Account Reconcilation

Expectations: The College of Nursing, in accordance with UI Accounting Services policy, requires that all financial accounts be reviewed and reconciled each month. This procedure will allow the CON administration to make an affirmative answer to Financial Sub-Certification question # 8 “Does the college perform a review of transactions appearing in its general ledger reports to internal source documents on a monthly basis?” The Account Owner is responsible for the account and will designate a Reviewer. For grant accounts, the PI of the grant is required to be the Account Owner. Other specific duties are required and are listed on the Accounting Services website (see link below.) In the College of Nursing, the Owner is generally regarded as the “decision maker” of the account and takes ultimate responsibility for transactions within the account. The Account Reviewer looks at each transaction each month and verifies that charges are reasonable and accurate and that proper documentation exists for each item. Other specific duties are required and are listed on the Accounting Services website (see link below.) In the College of Nursing, we expect the Reviewer check the transactions and make corrections as needed. The Account Owner and the Account Reviewer may be the same person. The specific duties for the Account Owner and the Account Reviewer may be found at the UI Accounting Services website: http://www.uiowa.edu/~fuscntrl/reviewoftransactionspolicy.pdf The Account Owner and the Account Reviewer (or, if they are the same person, that person plus one other person) must sign off via email message each month that the accounts have been reconciled, errors have been corrected, documentation has been provided, and that the account is within budget. CON administrators will conduct surprise audits of selected accounts each month, and it is expected that proper documentation will be readily available for review by the administrator. Procedure: The Account Reviewer will perform a reconciliation each month for each account they have responsibility for, and notify the Account Owner of any unresolved discrepancies. Both the Owner and the Reviewer will sign off on the reconciliation via an email statement to CON administration.

1. Account Reviewer receives monthly statement from Accounting Services on or about the 10th of each month.
2. Reviewer verifies that each transaction is an appropriate expense for that account, and that documentation is available for each expense.
3. Inaccurate transactions are researched and corrected.
4. Discrepancies that are unresolved are brought to the attention of the Owner, who researches and resolves.
5. Discrepancies that remain unresolved are forwarded to the Assistant Dean for Finance & Operations.
6. The statement is initialed and dated by the Reviewer, documentation is attached and it is filed in the Area or budgetary unit’s office.
7. On or about the 10th of the following month, CON administration will send an email to Account Reviewers asking for verification that accounts have been reconciled.
8. Account Reviewer replies, forwards the email to the Account Owner (or another person), and the Account Owner replies back to CON administration. The email serves as documentation that two persons have reviewed the reconciliation and all transactions are correct.
9. The emailed reply is kept as proof of compliance.
10. In the event of a CON or UI audit, reconciliations and supporting documents must be produced by the Account Reviewer and/or Account Owner.