Please Note: This Process Has Been Updated
We want to inform you that the updated process outlined below is an improvement over the previous one. These changes are designed to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
Model Financial Regulations for Local Councils (Section 5.2)
The RFO shall prepare a schedule of payments requiring authorisation, forming part of the Agenda for the Meeting and, together with the relevant invoices, present the schedule to council. The council shall review the schedule for compliance and, having satisfied itself shall authorise payment by a resolution of the council
Recommended Sequence of Actions Supported by Easy PC Accounts
This process is fully supported by Easy PC Accounts, and the following sequence of actions is recommended.
Managing Receipts and Payments:
- On the Manage Receipts and Payments screen, set filters to show unapproved transactions.
- Set the Transaction Type to “Only Payments”.
- Select the appropriate bank account and set the end date to the date of the meeting.
- You can also set other filters, such as changing the display of confidential items or selecting a particular reserve.
- Click “Apply” to display a list of transactions (payments).
The following is an example screen
You can set other filters. For example, change the display of confidential items or select a particular reserve.
Producing a List for the Meeting:
- Export the list to a spreadsheet.
- Format the worksheet to the desired layout for the meeting.
The following is an example from a spreadsheet application.
The approval date is setup as a large negative number with a date format and many spreadsheets show these values with “xxxxxx”.
Amendments can be made to focus on the key elements you wish to report to the Council.
These reports can focus on Receipts (Income) or Payments (Costs) or both.
Recording Approved Transactions After the Meeting:
- Return to the Manage Receipts and Payments screen and select the unapproved transactions options as you did in the previous step .
- Click on “Select and Approve” to move to another screen showing unapproved transactions with checkboxes.
- Confirm which transactions have been approved by the council. If all are approved, use the tick box at the top right. For partial approvals, either untick the rejected items or tick only the approved ones.
- Set the date of the meeting (this defaults to the end date selected previously).
- Click “Approve Selected” to mark all the transactions as approved.
Verifying and Reporting:
- Return to the Manage Receipts and Payments screen and apply appropriate filters to check your work.
- To report payments, select the meeting date and list all payments approved at that meeting.
The above should help you with your work flow. We would welcome your input on this page.
Please note the names and amounts are fictional.