GUIDANCE NOTES FOR THE
CLOSURE OF ACCOUNTS 2013/14
CONTENTS
Section
Description
Page No.
1
Foreword
2
2
Key Points
3-4
2.1.
2.2.
2.3.
2.4.
3
Accounting for Expenditure
3.1.
3.2.
3.3.
3.4.
3.5.
3.6.
4
5–7
General Rule
Passing Invoices for Payment
Raising Creditors for Old Year Expenditure using the
Manual Creditor Pro-forma
Purchase Ordering Commitments
Journal Transfers
Payments in Advance
Accounting for Income
4.1.
4.2.
4.3.
4.4.
4.5.
5
Contacts
Meeting the Deadlines
Accounting for Expenditure
Member Reporting
8–9
General Rule
Cash
Debtor Invoices
Manual Debtor Pro-forma
Receipts (Income) in Advance
Other Financial Data
10
5.1. Petty Cash and Cash Floats
5.2. Stock Certificates
5.3. Revenue and Capital Slippage
6
Financial Services Contacts
7
Closure Documentation
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
vii)
viii)
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
11
Manual Creditors Sheet
Manual Debtors Sheet
Manual Payments in Advance Sheet
Manual Receipts in Advance Sheet
Certificate of Cash Floats/Petty Cash Held
Certificate of Stock Held
Revenue Slippage
Capital Slippage
Page 1
Section 1
FOREWORD
CLOSURE OF ACCOUNTS 2013/14
The Council’s Revised Budget for 2013/14 and Original Budget for 2014/15 have now been
approved by Council and the approved 2014/15 budgets are now available on the intranet under
the Finance Section. As part of last year’s closure of accounts process KPMG commented that
“the accounts submitted for audit were of a good standard”. In order to maintain this level of
performance, and to meet government set deadlines for publishing the Council’s Statement of
Accounts, it is essential that the accounts for the year ended 31st March 2014 are closed down as
quickly and smoothly as possible. The procedures and timescales included in these guidance
notes are intended for all of us to help in achieving this objective.
With the co-operation of all budget holders last year we achieved the early closure of accounts.
We must succeed again this year in achieving these earlier deadlines as they are a statutory
requirement set out in the Accounting and Audit Regulations 2003. The late receipt of information
obviously has a detrimental effect on the closure process and it is vital that officers provide all the
information necessary to close down accurately the budgets under their control. Any omissions
could mis-state the value of revenue balances available and/or Performance Indicators. Particular
emphasis should be given to ensuring that creditor provision information is provided on
time.
The timetable has been compiled to enable the 2013/14 Outturn report to be presented and
approved at Cabinet on 25th June 2013, hence the accounts and reports will have to be issued to
the committee around the 12th June. The Accountancy Team must therefore work to ensure
closure and full production of the Statement of Accounts including notes to the accounts by the
end of May to achieve this deadline. Please ensure that all relevant staff are made aware
of the deadlines contained within the closure timetable.
Whilst I recognise the pressures being faced by budget holders, I would welcome your assistance
in achieving a prompt and effective closure process and thank you in anticipation of that
assistance.
Paul O’Donoghue
Chief Financial Officer
11th March 2014
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
Page 2
Section 2
KEY POINTS
The timetable is challenging and the following key points must be
achieved if the benefits of early closure are to be realised.
2.1. Contacts

If you should have any problems in meeting any of the deadlines within these
Guidance Notes, below is a list of the main Accountancy contacts. You should advise
any of these contacts immediately you are aware of a potential problem.
Closedown of ledger and preparation of the Statement of Accounts
David Bennett
Derek Appleton
Nicol McLellan
Susan Lea
Urszula Templeton
Ellen Brimley
Accountancy Services Manager
Senior Accountant
Senior Accountant
Senior Accountant
Accountancy Assistant
Accountancy Assistant
8591
8594
8528
8592
8587
8587
Preparation of Outturn Report
Paul O’Donoghue
Paul Swindells
Chief Finance Officer
Deputy Section 151
8566
8619
2.2. Meeting the Deadlines

It is vital that all Directorates meet the timetable, as delays on any aspect of the
programme will have repercussions for subsequent stages.

Do not wait for the deadline date; aim to have the work completed as soon as possible
as this will greatly assist the achievement of the overall programme.
2.3. Accounting for Expenditure

It is important that expenditure (both capital and revenue) is charged to the appropriate
year when goods or services are received and action should be taken to ensure
invoices are processed accordingly for the year-end.

Expenditure not recorded by the deadline will have to be met from 2014/15 budgets
and no additional revenue budgets will be approved to meet this old year expenditure.

