The working of the treasury proceeds in this way from day to day, and the
monthly process is completed by the cash (coin and notes) present in the
district treasury on the last day of the month being verified by the Collector
himself or, if he is absent from headquarters or is otherwise unable to
perform the duty, by a responsible assistant, the cash in each subtreasury being similarly verified by the local officer in charge. An actual
cash balance report for the whole district it then drawn up with which the
account balance is compared.
Monthly Accounts
The point has now been reached for the despatch of the monthly returns
to the Accountant General. These monthly returns which in the case of
treasuries are separate for transactions of the State and for those of the
Union, consist of (i) schedules of payments in two parts, the first relating to
the payment made form the first to the 10th of the month and the second
part to those made during the rest of the month (ii) schedule of receipts;
(iii) a list of payments; and (iv) a cash account. These are written up daily
in the treasury from the Accountant’s cash Book and the registers
subsidiary thereto, and the vouchers are day by day numbered, arranged
and put away under lock and key.
There are separate schedules of receipts and expenditure for each
department and for each major head of account not relating to any
particular department and in them the transactions are entered in sufficient detail to enable the preliminary compilation by the Accountant General to
be made there from and the vouchers to be identified according to the
classification given in them. The list of payments and the cash account
show respectively the total payments made and the total receipts
collected, during the month, detailed according to each schedule, or, in
respect of the Debt, Deposit and Remittance transaction, according to
broad account classification. The cash Account also works up to the actual
cash balance in the treasury on the last day of the month, as personally
counted by the Collector, after bringing into it the total payments as shown
in the list of Payments.
The first batch of payments schedules, supported by necessary vouchers
is sent to the Accountant General on the 10th and 11th of the month; and
the remaining schedules supported by necessary vouchers, the list of
payments and the cash account, which is accompanied by a certificate of
agreement of the account balance with the balance reported in the cash
balance report of the treasury for the last day of the month, are sent on the
first day of the succeeding month.
The schedules, List of Payments and Cash Account described above, as
sent from each treasury monthly to the Accountant General, represent the
first stage of compilation of the Government accounts. They cover jointly
the whole of the public transaction including departmental accounts and
debt, deposit and remittance transactions. They may be said to constitute
the primary fabric of the State Government accounts in India.
Daily and Monthly Agreement
It will be noticed generally that the correctness of the daily accounts of a
self-contained treasury is secured by making two independent officials
(the Accountant and the Treasurer) separately deal with the record of
each item of receipt and payment and it occurs, and by effecting and
agreement at the end of the day between the two sets of accounts thus
prepared, and at the same time verifying the actual cash balance is the
hands of the Treasurer. This daily check is reinforced by the actual count
of the whole of the cash balance in the treasury on the last day of each
month by the Collector himself.
Similarly the same custody of the treasury is secured by placing it jointly in
the hands of two independent officials, the Treasury Officer and the
Treasurer (one whom, the Treasurer, gives substantial security) under the
system of double locks.
Course Purchase Query 