and attaches copies of the bills to the list. The audit office checks the bills, perhaps very thoroughly.

The principal objection to the present procedure is that most of the matters which require attention in connection with an individual claim are matters which the expending department must attend to and there is no indication required on the claims that any one in the expending department has actually given them attention. The certificate needed for each bill is one which will compel the attention of the department officers to such matters as the following:

1.

2.

3.

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That the voucher represents an expenditure solely for the benefit of the State and properly authorized by the individual signing it.

That all calculations are correct and total the amount shown on the voucher.

That the amount of the claim or any part thereof has not been included in any voucher or claim previously certified for payment.

That funds are available for the purpose in question.

That duly approved certifications recording the receipt of articles or services of the quantity and quality stipulated are attached (or available).

It is possible to provide a rubber stamp to carry this entire certificate and also to provide space to indicate the account chargeable, the central registry number, the initials of the clerk who examines and checks the claim, and other matters which would otherwise be taken care of by a voucher form, but it would not cause any special inconvenience to attach a voucher back to each bill individually and it is believed to be desirable to have a distinct voucher form for each bill in order to guarantee that each item for which payment is made is carefully considered and is approved by the department head. The bill should not be copied on the voucher but should be securely fastened behind it.

In

The Need for a Distinct Current Audit Procedure: the report on the office of the Auditor of Public Accounts, it

is pointed out that the present arrangements for checking claims are not satisfactory in that the claim desks do not verify all facts having a bearing upon the payment of claims. The present current audit covers little or nothing more than the accuracy of numerical computations on bills and vouchers. It does not even include a means of ascertaining the availability of funds.

It is believed that there should be an officer termed the auditor, who would be in charge of both the current auditing and the periodic field audit and that this officer should sign every voucher to indicate that it is approved for payment. The entry of the vouchers and their recording could be greatly simplified so that the present objection to handling individual items could be removed. The actual checking of individual items is entirely necessary under any procedure, but the writing of individual warrants should be dispensed with. To this end, the voucher form referred to under the last head might be made a combined voucher-warrant form which would become the official warrant after being approved by the auditor.

The checking which should be done under the auditor's direction is indicated by the five items of the certificate described above. Some of the elements of the check, however, should be conducted on the basis commonly referred to as "testing," that is, each voucher would not necessarily be checked as to all five items. For example, the necessity for the transaction in the interests of the State, the fairness of prices or rates, and the actual receipt of articles or services. of the quantity and quality stipulated would not necessarily be gone into fully for each voucher, though they certainly should be regarded as matters for careful attention. On the other hand, the calculations and extensions should be checked. by comptometer operators in every case and the availability of funds should be established by an entry in the appropriation ledgers before the voucher is approved for payment. It is desirable to provide a file in which invoices will be distributed by vendor or payee, in order to have a definite check as to the claim not having been paid before, but this file prob

ably should be required to be kept by the department rather than at the central accounting office.

The Need for Explicit Appropriation Heads: In order that the current audit of expenditures may prevent all waste so far as it is possible for any procedure to do so, it is necessary that the purposes for which money is granted by the Legislature, be very clearly set out. It is not possible to secure the Legislature's approval for extravagance of any kind, but it is very general for the moneys distributed by the Legislature to be used extravagantly. If the appropriation act is definite nough, the audit procedure will serve to prevent many classes of expenditures which are not authorized but which are just as legal under a lump sum appropriation for operation and maintenance as if they had been definitely approved and provided for by law.

The so-called budget classification of expenditures (that is, the statement of the things which it is proposed to spend the money for-salaries and wages, office supplies, equipment, real estate, etc.) gives an analysis of expenditures which is valuable in preventing departments and institutions from using money in a way that was not intended or authorized. When the appropriation act can be drawn so as to indicate the budget classes under which expenditures may be made, unauthorized expenditures are comparatively difficult. Generally it is not practicable to prepare an appropriation act in so much detail but it is practicable to make the department definitely indicate under which heads they intend to expend the money which they are given and to make them take formal action or possibly to secure approval from the Governor when they vary from their plan. It is possible also to keep a record in the central accounting office which will prevent a department from wrongly classifying its expenditures, so as to cover up what it has actually done with the money.

These facts are mentioned in connection with the audit in order to emphasize the importance of having clearly and definitely worded appropriation headings and of recognizing

budget classes in some manner, in order that the current audit may be fully effective.

Checking and Controlling Collections:

The problem of auditing receipts is a very different one from that considered above. It is primarily a problem which may be described by the word "system"; for every class of receipt it is necessary to plan a procedure so that all the claims the State has will be billed or otherwise required to be paid and there will be no opportunity for any sums collected by agents of the State failing to reach the State Treasurer. So far as changes in law are involved, they are changes which must specifically refer to individual classes of receipts. Primarily the problem is not one that can be solved by law; the law cannot insure an adequate system of records or procedure. What is needed is an intelligent application of rules of common sense and accounting in devising and installing systems.

Assessing and Collecting Agencies: So far as it is possible to have assessments or collections made by an organization which specializes in the problem of controlling revenue, this absolutely should be done. Administrative agencies whose primary interest is in some other kind of work are almost certain not to bring to bear the proper point of view upon the problems of controlling receipts and are very likely to be careless in the methods they employ. Other things being equal, the larger the sum of money, the more important it is that the collection or control be placed under the direction of a specialized collecting

agency.

The creation of the State Tax Commission indicates a recognition of the necessity for such an agency. The State Tax Commission, however, does not control the collections of all of the non-property tax income of the State. It is desirable to extend the functions of the Commission to include the collection of a number of other kinds of income. The State Tax Commission is the logical agency to regard as the revenue controlling agency