Under no circumstances should year-end creditors be included to use up a
budget. All Directorate creditor provisions are subject to rigorous review by both the
internal and external auditors to ensure that they relate only to goods and services
received prior to 31st March.
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
Page 3
Section 2

A deadline of the 4th April has been given for year-end creditors, but Budget
Holders are advised to commence this process now when completing purchase
orders and invoices. Should you require any assistance on this or on any other area
please contact a member of the Accountancy Team on the above extensions.
2.4. Member Reporting

The Statement of Accounts will be formally presented to the Audit Committee for
approval in June.
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
Page 4
Section 3
ACCOUNTING FOR EXPENDITURE
3.1. General Rule
3.1.1.
Expenditure (capital and revenue) should only be charged to 2013/14 if it relates to
goods received or work done prior to 31st March 2014.
3.1.2.
FYS 02 is the indicator which assesses how promptly we deal with the payment of
invoices. All areas can help to improve our performance by seeking to deal with
invoices in a timely manner; please process and pass to the Creditor’s Section as
soon as possible.
3.1.3.
Under no circumstances should year-end creditors be included to use up a
budget. All Directorate creditor provisions are subject to rigorous review by both
the internal and external auditors to ensure that they relate only to goods and
services received prior to 31st March.
3.1.4.
Each year, a review of year-end debtors/creditors, provided by Directorates,
results in some entries being excluded from that year’s Accounts because
the work hasn’t been carried out or goods were not received by 31st March.
3.2. Passing Invoices for Payment
3.2.1.
3.2.2.
The following ‘rules’ should be adopted when passing invoices for payment:

Expenditure is recorded within the system once the invoice is processed and
are paid on the next payment run.

Directorates should follow up outstanding invoices where the goods and
services have been received before the 31st March, and ensure that these
invoices are passed to the Creditor Section promptly.

Invoices that you wish to query or dispute should be flagged as ‘in dispute’
until it is appropriate to make the payment.
Due to year-end processing on Civica, it is necessary to take down all systems for
a short period of time. The system will be unavailable on the 1st April. Please do not
attempt to login on this date.

The last cheque/BACS run for the financial year 2013/14 will take place on
Monday 31st March. Directorates will have until 1.00pm on the 28th March to
pass to the Creditors Section any outstanding invoices.

Due to the system downtime, the next cheque/BACS run will take place on
Wednesday 2nd April. Cheque/BACS runs will return to normal from this date.
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
Page 5
Section 3
3.3. Raising Creditors for Old Year (13/14) Expenditure using the Manual Creditor Proforma
3.3.1.
The manual creditor sheets should be completed using the following rules:
Year-end Creditors should only be raised for items that are significant in
value. Where any single item is in excess of £10,000, please submit a
copy of the invoice, contract etc., with the creditor sheet.

Where the precise amount is not known, use the best estimate. Do not delay
returning the forms by waiting for the invoice to arrive.

For every entry there must be an appropriate expenditure code to be charged.

Do not forget year-end Creditors where no order exists.

All figures should exclude VAT.
3.3.2.
Lists of all outstanding 2013/14 creditors should be provided by Directorates no
later than 4th April 2014. Due to the tight timetable creditors notified after this date
will not be posted back to the 2013/14 Accounts and will be charged against the
2014/15 budget.
3.3.3.
Please note that the same arrangement applies to expenditure on capital schemes.
3.3.4.
Please submit separate sheets for revenue and capital creditors.
3.4. Purchase Ordering Commitments
3.4.1.
Commitments are recorded within the system once the purchase order is raised.
3.4.2.
Any outstanding commitments on ledger need to be checked that they are still
outstanding as they will roll over to the next financial year at year end. If you think
there are commitments on the ledger that shouldn’t be, please contact Sue Lea on
Ext 8592
3.4.3.
As there is still a high value of outstanding commitments on the system that are no
longer valid, it will not be possible to automatically use these as year-end creditors,
as the risk of overstating costs is significant. Please ensure that all amounts due
are included on the Manual Creditors Forms.
3.5. Journal Transfers
3.5.1.
All journal transfers that will generate additional charges to expenditure heads. All
internal bills/recharges to be sent to Client Departments by Monday 31st March
2014.
3.5.2.
All internal bills/recharges to be authorised by Client Departments and submitted to
the Accountancy Section no later than Thursday 3rd April 2014.
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
Page 6
Section 3
3.5.3.
Any journal transfers submitted after 31st March should be clearly marked to
indicate the year to which they relate 2013/14 or 2014/15.
3.6 Payments in Advance
3.6.1.
Expenditure coded to the old year, 2013/14, but relating to goods and services
receivable after 1st April 2014, should be transferred to the new financial year
2014/15. The types of expenditure that this normally relates to are:



