVICE HANDBOOK
Portland, Oregon
FSH 6509.14 - COLLECTION OFFICER'S HANDBOOK
R-6 Supplement No. 6509.14-96-1
Effective October 16, 1996
POSTING NOTICE. Supplements are numbered consecutively by title and calendar year. Post by document name. Remove entire document, if one exists, and replace with this supplement. The last R-6 Supplement to this handbook was 6509.14-93-2.
This supplement supersedes Supplement 6509.14-93-2.
Superseded New
Document Name (Number of Sheets)
6509.14, Zero Code 11 9
Digest:
Revises direction and frequency of conducting campground collection box verifications. Modifies policy on who may perform the verifications. Add guidance on frequency for servicing Northwest Interpretative Association (NWIA) donation boxes.
/s/ Robert W. Williams
ROBERT W. WILLIAMS
Regional Forester
FSH 6509.14 - COLLECTION OFFICER HANDBOOK
R6 SUPPLEMENT 6509.14-96-1
EFFECTIVE 10/16/96
ZERO CODE
030 - POLICY.
1. Prompt Establishment of Accounting Controls. All Collection Officers must promptly record collection transactions in a Collection Register when they receive remittances. Use the Collection Officer's Register form FS-6500-75 (electronic), or Collection Register form FS-6500-72, or Daily Record of Permit Sales form FS-6500-115 (such as for campground collections received) or design a form to meet local needs that contains at least the following information:
- Name of Collection Officer
- Name of Unit/Subunit
- Date of Collection
- Type of Collection (such as maps, firewood, or others)
- Quantity Sold
- Amount and type of Collection- notation for cash or check number
- Other pertinent information, such as accountable form numbers
- Date, Bill for Collection number and amount of transmittal of collections to
lockbox or to another Collection Officer-
Each Collection Officer shall maintain a file of their Collection Registers, consecutively numbered beginning with number 1, each fiscal year. Immediately record each remittance received on the Collection Register. Field Collection Officers may delay counting or opening campground remittance envelopes and recording the remittances until the end of the day.
Large quantities of small checks for the same type of collection may be totaled and entered on one line of the Collection Register rather than individually recording them each on the Collection Register.
Remittances recorded on a cash register do not need to be recorded on a Collection Register if the cash register provides a detailed tape and if it is used in accordance with the guidelines as described in item 3.
2. Safeguards. In order to establish a method to protect the credibility and integrity of Collection Officers, each ranger district with fee campgrounds shall make independent verifications of the collection envelopes in campground collection receptacles being picked up by designated officers. The unannounced checks must be made by verifiers who are responsible Forest Service employees who are familiar with collection procedures. One verification should be performed within the first 30 days that the Collection Officer picks up campground collections. Additional verifications may be done during the season if determined appropriate. The verifications should be tied into the compliance checking procedure contained in Chapter 190 when practical. The verifications do not replace the Collection Officer audit requirements contained in R-6 Supplement to FSM 1409.11, section 070 but may be done in conjunction with the annual audit.
Verifications may be made by depositing marked or otherwise identifiable envelopes and/or cash in collection boxes and following up to ensure that these envelopes and/or cash are turned in by the Collection Officer. A sample form to document this process is included as Exhibit 01. Units may use a different verification process to meet their situation, if desired.
Regardless of the procedure used, the Collection Officers must turn in all envelopes to the district office where they shall be retained until no longer needed for verification or other data requirements, at which time they may be destroyed.
Campgrounds with fee payment systems other than the collection boxes (such as staffed collection booth at the entrance to the campground), should also be audited or verified. The technique used to perform the audits shall be developed by the Budget and Finance Officer and should be kept as simple as possible. Audits of concessionaire campgrounds are to be performed in accordance with the contract, agreement or permit terms.
The verifications must all be documented and made a part of the Collection Officer's file. A copy of each verification is to be promptly submitted to the Budget and Finance Officer who shall ensure adherence with prescribed frequency standards.
