BOP Program Statement 2013.03 § 3

a. Delegation of Authority. The Director, BOP, has delegated the authority for cashier

appointment and revocation to the following:

■ Regional Comptrollers, for Regional and field cashiers.

■ Chief, Finance Branch, for Central Office cashiers.

This authority cannot be re-delegated.

b. Cashier Designation and Revocation. The SF-211, Request for Change or Establishment of

Imprest Fund, is to be used for:

■ Designation of principal and alternate cashiers.

■ Revocation of cashiers.

■ Change to principal or alternate cashier.

■ Address change for a cashier.

■ Change in amount of the imprest fund.

■ Establishment of an imprest fund.

The SF-211 must be prepared in duplicate and forwarded to the appropriate delegating official

for signature. A copy of the signed SF-211 must be maintained by the Regional Comptroller

for the Regional Office and institutions in his/her region, and by the Chief, Finance Branch, for

Central Office. Since the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is no longer supplying SF-

211’s, local reproductions are authorized.

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c. Responsibility. Cashiers are personally liable for all monies coming into their possession.

Cashiers must receive, deposit, and account for all cash resources. Under no circumstances are

funds received by the cashier to be mingled with private or unofficial funds, loaned, borrowed,

used for personal reasons, or deposited into private bank accounts.

All funds must be maintained in the cashier’s individual locking drawer within the cashier’s safe.

The principal cashier will only advance enough funds to an alternate cashier to allow for

uninterrupted services during short absences of the principal cashier or when the volume of work

requires an alternate.

The principal cashier must have alternate cashiers sign an Interim Receipt (SF-1165) for the

amount of funds advanced to them. The principal cashier must retain this Interim Receipt to

account for the full amount of the imprest fund.

The alternate cashier will replenish his/her advance by receiving cash from the principal cashier

in exchange for the alternate cashier’s paid disbursement documents.

d. Maintenance of Cash. Levels of cash must be kept to a minimum amount. If it is found that

an excessive amount of cash is being maintained, the Business Administrator of the facility will

take action to reduce the fund to a level commensurate with the operating needs.

The Business Administrator, or his/her designee, is required to review the turnover of cash at

least every six months. The cash in the imprest fund must be turned over at least once every two

months. The two-month criteria is mandated by Treasury and cannot be waived. If the review

determines the imprest fund needs to be adjusted, an SF-211 must be used to request an increase

or decrease of the imprest fund from the designating official.

(1) Procedures For Decreasing the Imprest Fund

■ An SF-211 must be completed for the reduction in the imprest fund and forwarded to the

designating official for approval.

■ After the approval is received from the designating official, a receipt and deposit ticket must

be completed for the excess funds. The funds must then be deposited with Treasury.

■ The deposit must be recorded in the automated accounting system by recording a collection

to the current year Salary and Expense (S&E) Appropriation.

■ The collection must also be reported to Treasury on the local FMS-224 (formerly SF-224)

using Appropriation (41)15_1060.

■ An e-mail must be sent to the Accounting Operations Section (AOS), Finance Branch,

Central Office, using GroupWise mailbox BOP-ADM/Acct Operations, informing AOS of

the amount of decrease in the imprest fund and the month processed.

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(2) Procedures for Increasing the Imprest Fund

■ An SF-211 must be completed for the increase in the imprest fund and forwarded to the

designating official for approval.

■ After the approval is received from the designating official, a check for a non-vendor

payment must be processed in the automated accounting system, by selecting the voucher

type “Imprest Fund” for the amount of the increase. The check must be made payable to the

cashier and charged to the current year S&E Appropriation.

■ The disbursement must not be reported to Treasury on the local FMS-224 (formerly SF-224).

The transaction will be reported to Treasury by the AOS.

■ An e-mail must be sent to the AOS using GroupWise mailbox BOP-ADM/Acct Operations,

informing AOS of the amount of the increase in the imprest fund and the month processed.

e. Imprest Fund Disbursements. Effective October 1, 2001, 31 USC 3321-3333 required all

federal agencies to eliminate imprest funds except where cash payments were required by law.

