Six questions a college accounts head should be able to answer about fee receipts

A fee receipt is a small piece of paper that carries a lot of weight. It is a promise to the student, a record for the auditor and an entry for the ledger. When those three do not match, the accounts team spends the end of the month finding out why.

Here are six questions that tell you quickly how healthy your fee process is.

1. Is the late fee shown separately from the fee?

When a late fee is folded into the amount, you cannot report on it, waive it cleanly, or explain it to a parent. It should appear on its own line, on the receipt and in the reports.

2. Can a wrong receipt be cancelled, and does the ledger follow?

Mistakes happen at a busy counter. What matters is what happens next. A cancelled receipt should carry a reason, and the accounting entries should reverse with it, not be fixed later by hand.

3. Can you see who created a receipt, and what changed after?

If you cannot say who issued a receipt, when, and what was edited since, you cannot answer an audit question about it.

4. Does the day-end summary match the receipts?

Cash, cheque and online payments should add up to the receipts issued that day, mode by mode. If someone builds the deposit slip by hand, it will eventually be wrong.

5. Who can give a discount or waive a late fee, and is the reason kept?

Concessions are normal. Unrecorded concessions are the problem. Each one should have a reason and an approver, so the rule is in the policy, not in someone’s memory.

6. Do receipts reach your accounts without being typed again?

The counter issues the receipt. Does the accounts team enter it a second time? Every re-entry is a chance for a difference. Receipts should post to the books you already use.

Scoring yourself

If you could answer all six without opening a spreadsheet, your process is in good shape. If three or more were uncertain, the fix is usually one connected system, not a better spreadsheet.

• Fees
• Receipts
• Accounts
• Checklist