Carol Benton, Sue Knox, and Marcia Diamond work for a family physician, Dr. Gwen Conrad, who is in private practice. Dr. Conrad is knowledgeable about office management practices and has segregated the cash receipt duties as follows. Benton opens the mail and prepares a triplicate list of money received. She sends one copy of the list to Knox, the cashier, who deposits the receipts daily in the bank. Diamond, the record-keeper, receives a copy of the list and posts payments to patients’ accounts. About once a month the office clerks have an expensive lunch they pay for as follows. First, Knox endorses a patient’s check in Dr. Conrad’s name and cashes it at the bank. Benton then destroys the remittance advice accompanying the check. Finally, Diamond posts payment to the customer’s account as a miscellaneous credit. The three justify their actions by their relatively low pay and knowledge that Dr. Conrad will likely never miss the money.
Required
Who is the best person in Dr. Conrad’s office to reconcile the bank statement?
Would a bank reconciliation uncover this office fraud?
What are some procedures to detect this type of fraud?
Suggest additional internal controls that Dr. Conrad could implement.