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(numbered paragraph) on the list of irregularities and deficiencies. The commanding officer may, if necessary, obtain his information from responsible subordinates, but their reports should be filed in his office. (Cir. 14, W. D., 1906.)

114. Reports of remedial action under A. R., 908, from the commanding officers of coast artillery posts will be forwarded through the artillery district commanders. (Chief of Staff, Mar. 8, 1906; 10665, I. G. O.)

INSPECTION OF MONEY ACCOUNTS.

115. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to cause frequent inquiries to be made as to the necessity, economy, and propriety of all disbursements made by disbursing officers of the army, and as to their strict conformity to the law appropriating the money; also to ascertain whether the disbursing officers of the army comply with the law in keeping their accounts and making their deposits; such inquiries to be made by officers of the Inspection Department of the Army, or others detailed for that purpose: Provided, That no officer so detailed shall be in any way connected with the department or corps making the disbursement. Reports of such inspections shall be made out and forwarded to Congress with the annual report of the Secretary of War. (Act of Apr. 20, 1874; 18 Stat. L., 33.)

116. Inspection of disbursements and money accounts of disbursing officers required by act of April 20, 1874, will be made by officers of the Inspector-General's Department or by others detailed for that purpose, and, as far as practicable, at irregular intervals, but no officer so detailed shall be in any way connected with the corps or staff department making the disbursement. The frequency of these inspections will be regulated by the Secretary of War. (A. R., 901.)

117. The Inspector-General of the Army will keep the inspectors-general of the several military divisions or departments informed through the proper channels of such inspections of accounts of disbursing officers and of places not under the immediate command of the division or department commander as the Secretary of War desires shall be made by them. Division and department commanders in issuing orders for inspections involving travel will consider the most advantageous and economical plan. (A. R., 903.)

118. Inspectors will inquire as to the necessity, economy, and propriety of all disbursements, their strict conformity to the law appropriating the money, and whether the disbursing officers comply with the law in keeping their accounts and making their deposits. (A. R., 909.)

119. Inspectors should investigate all infractions of the rules and regulations for conducting the business, keeping the records, and drawing checks; all disbursements, the necessity, economy, propriety, or legality of which are not clearly shown; or any irregularity whatever that may be developed by his "inquiry," and will note the result under the head of "Remarks" on the inspection report. (Note on Form 3, I. G. D.)

120. In inspecting paymasters' accounts inspectors will examine vouchers to see if they are properly filled out and briefed; that check books are kept in strict compliance with paragraph 72, Manual Pay Department, 1907, and that cash books are correctly kept, credits and debits for each day being properly posted. (9123, I. G. O.)

121. On the arrival of inspectors at posts the money accountability of all disbursing officers, such as quartermasters, commissaries, and post treasurers, should be inspected first. If cash is carried its verification should precede the inspection. (Par. 6, Cir. 22, W. D., 1903.)

Method of inspection.

122. The following are the general instructions for making inspections of money accounts:

(a) The inspector will obtain from the inspector-general of the division or department the lists of the disbursing officer's outstanding checks at date of last inspection and the balance of funds for which he was accountable at that date.

(b) He will require from the disbursing officer a statement of his money accounts since date of last inspection and the distribution of his funds at date of present inspection on "Form 3," I. G. D., with a list of his outstanding checks on “Form 3a," I. G. D. (a separate list for each depositary) to include the last check embraced in the current inspection. The statement of his money accounts and each list of checks outstanding must be signed by the disbursing officer.

(c) The distribution of funds at date of inspection will be verified as follows:

The cash reported on hand will be counted. This should be done at the beginning of the inspection. (See par. 121, ante.)

The number of the last check drawn included in the current inspection will be verified from the proper check book.

Amounts claimed as on deposit in the several depositaries as per their statements will be verified as to date and amount from their statements made to the disbursing officer.

For amounts claimed as deposited since last statement, the disbursing officer should have letters from the depositary notifying him of the credit.

Credit can not be claimed for funds in transit except for cash or checks en route from the disbursing officer to the depositary for his credit.

The list of checks now outstanding should be compared with the previous list, and all checks borne on that list as still outstanding may be checked as correct, and all checks not so marked should then be verified by their stubs as to date, number and amount. The list of outstanding checks, after having been footed and amount compared with that entered on the statement, will be forwarded immediately to the depositary as required by the instructions printed on the form.

(d) The check stubs should be compared with the depositary statements of paid checks to ascertain if they correctly report all checks paid. All checks must be accounted for as either paid, outstanding, or canceled.

