30075 Greenfield Rd., Suite 100
Southfield, MI 48076
Phone: (248) 290-2940
Fax: (248) 290-2941
|
|
July 2007 - Cash Management and Controls
Now that you have collected the cash, you must have good management and
controls to ensure that all of the payments are posted to the correct
account and deposited in the your bank account
So what cash management tools should you focus on? Perhaps
a lockbox is first on the list. The advantage of a lockbox is to
separate staff from processing cash. Why is that important?
Unfortunately fraud in the physician’s office does occur and is
something you should prepare to prevent.
And if you don’t use a billing service, you also need to separate
the cash processing duties from the cash management
responsibility. Procedurally separating those responsibilities
across at least 3 individuals can provide effective controls and
balances.
Your practice readiness checklist should include a documented process
for collecting payment, processing the payment to the account,
balancing cash, depositing daily cash and other transactions.
Not to be ignored either, is the empowerment of individuals with
the ability to pay bills and write checks. Many practices have
accountants to handle these transactions. Smaller practices may
utilize their office staff. Please ensure that you limit the
number of individuals who can sign documents or checks on your behalf
and that a system of safeguards is in place. You should also
be consistently engaged in your office finances and ensure that
they are routinely audited.
|
|
