Early Completion of the Audit of the Accounts of Retiring Accountable Officers

October 1, 1990 REVENUE MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 086-90 SUBJECT : Early Completion of the Audit of the Accounts of Retiring Accountable Officers TO : All Revenue Officials and Employees and Others Concerned For the information and guidance of all revenue officials and employees, quoted hereunder is Commission on Audit Circular No. 81-154 dated March 11, 1981. "1. Rationale : It has come to the attention of the Commission on Audit that numerous retired accountable officers of the government, after having spent the best years of their lives in the government service, could not enjoy their retirement benefits on account of their failure to secure clearance from money and property accountabilities. In many instances, the reason is failure of the Resident Auditor to complete the audit of the money and property accounts of the retired accountable officers. Most of these accountable officers are in the twilight of their years and the delay in the enjoyment of their retirement benefits is actually a deprivation of their right to the early enjoyment of their gratuities. Retirees are without job alternatives because of age. For the reason, they deserve the compassionate attention of the entire officialdom of the Government. 2. Early Completion of the Audit of Accounts of Retiring Accountable Officers . Officials and employees of the Commission on Audit are hereby directed to give priority to the audit of accounts of these accountable officers. They are directed to complete the audit of the money and property accountabilities of the retiring accountable officers within six (6) months from the date of the submission of their complete accounts to the auditor. The Resident Auditors shall concentrate on the completion of the audit of the accounts of said accountable officers. As the personnel situation in the auditing unit would allow, auditing personnel shall be assigned to this audit activity, exclusively, if possible, in order to complete said audit within the time prescribed above. 3. Notice of Intended Retirement Date : Retiring accountable officers shall notify the Resident Auditor of their intended date of retirement at least six (6) months in advance. Upon receipt of the notice, the Resident Auditor shall forthwith assign such personnel as may be necessary to attain the objectives of this issuance. The Resident Auditor shall give like attention to accountable officials who suddenly pass away. acd 4. Notice to COA Central Office of Auditor's Failure to Comply with this Issuance : Accountable officers involved are hereby requested to inform the Commission on Audit of the failure of any COA official to attend to the early audit and settlement of their accounts. Completion of audit as prescribed in Section 2 hereof means the issuance of the final certification of settlement to the retiring accountable officers. The issuance of the final certificate of settlement will enable him to wipe off all balances due from him and thus secure clearance from money and property accountability. 5. Partial Payments of Gratuities in Case of Physical Impossibility to Complete Audit : In case of failure of the Auditor or physical impossibility to complete the audit within the prescribed period, the retiring official may be allowed to collect 50% of the proceeds of his retirement gratuity and other benefits due upon posting of a bond equivalent thereto. Such bond shall be answerable for any disallowances in his accounts and shall be released only upon final liquidation of whatever balances may be due from him. 6. Lifting of Technical Suspensions : In the audit of a retired or deceased accountable officer's accounts, technical suspensions shall be waived but only upon a clear showing that no loss had been suffered by the Government. Examples: a. Lack of signature of the approving official on the voucher when at the time of the audit the approving officer is already dead; cd i b. Requiring the signature of the payee on the receipt portion of the voucher where the payee could no longer be located and there is other evidence showing that payee actually received the money, say, official receipt of the payee; and c. Failure to take up in the property accounts some equipment if upon actual physical verification the equipment exists. 7. Meaning of " Complete Accounts ": Complete accounts means submission of all vouchers, journals, ledgers, trial balances, property inventory - all cash and property accounts - to the Auditor for audit. 8. Penal Clause : Failure of any COA official or employee to comply with the provisions of this Circular shall constitute sufficient cause for appropriate disciplinary action. casia 9. Effectivity : This Circular shall be effective immediately. (Sgd.) Francisco S. Tantuico, Jr. Acting Chairman (Sgd.) Silvestre D. Sarmiento Commissioner All revenue officials and employees are enjoined to give this circular as wide a publicity as possible. (Sgd.) JOSE U. ONG Commissioner of Internal Revenue