Maintenance Contracts
Subscriptions
Seminars/Training Courses/Conferences booked in advance
This is not an exhaustive list and there may be other types of expenditure not listed
here that may have been paid in advance.
3.6.2.
Expenditure of this nature should be transferred using the attached Payments in
Advance pro-forma. These should be completed in full and returned to the
Accountancy Section by no later than 4th April 2014. Due to the tight timetable, no
payments in advance notified after this date will be posted forward to the 2014/15
Accounts.
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
Page 7
Section 4
ACCOUNTING FOR INCOME
4.1. General Rule
4.1.1.
Income should only be credited to the old year if it relates to goods and services
supplied or work done up to and including 31st March 2014.
4.1.2.
Each year, a review of year-end debtors/creditors, provided by Directorates,
results in some entries being excluded from that year’s Accounts because
the work hasn’t been carried out or goods were not received by 31st March.
4.2. Cash
4.2.1.
All departments who periodically pay in to the ‘Cash Office’ should arrange for all
income received to be paid in by 31st March. Please ensure that any coin operated
machines, are cleared and the cash paid in at the same time.
4.2.2.
All cash banked after 31st March 2014 that relates to 2013/14 should be entered on
to a Manual Debtor pro-forma (see section 4.4. below), and returned to the
Accountancy Section by no later than 4th April 2014.
4.3. Sundry Debtor Invoices
4.3.1.
The deadline for the input of all 2013/14 invoices to the Civica Sundry Debtors
system is 31st March 2014. Any invoices that relate to 2013/14 not on the system
by that date should be entered on to a Manual Debtors pro-forma and returned to
the Accountancy Section by no later than 4th April 2014.
4.4. Manual Debtor Pro-forma
4.4.1.
If goods and services have been provided by 31st March 2014 but the income has
not yet been received, the value of the income due (debtor) should be entered upon
the Manual Debtor pro-forma.
4.4.2.
The Manual Debtor pro-forma should be completed using the following rules:
Year-end Debtors should only be raised for items that are significant in value.

Where the precise amount is not known, use the best estimate. Do not delay
returning the forms by waiting for the invoice to arrive showing the precise
amount.

For every entry there must be an appropriate financial income code to be
credited. Please complete the Manual Debtor pro-forma in full so as to give
the Accountancy Section as much information as possible.

All figures should exclude VAT.
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
Page 8
Section 4
4.5. Receipts (Income) in Advance
4.5.1.
Income coded to the old year, 2013/14, but relating to goods and services provided
after 1st April 2014, should be transferred to the new financial year 2014/15.
4.5.2.
Income of this nature should be transferred using the attached Receipts (Income)
in Advance pro-forma. These should be completed in full and returned to the
Accountancy Section by no later than 4th April 2013. Due to the tight timetable, no
receipts (income) in advance notified after this date will be posted forward to the
2014/15 Accounts.
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
Page 9
Section 5
OTHER FINANCIAL DATA
5.1. Petty Cash and Cash Floats
5.1.1
All reimbursements of Petty Cash must be collected from the Finance
Administration Office by 31st March, for expenditure to be recorded against 2013/14
budgets. Any Petty Cash claims reimbursed after this date will be met from 2014/15
budgets.
5.1.2
Petty Cash and Cash Float Certificate(s) must be completed and authorised by a
Senior Officer before returning to the Accountancy Section by no later than 1st April
2014.
5.2. Stock Certificates
5.2.1 The procedures for closing the Council’s 2013/14 Accounts require you to provide
year-end stock certificates as at 1st April 2014.
5.2.2 Year-end stocktaking must be carried out by officers independent of the day-to-day
running of stock control. Information in regard to this is requested to be included in
your certificate. The Internal Audit Section may carry out spot checks in accordance
with the Audit Plan.
5.2.3 As usual, a full listing of the individual stock items comprising the certificate total will
be required. The minimum detail to be listed on your certificate is as shown on the
Certificate of Stock Held form, but your own listings are sufficient as long as they
contain the year end information required.
5.2.4 All Directorates are requested to assist in the early closure of the Council’s Accounts
by carrying out the physical stock checks as at close of business on the 31st March
2014 and forwarding the completed certificates to Urszula Templeton or Ellen
Brimley, Accountancy Section no later than 1st April 2014. It is important that this
deadline is achieved because stock information has a significant impact on other
Accounts’ closure procedures.
5.2.5 All stock returns should be completed excluding VAT.
5.3
Revenue and Capital Slippage
5.3.1 All requests for revenue and capital slippage to be carried forward must be completed
in full and the pro-forma returned to the Accountancy Section by 11th April 2014.
5.3.2
Both Revenue and Capital slippage will be formally reported to Members for their
approval.
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
Page 10
Section 6
FINANCIAL SERVICES CONTACTS
Should you require any assistance from the Accountancy Section, responsibilities have been
allocated as follows: -
CONTACT
EXTENSION
Paul O’Donoghue
Paul Swindells
8566
8619
OVERALL CLOSURE AND OUTTURN REPORT
Chief Financial Officer
Deputy s151 Officer
LEDGER CLOSEDOWN AND PREPARATION OF THE STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS
David Bennett
8591
Derek Appleton
OR
Nicol McLellan
Derek Appleton
Nicol McLellan
8594
Derek Appleton
8594
Sue Lea
8592
Stock Certificates
Urszula Templeton
/ Ellen Brimley
8587
Petty Cash and Cash Float Returns
Urszula Templeton
/ Ellen Brimley
8587
Accountancy Services Manager
REVENUE CODES CLOSURE (incl Debtors and Creditors)

All Directorates – your main contact will be your
regular Service Accountant


Fleet
Parks External Contracts
8528
8594
8528
CAPITAL CLOSURE
All capital codes
OTHER CLOSEDOWN AREAS
Purchase Ordering
Closure of Accounts 2013/14
Guidance Notes
Page 11