The Cashier Management Handbook has been established to speed up the receipt and disbursement of public funds, ensure the safekeeping of public funds and public properties, and provide sound internal financial control mechanisms. This handbook is applicable for cashier management at central government agencies and national schools. Local governments may adapt it for their cashier management. Important contents listed as follows:

Chapter 1 General Principles

1.The Cashier Management Handbook has been established to speed up the receipt and disbursement of public funds, ensure the safekeeping of public funds and public properties, and provide sound internal financial control mechanisms.

2.This handbook is applicable for cashier management at central government agencies and national schools.

3.The cashier must rotate positions or tasks at least once every six years, and thoroughly implement a substitute system in case of leave.

4.The chief cashier and cashier management personnel should complete the handover within two days from the handover day. If necessary, the handover may be completed within 10 days, upon obtaining the approval of the Direct-general.

5.A handover list shall be compiled and delivered to the successor. The list shall be signed by the outgoing and incoming cashier management personnel and supervisory personnel, and delivered to the Director-general. The list shall be made at least in triplicate, with the transferor, transferee, and Director-general each receiving a copy.

6.Each month the managing unit of the cashier should check the deposit and custodial items reconciliation list that the accounting department received, including online downloads, from agent banks of the National Treasury and other financial institutions against the balances on its books. If there are discrepancies, an explanation of discrepancy statement should be prepared.

7.When issuing National Treasury agency account checks, checks must be signed or chopped by the agency head, accountant in charge, and cashier in charge.

8.All agencies are advised to appoint personnel who have studied accounting, bookkeeping, internal control (or auditing), or other related curricula to serve as cashier management personnel.

Chapter 2 Security and Facilities

Cashier management units must have facilities to maintain the security of, and shall adopt appropriate precautionary measures with respect to, all cash, bills, securities, and any other items in custody that are managed or handled by the units.

Chapter 3 Receipts

1.For all receipts of funds, cashier management personnel shall immediately issue a receipt and make a record in the reference book.

2.For funds receivable under law or regulation, cashier management personnel may directly proceed to receive the funds and issue a receipt, and then deliver the funds to the accounting unit on the same day or by noon of the following day, whereupon the accounting unit shall issue the receipt voucher and make the account entry.

3.After funds have been properly received, a stamp specifying the date of receipt and the seal of the receiving personnel shall be affixed on the voucher or payment slip.

Chapter 4 Payments

1.Checks should  be made out to a payee with two parallel, diagonal lines drawn across the upper left corner of the face of the check, and marked non-endorsable.

2.If an agency will make payments by account transfer via the Internet or a private network, it shall sign a service contract for network account transfers with the National Treasury agent bank or other financial institution that will process the transfers, and stipulate an appropriate account transfer transaction limit, and review and adjust the limit at appropriate intervals. Account transfer transactions shall be subject to operational control mechanisms comprising at least four levels of control, namely, editing, review, verification, and approval.

Chapter 5 Withholding of Taxes and Fees

Taxes and fees to be withheld by cashier management units shall be withheld and disbursed by the units on behalf of the withholdees by the time limits prescribed for the respective taxes and fees. 

Chapter 6 Petty Cash

1.Petty cash is allocated for emergency use and for making miscellaneous payments. Agencies may use petty cash to pay funds for expenditures not exceeding a certain amount.

2.When an agency uses petty cash for any payment, settlement, advance, allocation, or refund, it shall immediately record the event in the petty cash reference  book and keep a running balance. The petty cash book balance should be equal to the sum of the remaining cash in the petty cash box and the unsettled advances from petty cash.

Chapter 7 Receipt, Delivery, and Management of Bills, Securities, and Other Items in Custody

1.All receipt and delivery of bills, securities, and other items in custody shall be done by the cashier management unit on the basis of vouchers.

2.Unless otherwise provided by law or regulation, all funds and securities received shall be deposited into the National Treasury on the day of receipt or the following day, and no later than within 5 days in the case of miscellaneous revenues.

Chapter 8 Receipt and Payment of Bid Bonds, Security Deposits, and Other Security

1.An agency that holds funds in custody shall in principle deposit the funds into the National Treasury for centralized disbursement. If an agency has special operational needs requiring it to keep such funds in its own custody, it may apply to the Ministry of Finance to open a Special Agency Account in which to keep custody of the funds.

2.An agency's cashier management unit shall coordinate with the agency's accounting unit and other relevant units such as the business or procurement unit to constantly monitor the deadlines for redemption or return of bid bonds, security deposits, and other security and items in custody, and clear and settle such matters in a timely fashion.

Chapter 9 Management of Receipts for Funds Collected and Temporarily Held by Agencies

1.An agency may itself design, according to its operational needs, the formats of the receipt and vouchers that it uses in connection with funds collected and temporarily held by the agency. Each agency shall adopt, and scrupulously abide by, internal control procedures for the printing, safekeeping, use, and destruction of such receipts and vouchers.

2.The blank receipts for use in connection with funds to be collected and temporarily held by an agency shall be managed and controlled by its accounting unit.

Chapter 10 Cashier Account Books

Where computer processing is used for account books, the records in computer storage shall be deemed account books, and shall be appropriately safeguarded.

Chapter 11 Inventory-Taking and Review of Cashier Activities

1.The cashier management unit of each agency shall every year conduct scheduled and unscheduled inventory-taking of all cash, bills, receipts used in connection with funds collected and temporarily held by the agency, and other items in custody, and the records of the inventory-taking shall be submitted in a report to the head of the unit. Additionally, each agency's accounting unit shall supervise an inventory-taking at least once per year.

2.Each agency shall conduct its own scheduled or unscheduled audit at least once per year.

3.Each agency, when implementing an audit of cashier activities, shall form an audit team to conduct the audit. The members of the audit team shall be personnel of, and appointed by, the accounting unit, personnel unit, ethics unit, and other relevant units of the agency .

4.Each agency shall report the results of all audits of its cashier activities to the head of the agency.

Chapter12 Appendix

The cashier management of local governments may refer to this Handbook.