26.3.1 Accounting Procedures and Handling of Money
For purposes of this Chapter, “money” and “securities” shall be defined as follows:
“Money” shall mean any cash (including checks, postal money orders, transfer slips and payment notes) and deposits (including postal deposits and money in trust).
“Securities” shall mean any national and local government bonds, government-guaranteed bonds (which refer to bonds refund/payment of principal/interest of which is guaranteed by the government) and other securities designated by the Prime Minister.
26.3.1.1 Accounting Supervisor
Authority and Responsibilities:
The Accounting Supervisor who shall be responsible for overall accounting shall, accurately and promptly, execute accounting transactions including the execution of budget and is responsible for receiving and paying.
The Vice President for Finance shall serve as the Accounting Supervisor of the Corporation.
26.3.1.1.1 The Accounting Supervisor may cause any other staff(s) to handle any part of his or her business.
26.3.1.1.2 In the event that the Accounting Supervisor is unable to act, a person designated by the Secretary General shall act on his behalf.
“Unable to act” shall be those cases falling under the category of the following.
- In case of a vacancy for Accounting Supervisor
- When the Accounting Supervisor cannot engage in duties for a long period due to days off, holidays, vacation, illness, etc.
- During long-term travel on business
26.3.1.2 Receiving and Paying and Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money
Receiving, paying and custody of money shall be performed by the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money who is under direct control of the Accounting Supervisor.
26.3.1.2.1 The manager in charge of receiving, paying and custody of money in the Budget Section shall serve as the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money of the Corporation.
26.3.1.2.2 The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall not receive or pay any money or security that is not relevant to the business of the Corporation.
26.3.1.2.3 The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall be authorized to designate a Cashier from among the personnel in the section and mandate the personnel to engage in accounting and disbursing duties.
26.3.1.3 Transactions with Financial Institutions
The Accounting Supervisor shall be in charge of the procedures for opening or closing an account in banking institutions.
26.3.1.3.1 Bank accounts shall in principle be opened in the name of the CEO/President.
26.3.1.3.2 The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall keep the banking seals and be in charge of sealing.
26.3.1.4 Custody of Cash
The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall deposit all cash excluding the minimum petty cash with financial institutions, etc.
26.3.1.4.1 Securities shall be, in principle, deposited for safekeeping.
26.3.1.4.2 The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall manage cash and bank passbooks, making assurance doubly sure of keeping them in the safest place.
26.3.1.4.3 The cashbooks stipulated in 26.2.5 must be updated and maintained, writing up the book for each receipt or payment.
26.3.1.4.4 Securities shall be managed for safekeeping in like manner as stated in 26.3.1.4 when they are held on hand notwithstanding the provisions of 26.3.1.4.1.
26.3.1.4.5 Postage stamps, cash vouchers, and certificate stamps authorized by the Corporation shall be kept in trust pursuant to cash.
26.3.1.4.6 In terms of 26.3.1.4.5, the receipt-payment books must be updated, writing up the book for each receipt or payment.
26.3.1.5 Petty Cash
The Accounting Supervisor shall be authorized to keep petty cash for small and urgent payments.
26.3.1.5.1 The management stated in 26.3.1.5, shall be prescribed by from 26.3.1.6 to 26.3.12.
26.3.1.5.2 In terms of 26.3.1.5.1, the petty cashbooks stipulated in 26.2.5 shall be updated and recorded in the ledger for each receipt or payment.
26.3.1.6 Petty Cash Supervisor and Petty Cash Clerk
The receipt and payment of petty cash shall be conducted by the Clerk for Receipt and Payment of Petty Cash (hereafter, “Petty Cash Clerk”) under the supervision of the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money .
26.3.1.7 Establishment of Petty Cash
When the Accounting Supervisor determines that the establishment of petty cash is necessary, the Accounting Supervisor must report to the Secretary General for approval, specifying the petty cash limit and the required management items.
