Question:
Carol Benton, Marcia Diamond and Sue Knox 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 gets the mail and evaluates 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 recordkeeper, gets 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 cashes and name 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 justify their actions by their relatively low knowledge and pay that Dr. Conrad will likely never miss the money.
Required
1. Who is the best employ in Dr. Conrad's office to reconcile the bank statement?
2. Would a bank reconciliation uncover office fraud?
3. What are some procedures to check this type of fraud?
4. Suggest additional internal controls that Dr. Conrad would implement.