Each Collection Officer, as well as other district personnel, should be fully aware of this policy.
3. Acceptance of Public Money. Checks should be made payable to the Forest Service, USDA. Personal checks should not exceed the value of the permit or other item being sold to the individual issuing the check. Second party checks may not be accepted.
a. Interpretative Association Collections. Monies received for the sale of maps, books, literature and other interpretative items owned by the Northwest Interpretative Association (NWIA) are not considered public monies. Since NWIA collections are forwarded to the NWIA, checks may be made out to NWIA. The handling and safekeeping of NWIA funds should be given the same care and safekeeping as public funds received. Units with NWIA donation boxes should clear them at least monthly. Detailed audits of NWIA activities are not required but may be performed as deemed necessary.
b. Cash Register Guidelines. Forest Service Collection Officers may use cash registers to record sales and store collections during the day while fulfilling Collection Officer duties if in accordance with the following guidelines:
(1) If a cash register is used it must afford the Collection Officer the same audit trail as maintaining a manual Collection Register and the same controls over receipts as holding collections during the day in a locking cash box.
(2) Collections shall not be stored overnight in a cash register. Collections must be removed at the end of the day and the cash register drawer(s) left open to discourage damage to the machine if a break-in occurs.
(3) The cash register must have a locking drawer or otherwise be secured, so it can only be opened by the Collection Officer. If it is a multiple drawer cash register, each drawer must have a separate lock which requires a different key for each Collection Officer. Unissued keys shall be secured by the unit manager (such as a District Ranger) or designated individual.
(4) More than one Collection Officer may not have access or operate out of the same drawer at the same time, since this would result in intermingling their collections. However, one exception is when collections are only for sale of NWIA materials.
( 5) The cash register drawers should only contain money while the Collection Officer is on duty, while they are at lunch or on short breaks. In these absences, the cash register drawer must be locked.
(6) Sales by Collection Officers who do not have access to a cash register drawer should be held in a separate cash box, money bag, or equivalent, for transfer to another Collection Officer or the Unit Collection Officer. Collections held overnight must be secured in a safe.
(7) Items sold by a back-up Collection Officer (who does not have access to the cash register) during the regular Collection Officer's break or lunch, may be recorded on a temporary sales record and turned over to the regular Collection Officer upon their return, who should then record the sale(s) on the cash register and merge the receipts with their other collections. Back-up Collection Officers are responsible for the receipts until they are accepted by the regular Collection Officer.
(8) The various major sales categories of Forest Service items must each be identified separately by use of different buttons (keys) on the cash register to facilitate handling collections, proper credit to the accounts, and audits. Currently, the major sales categories requiring separation are maps, golden eagles, golden age, firewood permits, christmas tree permits, green sheet sales, other permits, Interpretative Association sales, and all other sales items.
(9) Map sales need to be separated into four possible categories whereby the map sales to be credited to the Regional Map Sales Fund, Forest Map Sales Fund, and any other map sales receipt account can be distinguished from the Interpretative Association map sales, if any.
(10) Interpretative Association sale items must be identified separately from Forest Service sale items and transmitted to the Association in accordance with the procedures in the Interpretative Association Agreement.
(11) Forest Service collections must be transmitted to the lockbox bank or transferred to another Collection Officer in accordance with the frequencies required in item 5.
(12) If the cash register provides a customer receipt, it should be offered to each customer making a purchase.
(13) If the cash register creates a transaction record on a tape, it may be used in lieu of a manually prepared sales record, assuming the necessary information is included on the cash register tape and/or summary cash register report or tape. Therefore, the Map Sales Register which is required for Forest Service map sales (FSM 6532.7) would not be required if the cash register tape provides the date sold, quantity sold, amount of each sale, Collection Officer making the sale and Bill for Collection number used to transmit map sales were entered on the summary report or tape. The cash register tape or attached records must clearly indicate which drawer each Collection Officer is using in order to maintain separate accountability and facilitate audits.
(14) Cash register tapes must be maintained in an orderly manner for the current and previous year to support the Collection Officer's activities and facilitate audits.