26.3.1.7.1 When the Secretary General approves the establishment of petty cash under the provisions of 26.3.1.7, the Petty Cash Clerk must submit a petty cash invoice to the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money.
26.3.1.7.2 Petty cash shall not exceed 200,000 yen.
26.3.1.8 Receipt, Payment and Custody of Petty Cash
The Petty Cash Clerk must not mix Petty Cash with personal funds, and must strictly conduct the receipt, payment and custody of petty cash.
26.3.1.8.1 The Petty Cash Clerk must record all receipts and payments in the petty cash ledger, and check actual cash on hand against the ledger balance monthly.
26.3.1.9 Petty Cash Payments
Petty cash payments shall be limited to urgent cases and situations where payment in cash is necessary, and shall not exceed truly necessary amount for the business purposes.
26.3.1.9.1 Petty cash payments shall be made in exchange for receipts from the parties receiving payments.
26.3.1.9.2 Before making payments, the Petty Cash Clerk must confirm that these are for expenses that should be borne by the Corporation by having the parties receiving payments display the items being sold or otherwise show the reasons for payment.
26.3.1.9.3 Petty cash payments shall not be issued for repayments in cases when specified procedures are required.
26.3.1.10 Petty Cash Receipts and Payments Reports, and Requests for Funds
The Petty Cash Clerk must prepare a Petty Cash Receipts and Payments Report at the end of each month attaching receipts or other documents as evidence of the payments specified in 29.3.1.9 and have said report approved by the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money.
26.3.1.10.1 After approving a Petty Cash Receipts and Payments Report specified in 26.3.1.10, the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money must present the report and a copy of the Petty Cash Ledger to the Accounting Supervisor, together with a request for funds for the subsequent month.
26.3.1.11 Termination of Petty Cash
When the Accounting Supervisor determines that the maintenance of petty cash is no longer necessary, the Accounting Supervisor must report this determination promptly to the Secretary General for approval.
26.3.1.11.1 If the Secretary General approves discontinuance of Petty Cash, the Accounting Supervisor must require the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money to carry out termination procedures.
26.3.1.11.2 The Accounting Supervisor must report to the Secretary General when the termination of Petty Cash is accomplished.
26.3.1.12 Supervision and Inspection of Petty Cash
The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money must carry out the required supervision and inspection work to secure appropriate accounting of petty cash.
26.3.1.13 Procedures for Receiving and Paying Money
The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall receive or pay money in accordance with a voucher created based on necessary evidential documents.
26.3.1.14 Occurrence of Receivables
In any event that creates receivable claims occurs, the Accounting Supervisor shall confirm the occurrence of receivables and request the obligor to perform the obligation.
26.3.1.15 Notice of Receivables
Accrual of receivables contributing to revenue known to personnel other than the Accounting Supervisor must be reported in writing to the Accounting Supervisor accordingly.
26.3.1.16 Call for Performance of Obligation
The Accounting Supervisor must issue the billing statements for collection of payments as in the the appendix. However, this rule shall not be applicable to cases stated in the following:
- When sending by postal service or passing in person the transfer request in advance (for expenses such as dissertation course fee and tuition for classes)
- When payment is made in cash
- When the Accounting Supervisor specifically recognizes the omission as necessary
26.3.1.17 Receipt of Payment
The payment must be in principle transferred to the relevant bank for the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money to receive it. However, payment can be made otherwise including cash payments if authorized by the Accounting Supervisor as a job-related necessity.
26.3.1.17.1 The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money must deposit the cash received in the relevant bank under the proviso as stated in the preceding section swiftly unless specifically authorized by the Accounting Supervisor.
26.3.1.18 Collection Notice
The Accounting Supervisor shall send a collection notice to an obligor of any overdue payment immediately after such payment becomes due and payable and ensure the receipt of any payment.
26.3.1.19 Debt Forgiveness
The Accounting Supervisor shall obtain the approval of the Secretary General for any forgiveness or change of effect of any receivables in whole or in part, other than important assets.