(e) An examination should be made of the paid vouchers that have not been forwarded to the chief of bureau and comparison made with the check stubs and with the entries in the cash book to see that they agree. Nothing in these instructions shall be construed as limiting the inspector's scrutiny of all disbursements, inquiring into the propriety of the expenditures and verifying the correctness of the transactions.

(f) Checks for currency should be represented by cash vouchers, and the excess of cash with all cash receipts should be accounted for as replaced in the depositary (see depositary statements), or as cash on hand.

(g) The check stubs should be examined to ascertain if they are properly filled and required notations made.

(h) The cash book must show all receipts from the Treasury and from transfers taken up (see depositary notices of credit and invoices of funds), and that the disbursements, as well as the receipts, are entered in chronological order and under the proper appropriations. (R. S., 3643.)

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(i) The total of the amounts disbursed, transferred, deposited to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States, and such other items as may be admitted as expenditures, for the period covered by the inspection, deducted from the total of receipts from all sources as shown by the cash book and the balance on hand at last inspection, will show the amount for which the officer is now accountable, and it should agree with the amount shown to be on hand by the statement of the distribution of funds.

(j) To the total amount of checks paid as shown by the bank statements received since last inspection, add the amount of checks reported as now outstanding, and from their sum deduct the amount of checks reported as outstanding at last inspection, and the remainder will be the total amount of checks drawn since last inspection.

(k) When the list of checks outstanding is received back from the depositary it will be verified as follows:

The officer's balance as reported by the depositary should equal the sum of the balance reported by the officer (Form 3), plus the amount of checks not marked “Paid," plus any credits reported by the depositary not claimed on the officer's statement, minus any checks paid not listed.

(1) In the Statement of the Money Accountability, on Form 3, I. G. D., errors frequently arise from misunderstanding of what is meant by the expression "Cash from checks issued " and its counterpart "Checks issued for cash." The latter expression includes all checks drawn by the disbursing officer in favor of himself under A. R. 603, and the amounts of all such checks must be embraced in the entries in the lower half of the statement, under the depositary or depositaries on which drawn. "Cash from checks issued" is the total of all checks drawn by the disbursing officer in favor of himself under A. R. 603 during the period covered by the inspection, and this total should be entered in the debit or upper half of the Statement of Money Accountability in the "Cash" column on the line of "Cash from checks issued." This last-mentioned total should equal the sum of the amounts entered on the credit or lower half of the statement under the depositary headings on the line of "Checks issued for cash."

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(m) When cash is deposited to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States it should appear in the "Cash" column on the line "Deposited to credit of Treasurer U. S.," on Form 3, and not on the line "Cash deposited."

(n) At each inspection of money accounts the inspecting officer should note in each check book, on the back of the stub of the last check issued, the number of the last check included in the inspection, the balance on deposit in that depositary subject to check, and the total amount of checks outstanding on that depositary; also the amount of cash on hand, if any.

(0) Examine bond of each bonded officer.

(p) Conventional signs used by inspectors on the stubs of checks:

O means outstanding (at date of inspection).
V means paid (as reported by depositary).
X means canceled check (verified).

means saw voucher.

It is desirable that inspectors have a uniform method of marking stubs. Colored pencils (blue or green) will distinguish the inspector's marks from those of the disbursing officer.

Checks.

123. A disbursing officer may draw his check in favor of himself (a) to make payments of amounts not exceeding $20; (b) to make payments at a distance from a depositary; or (c) to make payments of fixed salaries due at a certain period. In the first and last named cases the check will be drawn not more than two days before the payments become due. In all other cases the checks will be drawn only in favor of the persons, firms, or corporations, by name, to whom the payments are to be made. (A. R., 603.)

Disbursing officer not authorized to draw a single check in favor of superintendent for payment of salaries to other employees, nor to draw it to his own order indorsed to his chief clerk for such payments. (Cir. 26, W. D., 1906.)

124. On the face of each check that he draws a disbursing officer will state his address, the object of the expenditure, the number or other necessary description of the voucher, and, in case of payment to an officer, enlisted man, or civilian employee, the period for which the payment is made. (A. R., 604.) 125. Disbursing officers shall identify their official checks with the vouchers upon which they are issued in payment by noting on each check the number or other necessary description of the voucher. (Treasury Dept. Cir. No. 52, 1907, par. 4.)

126. Officers serving in and disbursing funds pertaining to more than one staff department, and officers assigned to duty

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