The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) jointly releases with the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Department of Education (DepEd) guidelines on the management of cash advances issued to School Heads charged against DepEd’s MOOE.
Currently, the cash requirements of DepEd non-lUs are released to the respective School Heads by the Schools Division Offices (SDOs) through cash advance.
However, the DBM, COA and DepEd find such cash advances to be sizeable in amount. The oversight agencies decide that it is necessary to install better cash management in government which will allow the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) to strengthen the monitoring and management of government funds maintained outside of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Modified Disbursement System (MDS).
Thus, under the new policy, School Heads of non-lUs are now authorized to:
(a) open a bank account (checking or savings account), under the name of the school where the cash advance for school operating budget and program funds shall be deposited; and
(b) for the school heads to negotiate banking arrangements such as minimum maintaining balance, interest on funds, among others.
Consequently, the DepEd and the oversight agencies such as COA, DBM, and BTr shall monitor the proper management of such accounts, including the submission of reports and proper recording/accounting of transactions charged against those accounts.
The general and specific procedures on how to open a bank account and how to utilize cash advances issued/deposited under these accounts are provided under COA-DBM-DepEd Joint Circular No. 2019-1.
[Click here to download the full text of COA-DBM-DepEd Joint Circular No. 2019-1]
This policy is applicable to all DepEd’s non-lUs namely, elementary schools (ESs) and secondary schools (SSs) operating without a complete set of books of accounts.