(15) Audits of Collection Officers using cash registers should be conducted in the same frequency required for other Collection Officers as detailed in FSH 1409.11.
4. Safekeeping Facilities and Access.
a. The equivalent item referred to in the parent text for use as a safekeeping facility may be a bank-type purse or money bag.
b. Refer to parent text at FSM 6530.3 for minimum safekeeping facility standards.
c. Each cashier should memorize their safe combination. The combination should not be written down anywhere on the premises of a district or field unit office. District and field unit offices, including PNW labs, have the option to safeguard their unit's safe combinations at the surpervisor's office or utilize a safe deposit box at a bank. Supervisor's Offices, the Station Director's Office, and the Regional Office may retain a copy of the combinations on their premises but must take appropriate action to ensure the combinations are secured and may not be compromised or they may also utilize a safe deposit box at a bank.
5. Transmittal of Cash and Remittances to Unit Collection Clerk. Collection Officers should transmit collections directly to the lockbox bank (item b), rather than transmitting them to a local Collection Officer or to the unit Collection Officer.
a. Frequency of Transmittal
(1) Daily, whenever the amount on hand reaches $5,000.
(2) No less frequently than once every 30 days, regardless of amount.
(3) Collections received from another Collection Officer must be transmitted in accordance with items (1) or (2) above based on date received by original Collection Officer.
(4) Collections that affect the Timber Sale Accounting System must be transmitted promptly to insure accuracy of the system and statement issued to the purchaser.
Since the policy is to transmit collections within 30 days (regardless of amount accumulated), when shortages, loss, or theft occur for small amounts that have not been transmitted within the 30 day criteria, relief should not or expected to be granted to the Collection Officer.
b. Method of Transmittal
(1) In lieu of transmitting collections to the unit collection clerk, each Collection Officer should transmit directly to the lockbox bank unless the line officer determines that some or all of their collections shall be transferred to one Collection Officer who combines them for one lockbox mailing from their unit. The lockbox address for Region 6 is:
Unit Collection Officer, Forest Service
Pacific Northwest Region
File No. 71652
P. O. Box 60000
San Francisco, CA 94160-1652
Any cash on hand must be converted to money order or bank draft made payable to Forest Service, USDA before mailing to the lockbox bank. All remittances sent to lockbox need to have an FS-6500-89, Bill for Collection, covering them. Mail the white copy of the Bill for Collection with the checks and money orders attached so the lockbox bank has the information needed to process the remittance.
Payments received (for other than over-the-counter type sales) that should have been mailed directly to the lockbox bank by the payer should promptly be forwarded to the lockbox bank. Notify the payer the remittance was forwarded and that the Bill for Collection will be considered paid when it is received by the lockbox bank.
(2) In addition to converting cash to money order, Canadian collections received should be converted to U.S. currency at a local bank at the earliest opportunity and included in the normal collection transmittal to the lockbox bank. If foreign checks are received that can not be converted to U.S. currency at a local bank, transmit them to the following address, with a separate Bill for Collection with the face value of the check noted in the Description block and the "amount due" block left blank. Transmit foreign checks on a separate Bill for Collection to:
Bank of America
Foreign Currency Services No. 5089
345 Montgomery St., Lower Level 1
San Francisco, CA 94104
Include a pre-addressed, stamped envelope with the normal Region 6 lockbox address shown and add a note requesting them to convert the foreign check to a cashier's check in U.S. currency and mail it to the lockbox bank address in the enclosed envelope.
(3) A person serving as a courier to deliver collections from one Collection Officer to another must be an employee designated as a Collection Officer if there is cash included in the remittance. If there is no cash included in the remittances, it may be delivered by any employee.
c. Purchase of Money Orders from Rural Carriers. A Collection Officer may have a rural carrier purchase a money order when not convenient for the Collection Officer to buy it from a Post Office. Buying the money order from a carrier offers the buyer the same guarantee as a purchase at a Post Office. The procedure is as follows: