Page 151 - DLIS003_LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

Library Administration and Management

Notes systems are prevalent in our country, government departments and libraries generally follow
post-audit. Post-audit means that the drawing and disbursing officer prepares the bills, signs
them and sends them to the treasury/bank/principal for payment. The drawing and disbursing
officer is responsible for the correctness of the bills. The officer or the librarian must satisfy
himself fully before signing the bill. In the post-audit system, only random audit is resorted to,
after the financial year comes to a close. Every item is not checked, but some months are selected
at random. Payment items occurring during these selected months are thoroughly and minutely
verified. Mistakes, if any, are pointed out. The person concerned is advised and warned to be
cautious in future.
The pre-audit system is generally followed in autonomous bodies in which the audit is under
the local fund account. In case of pre-audit, no item can be passed for payment unless it has been
first audited. The pre-audit system reduces the responsibility of the drawing/disbursing officer
in the sense that all the necessary verifications such as checking of items, accessioning of items,
charging of approved rates, correctness of calculations, debiting to proper heads of account, etc.
have already been done by the audit section in advance. Here instead of the drawing officer, the
auditors satisfy themselves before the bills are passed for payment. Auditing is carried out both
by an internal audit team as well as an external/statutory audit team. The problem of collecting
and noting of vouchers does not arise in pre-audit procedures. This simplifies matters somewhat
and reduces the auditing responsibility of the librarian.

Did u know? The Auditor of State recommends that all public entities establish an Audit
Committee to serve as a liaison between management and its auditors. The Audit
Committee should consider conducting a comprehensive self-evaluation on an annual
evaluation.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
9. ………………. is a scrutiny of the financial transactions of government and semi government
bodies.
10. ……………… means that the drawing and disbursing officer prepares the bills, signs them
and sends them to the treasury/bank/principal for payment.

11. In case of…………………., no item can be passed for payment unless it has been first
audited.

Case Study Ohio Public Library Accounting

Audit Materials
An audit of the library’s accounting records is conducted generally every two years if the
library is reporting on a cash basis, provided the library has received no federal funding.
If federal funds are received, the library may qualify for a yearly audit under the Federal
Single Audit Act of 1984. For those libraries reporting on a GAAP (Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles) basis, the audit is conducted yearly. For more information about
the differences of cash basis vs. GAAP.

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