2.6 At least once in each quarter, and at each financial year end, a Councillor who is either the Chair or Vice Chair of the Finance & General Purposes Committee shall be appointed to verify bank reconciliations for all accounts produced by the RFO. The Councillor shall sign and date the reconciliations and the original bank statements as evidence of this. This activity, including any exceptions, shall be reported to and noted by Finance Committee and the Council.
2.7 Regular back-up copies shall be made of the records on any Council computer and stored either online or in a separate location from the computer. The Council shall put measures in place to ensure that the ability to access any Council computer is not lost if an employee leaves or is incapacitated for any reason.
3.1. All accounting procedures and financial records of the Council shall be determined by the RFO in accordance with the Accounts and Audit Regulations.
3.2 The accounting records determined by the RFO must be sufficient to explain the Council's transactions and to disclose its financial position with reasonably accurate at any time. In particular, they must contain:
day-to-day entries of all sums of money received and expended by the Council and the matters to which they relate;
a record of the assets and liabilities of the Council.
3.3. The accounting records shall be designed to facilitate the efficient preparation of the accounting statements in the Annual Governance and Accountability Return.
3.4 The RFO shall complete and certify the annual Accounting Statements of the Council contained in the Annual Governance and Accountability Return in accordance with proper practices, as soon as practicable after the end of the financial year. Having certified the Accounting Statements, the RFO shall submit them with any related documents to Full Council, within the timescales required by the Accounts and Audit Regulations.
3.5 The Council must ensure that there is an adequate and effective system of internal audit of its accounting records and internal control system in accordance with proper practices.
3.6 Any officer or Councillor of the Council must make available such documents and records as the internal or external auditor consider necessary for the purpose of the audit and shall, as directed by the Council, supply the RFO, internal auditor, or external auditor with such information and explanation as the Council considers necessary.