The BOP is required by 18 USC 3624 to provide inmates cash gratuities at the time of their

release. In addition, cash payments for transportation expenses and inmate personal funds for

releases, furloughs, and escorted trips are allowable based on the waiver to the USC provided for

in 31 CFR 208. Payments needed to maintain the imprest fund and process deposits, such

as check cashing fees and the purchase of money orders, are also permissible.

All disbursements by the cashiers will be numbered using sub-voucher numbers that run

consecutively within the same series. The Trust Fund Accounting and Commissary System

(Trufacs) will automatically assign sub-voucher numbers for inmate releases.

(1) Inmate Releases. All cash disbursements related to inmate releases will be listed on the

Prisoner’s Personal Funds and Cash Gratuities Voucher (BP-A0112) and signed by a certifying

officer as approved before the payment is made. The inmate must sign the voucher at the time

he/she receives the funds.

If an after hours release is conducted, the control room officer signs the Interim Receipt Copy of

the BP-A0112 taking responsibility for the funds. The control room officer then must obtain the

inmate’s signature on the original BP-A0112 when the release funds are given to the inmate. The

control room officer returns the original signed BP-A0112 to the cashier the next business day.

An Institution Supplement must be published detailing the control and accountability of funds

left in the control room for after hours releases.

(2) Payments Needed to Maintain the Imprest Fund and Process Deposits. If a cash

advance is made to an employee, other than the principal cashier, for a cash purchase (check

cashing fees, money orders, etc.), an Interim Receipt (SF-1165) must be completed with the date

and amount advanced. The employee signs the stub portion of the SF-1165 when receiving the

funds from the cashier. The stub is kept in the cashier’s drawer, and is returned to the employee

when the employee returns receipts or cash equal to the amount advanced. Employees must

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obtain an original invoice or sales receipt from the vendor that itemizes the items or services

purchased. Employees return the necessary receipts or cash within three business days from

receiving the advance. When the receipts are submitted to the cashier, they are assigned a sub-voucher number.

(3) Dollar Threshold. Payments from the imprest fund may not exceed $500 for any one

transaction except for the following inmate transactions:

■ Unlimited cash for the personal funds of individuals being deported as illegal aliens.

■ Unlimited cash for the personal funds of unsentenced inmates upon their release from

custody.

■ Unlimited cash for personal funds of individuals authorized emergency furloughs for the

purpose of bedside visits or funeral attendance.

f. Reimbursement Vouchers and SF-1129. The principal cashier must prepare and submit a

reimbursement voucher at least once per week. In addition, a reimbursement voucher must be

prepared on the last working day of each month and whenever there is a transfer of accountability

between cashiers.

Each time a reimbursement voucher is prepared, an SF-1129, Cashier Reimbursement Voucher

and/or Accountability Report, must be prepared. In addition, an SF-1129 must be prepared any

time the imprest fund balance is increased or decreased.

The principal cashier is responsible for preparing the SF-1129 and the reimbursement voucher.

The reimbursement voucher must be prepared using the cashier s name (i.e. – Jane Doe, Cashier)

as the vendor name and the BOP’s tax identification number (TIN). The BOP’s TIN is

530205705.

When there is a permanent transfer of the imprest fund, the newly designated principal cashier

acknowledges receipt of the imprest fund by inserting the following into the Status of Funds

section of the SF-1129:

“Except as noted above, I hereby accept accountability for this imprest fund of $ (amount)

(signature of incoming cashier).”

If a situation occurs requiring a reimbursement voucher to be prepared during the principal

cashier’s absence, the imprest fund must be temporarily transferred to the alternate cashier before

the principal cashier goes on annual leave, training, etc. The alternate cashier receiving the funds

acknowledges receipt by inserting the following into the Status of Funds section of the

SF-1129:

“Except as noted above, I hereby accept accountability for this imprest fund of $ (amount)

(signature of incoming cashier).”