26.3.1.20 Issuance of Receipts
The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall issue a receipt in a separately prescribed form for any money received.
26.3.1.20.1 If any money is received through a direct deposit to a financial institution, etc., the issuance of a receipt prescribed in 26.3.1.20 may be omitted.
26.3.1.20.2 The issuance and management of receipts shall be strictly made.
26.3.1.20.3 Receipts shall be stamped with both stamps of the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money and the Cashier.
26.3.1.20.4 For re-issuance, the payment receipt must be confirmed by accounting slip marked with “REISSUE”, the copy of which to be filed together with the copy of the confirmation slip that verifies the receipt.
26.3.1.21 Receipt Management
The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall be in charge of managing receipts.
26.3.1.21.1 The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money must manage receipts by sequence number in the receipt-payment books.
26.3.1.22 Determination of Payment
The Accounting Supervisor shall be aware of all obligations through the inspection, etc., and order the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money to make a payment in accordance with the relevant payment terms.
26.3.1.23 Method of Payment
The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall make a payment, in principle, by a direct deposit to a financial institution, etc. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a payment may be made by handing out cash if necessary, including in the case of payment to a staff and a petty cash payment.
26.3.1.23.1 The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall collect a receipt for any payment. If the payment is made by a direct deposit, the bank deposit slip may suffice in lieu of a receipt.
26.3.1.24 Date of Payment
Payment shall be in principle made monthly with the closing date at the end of the month and settlement at the end of the subsequent month unless otherwise specified. However, the following shall be paid on the set date:
- Payroll
- Travel expenses, honoraria and rewards
- Utilities with due date, foreign remittance, etc.
- Travel expenses and honoraria for foreign lecturers and speechmakers
26.3.1.24.1 The payment shall be made on the previous business day if the date of payment stated in the preceding section does not fall on a business day of the relevant banking institution.
26.3.1.25 Receipt Collection Duty of Proxy Receiver
The personnel receiving the payment on behalf of the creditor must obtain receipt from the creditor, which must be submitted to the Accounting Supervisor.
26.3.1.26 Money in Custody, etc.
The Accounting Supervisor shall process any money received or paid by the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money that shall not fall under any income or expenditure of the Corporation as money in custody or payment in place of others. In principle, no money in custody shall bear any interest.
26.3.1.27 Advance Payment
An advance payment may be made only in the case separately stipulated by VPF, if necessary due to the nature of the payment or for business purposes [Link: Guidelines for Advance Payment and Payment on behalf of Corporation].
26.3.1.28 Payment by Rough Estimate
A payment by rough estimate may be made only in the case separately stipulated, if necessary due to the nature of the payment or for business purposes. The expenses for which payment can be made by estimate are as follows:
- Expenses for oversea travel
- Expenses specifically authorized as necessary by the Accounting Supervisor
The expenses paid by estimate must be promptly settled.
26.3.1.29 Payment on behalf of Corporation
Any staff of the Corporation or Research Fellows specified in 4.4.1 may make payment on behalf of the Corporation only in the case separately stipulated by VPF, if necessary for business purposes[Link: Guidelines for Advance Payment and Payment on behalf of Corporation].
The advance payment must be promptly settled.
Exchange rate for settlement applies to our internal exchange rate of preceding month.
26.3.1.30 Immediate Payment
Immediate payment may be made only in the cases stipulated separetely by VPF, if necessary due to the nature of the payment or for business purposes. [Link: Guideline for Immediate Payment]
26.3.1.31 Checking of Money
The Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall check the amount of cash in hand against the cashbook at the end of each month, and the balance of bank deposit, etc., against relevant accounting book at the end of each month.
26.3.1.32 Excess and Deficiency of Money
If any excess or deficiency of money is found, the Supervisor for receiving, paying and custody of money shall immediately investigate into the cause, report it to the Accounting Supervisor, and follow his or her instructions.