how does this happen when she has an accountant on staff also..?

"explaining that the transaction transferring the money from the District's regular to payroll account at the bank didn't go through for some reason."

Translation: I didn't check the balance before writing checks.   And the remark about the bank being the "safeguard" is just CYA stuff. 

Ordinarily this sort of oversight leading to a mistake wouldn't be that big a deal - it's human nature for people to become comfortable with automated routines and to start slacking a  bit on double-checking.  It's the recent history that gives one pause. 

And under any circumstances, the wise thing to do is to accept one's own share of responsibility for the event rather than come up with weasel words attempting to shirk responsibility.  A simple statement like "The bank apparently didn't put the transfer through, and I didn't check the balance in the payroll account to confirm that the money was there before issuing the checks as I should have.  I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused, and rest assured that we will reimburse anyone who incurred any costs or fees as a result of this mistake" goes a long way.

Last edited by Petethemeat (2010-04-16 14:56:30)

story from the Wareham Courier..


Human error behind returned Wareham Fire District checks
By Ruth Thompson
GateHouse News Service
Posted Apr 18, 2010 @ 07:06 PM
WAREHAM — Human error was the unfortunate cause of Wareham Fire District payroll checks being returned for insufficient funds last week.

Newly re-elected Wareham Fire District Clerk/Treasurer Marybeth Fernandes said she thought the transfer had gone through.

“It wasn’t until an employee brought it to my attention that we realized the transaction was not completed and by then it was too late,” she said, adding that the person at the bank where the payroll is drawn on also missed it.

According to Fernandes, “there were plenty of funds available” in the payroll account.

“It was a timing issue in transferring from one fund to another,” she said.

The District issues regular weekly payroll checks as well as end-of-the-month call payroll checks.

Both payrolls were affected as they were processed in the same week.

Fernandes said that due to the recent massive warehouse fire in Onset and the major flooding which took place in town over the past weeks the “total amount of the checks was bigger because the of the hours involved but not the number of checks.”

“All direct deposits went through fine,” she said. “It was just the live checks that had the problem.”

As for fees that may have been incurred for checks returned for non-sufficient funds, Fernandes said she assumes the District will cover any return check fees.

“I’m still in the process of seeing what’s out there,” she said in terms of the bank fees.

“I have to deal with each bank individually as each bank handles fees and checks differently. Some banks might waive any fees while others might not.”

Since learning of the issue on Thursday, April 15, Fernandes has been working diligently to correct things.

“I had checks for people for Friday, the next day,” she said. “I almost got them through the same day but I was waiting on the bank. Everybody has a different bank and until an employee told me there was something wrong, there was nothing I could do.
She said she tried to contact everybody on Friday to alert them to the situation.

“And now we’re fixing it as fast as we can.”

She said she understands the inconvenience but that “most people took it very very well.”

“I’m going to be speaking with the payroll bank about what capabilities they have to ensure this won’t happen again,” she said. “It was human error but I’m working to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”