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Upon the principal’s return, the same procedure is used to transfer the funds back. It is not

necessary to prepare an SF-211 to designate the alternate as principal for the temporary transfer

of responsibility.

g. Bank Accounts. If a local bank requires a site to open a bank account to cash paper imprest

fund reimbursement checks or to receive Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) reimbursement

payments, the following procedures must be followed.

Whether or not an institution decides to open a bank account and use EFT, or decides to continue

with the paper check process, is entirely a local decision. Either way, the bank account must be

at a federally insured financial institution.

According to Treasury regulations, the following must be adhered to when opening a bank

account:

■ The account must not have the ability to have checks written against it.

■ The account cannot have any type of overdraft protection.

■ All withdrawals made from the account must be made in cash.

■ Only EFT deposits are allowed to be made into the account.

■ The account must be in the name of the Bureau of Prisons and include the individual

institution name.

■ Only employees designated as cashiers or alternate cashiers can have access to the account.

■ The bank must be notified in writing the names of the cashier and alternate cashiers that will

have access to the account.

■ Signature cards must be signed by the cashier and alternate cashiers that will have access to

the account.

When opening the bank account, every effort should be made to open an account that will not

have a monthly or minimum balance fee. If there is a minimum balance fee, it is a local decision

as to whether or not a balance will be kept in the account to avoid the fee. Sites base their

decision on the amount of the required minimum balance and how that will affect the amount

available for imprest fund transactions. Any amounts in the bank account are considered to be

part of the imprest fund balance and will be used to calculate the monthly turnover. The imprest

fund cannot be increased to a level that exceeds the allowable turnover amount (see Section 3.d.)

to accommodate the monthly minimum balance. Fees should be charged to the financial

management cost center in the same manner as check cashing fees.

In addition to the Treasury-mandated criteria listed above, the following must also be followed.

When establishing an account, most banks require the site to enter into an agreement, often called

a Corporate Resolution Authorization (CRA). The ability to enter into an agreement cannot be

delegated below the level of Business Administrator. Since each bank’s CRA is distinctively

different, the Business Administrator must be sure to read and agree with the conditions and

terms of the CRA they are entering. Before signing the agreement, the Business Administrator

should ensure that the account is non-interest bearing, the bank will issue monthly statements

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detailing the account’s activity, and the account does not have any type of automated teller or

check card privileges.

The Business Administrator must maintain on file a copy of any agreement that has been entered

into with the bank and the documentation provided to the bank showing the names and signatures

of the individuals who have access to the account. As changes are made to the accesses, the

Business Administrator must keep a chronological file showing the current accesses, as well as

the previous accesses.

Available funds must be withdrawn from the bank account at a minimum of once per week. All

withdrawals must be made in the same amount as the reimbursement voucher that was deposited,

less any monthly or minimum balance fees. In no case should withdrawals be made for partial

amounts of a deposit, except for the initial reimbursement voucher where a minimum balance

will be left in the account to avoid the related fee.

The Business Administrator must review the bank statements each month to verify that each

withdrawal equals the amount of the reimbursement voucher that was deposited (less fees). After

signing and dating the statement, certifying that it has been verified, the statement must be kept

on file along with previous months’ statements. In addition, a photocopy of the monthly

statement should be given to the cashier and attached to the back-up support of the last

reimbursement voucher that was deposited on that statement. Since the bank account will be

available to all cashiers, it is imperative that the Business Administrator closely review the

monthly statements looking for any hint of impropriety.

The verification of the monthly bank statements and any amounts on deposit in the bank account

must be verified during the quarterly unannounced cash verification required by Section 5.

The bank account must not be used to circumvent the internal controls or safekeeping

requirements established in this PS. Additionally, the bank account cannot be used to deposit

any other funds, such as mailroom collections, employees’ club funds, refund checks from

vendors, etc.