Van Buren Intermediate School District
Bylaws & Policies
 

6144.01 - CLEARING HOUSE (ACH) ARRANGEMENTS AND ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS OF FUNDS

The following policy shall govern the use of electronic transactions and ACH arrangements for the Van Buren Intermediate School District.

 A.Definitions
  "Automated clearing house" or "ACH" means a national and governmental organization that has authority to process electronic payments, including, but not limited to, the national automated clearing house association and the federal reserve system.
  An "ACH arrangement" means the agreement between the originator of the ACH transaction and the receiver of an ACH transaction.
  An "ACH transaction" means an electronic payment, debit or credit transfer processed through an automated clearing house.
  An "ACH policy" means the procedures and internal controls as determined under this written policy developed and adopted by the governing board.

B. Authority to Enter into ACH Arrangements and Electronic Transfers of Public Funds

The Electronic Transactions Officer (ETO) may enter into an ACH arrangement as provided by Public Act 738 of 2002, effective immediately.

Van Buren Intermediate School District shall not be a party to an ACH arrangement unless the governing board has adopted a resolution to authorize electronic transactions and the ETO has presented a written ACH policy to the board.

An ACH arrangement under PA 738 of 2002 is not subject to the Revised Municipal Finance Act, Public Act 34 of 2001 (MCL 141.2101, et seq.), or to provisions of law or charter concerning the issuance of debt by a local unit.

 C.Responsibility for ACH Agreements
  The ETO is responsible for Van Buren Intermediate School District ACH agreements, including payment approval, accounting, reporting and overseeing compliance with the ACH policy.
  The ETO shall make available to the board, documentation detailing the goods or services purchased, the cost of the goods or services and the date of the payment, and account distribution for each payment of public funds made by electronic transfer. (Payroll related items are excluded). This report may be contained in the electronic general ledger software system or in a separate report to the board.

D. Internal Accounting Controls to Monitor Use of ACH Transactions

The following system of internal accounting controls will be used to monitor the use of ACH transactions made by the Van Buren Intermediate School District.

1. The local unit shall prepare a list of vendors authorized to be paid by each transaction and provide that list for approval.

  2.The business office initiates the transaction upon receipt of an invoice included on the authorized ACH list approved by the ETO. ACH invoices must be approved before payment. The ETO approves the ACH invoice, which then acts as the approval for the ACH transaction.
  3.A separate list of the electronic payments shall accompany the disbursements list for board approval.
  4.Following proper approval, the ETO will initiate the electronic transaction with the vendor, and make the actual transfer of funds.
  5.The local unit shall retain all ACH transaction documents and related invoices for audit purposes.

Certification

We, Barb Matthews and Jeff Mills, ETO’s of Van Buren Intermediate School District, certify that we developed the foregoing ACH policy and have presented it to the governing board.

_______________________________________, ETO ___________________________________

Signature Date

_______________________________________, ETO ___________________________________

Signature Date

Adopted 4/14/04