The following sortable table defines the roles and responsibilities of the people involved in the Balance Sheet account balance reconciliation and attestation process at Stanford.
| Responsibility | Activity Recorder | Reconciliation Preparer | Reconciliation Approver | Attestation Owner | School/Dept Finance Office | FMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Understands and adheres to University policy, donor or sponsor requirements and regulations | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Understands and adheres to department-specific policies and procedures | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Stewardship and control of funds | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Establishes the appropriate financial controls for their organization, communicating appropriate values and ensuring approvers take responsibility for financial integrity | ✔ | |||||
| Establishes appropriate separation of duties | ✔ | |||||
| Ensures that reconciliation preparers are adequately trained and possess the skill, experience and competence for preparing the reconciliation | ✔ | |||||
| Maintains financial policies and procedures | ✔ | |||||
| Designates reconciliation frequency | ✔ | |||||
| Develops and maintains desk procedures for reconciliations | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Reconciles the account balance timely | ✔ | |||||
| Identifies and adequately explains reconciling items | ✔ | |||||
| Ensures reconciliations contain adequate supporting documentation | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Reviews all aspects of the reconciliation | ✔ | |||||
| Withholds approval and investigates questionable balances and transactions | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Communicates errors discovered during reconciliation | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Corrects errors | ✔ | |||||
| Reports suspected fraud | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Resolves escalated issues | ✔ | |||||
| Supports Schools Dean's Offices and Departments and responds to support requests | ✔ | |||||
| Designates Attestation Owners | ✔ | |||||
| Distributes and collects account balance attestations | ✔ | |||||
| Verifies that account balances under their authority have been reconciled and reviewed at least quarterly | ✔ | |||||
| Attests to all statements on the Balance Sheet Reconciliation Review Attestation form | ✔ | |||||
| Ensures that attestation forms are submitted to the University Controller’s Office timely | ✔ | |||||
| Provides secondary financial control through review of sample reconciliations | ✔ |
