Training-Aide for Branch Asset Checking
This is a training aide and as such does not replace any Operational
Instructions.
It is issued to provide awareness of some of the reports available on the
Horizon-Online system ONLY, Horizon-Online Help should be the first
reference point if you are looking for support.
Post Office Ltd use a computer system referred to as Horizon On-Line
(abbreviated to HOL). This simple training-aide is to assist Operator's or
SubPostmasters, to make basic checks of the Post Office assets being held
at their branch.
This aide and the HOL paths are correct at 24" April 2014, but they may
change as the HOL system evolves.
This aide will assist you in navigating the HOL system to perform the
following actions:
Basic Areas
¢ How to log on to the HOL system.
How to attach yourself to a counter stock.
How to obtain an office snapshot & which bits concern you.
How to check the number of stocks in the office.
How to check that the transfers between stocks have been accepted.
How to check the Suspense Account.
How to check Spoilt Postage Labels.
The Short Route.
How to ask for help.
Appendix A — Illustrations
Appendix B — Cash Sheet
Appendix C - Other Areas
¢ Detailed Cash Declaration Summary
e Existing Reversals
e Reversal Refunds
e Stock Adjustments
To log on to HOL, you should enter your
User ID and Password.
User ID: & Password
Never Write down or Reveal YOUR Password to anyone else
as you are responsible for all actions undertaken on HOL with
your User ID.
If you are having difficulty logging on to the system,
call the IT Helpdesk on: GRO I
You will be asked for your seven digit branch code:
And branch name:
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To Log on:-
Switch the HOL screen ON.
Touch the screen once.
Read the statement and Press
Enter to confirm your
understanding.
Enter your User ID
Press TAB
Enter your Password
Press Enter
You are now logged on to HOL but you
will need to attach your user ID toa
“Stock” so you can access the reports.
Follow these instructions in order to,
Attach your User ID to a Stock unit:-
F14 Back Office
F2 Admin
23 Attach User
Pick your User ID from the list (highlight yellow)
Press Enter
Pick the stock you want to attach to (eg: AA)
Press Enter
The system will confirm that you are attached to
that stock unit:
Press Enter
If you check the line along the bottom of the HOL screen it should show you User ID, and the
Stock you are attached to (Appendix A, Fig 4).
You are now in a possition to check the various reports.
What you are checking:
Cash held at the Branch is equal to the Office Snapshot.
*Checking Cheques listed on the snapshot are present.
Stock holdings are not excessive.
No outstanding Transfers between stocks (if more than 1 stock unit).
Suspense Account doesn’t contain large values for long periods.
Spoilt Postage Labels are present & not excessive.
*NOTE - cheques should be despatched daily so the date on any cheque
held by the branch should not be more than one day old; always take in to
account that some people fill their cheques out before attending the branch,
but in those cases there should be recent evidence of the transaction the
cheque was used for.
An Office Snapshot
An Office Snapshot gives a complete overview of the Post Office assets held
at a branch. The top portion gives information on the level of:
Cash
Cheques
Foreign Currency
Postage stamps (1p to maximum current loose stamp value)
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The bottom of this report shows the volume amounts of other stock held by
the branch (e.g. 1st & 2nd Class stamps / stamp books & MVL licence discs
etc).
This report can be quite long (several feet on some cases) but you only need
to check the top 6 inches (App. A Fig 1); and the bottom 6 inches (App. A Fig
2); along with a small area for “RM SPOILT LABELS’ in the “Payments”
section near the stock volumes portion of the report (App. A Fig 3).
F14 Back Office
F4 Office Balancing
26 Office Snapshot
32 Print
This report will print on the counter printer.
You need to check how many stock units your branch has in order to confirm
ll transfers between stocks have been accepted & where the cash is being
eld for checking purposes.
>on
F14 Back Office
F2 Admin
24 View Stock Units
Make a note of the stocks in the office on a piece of paper.
Transfer Reconciliation
If your branch is only showing 1 stock unit continue to the next section on the
Suspense Account.
If your branch has more than 1 stock unit, you will need to confirm that all the
transfers between stocks have been accepted:
F14 Back Office
F1 Reports
F3 Office Weekly
56 Transfer Reconciliation
32 Print
This will print on the Back Office Printer — occasionally this can be 10+ pages
long.
Now you have this report, all you are checking is that all the totals are equal
to zero (Appendix A, Fig 5). If any are not zero, this signifies that transfers
need to be accepted.
Attach yourself to that stock and accept the transfer.
Accept all transfers between stock units and then REPRINT the Office
Snapshot.
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The Suspense Account
The Local Suspense Account is where local losses & gains are stored during
the Branch Trading Periods. It is also where Remittance shortages & gains
are held until they are settled with a Transaction Correction (TC) or cleared
locally after a Branch Trading Statement.
The Suspense Account will normally be clear (zero value in the right hand
column).
Occasionally there may be items listed, in this case the value column on the
right hand side only shows the value of the items still present in the branch:
e.g. a Rem pouch awaiting collection will show as a value in the right hand
column (Appendix A. Fig 6).
e.g. a Rem pouch that has been collected may still be showing until cleared
by the system - but the value in the right hand column will be zero (Appendix
A. Fig 7).
Items that are not zero should have an explanation why they are there.
Any issues around this or j information, call the Network Business
Support Centre (NBSC) on;
F14 Back Office
F1 Reports
F3 Office Weekly
54 Suspense Account
32 Print
This will print on the Back Office Printer and should only be 1 page.
Using the Office Snapshot:
If you have followed all the instructions so far, you should now have the
Office Snapshot and at the top of it, you should see a cash figure"; if you
count all the Post Office cash in the branch, this should be the total you
should be hoping to match. As good practice, use the cash sheet in Appendix
B to check the cash.
Again referring to the Office Snapshot, you should also check the volumes of
stock on the lower part of the snapshot to confirm that they are not too high (6
weeks of sales) and if there are large figures present, check the items
physically to confirm they are held at the branch.
*If the branch has a Post Office cash filled ATM, it is important to include the
“dispensed figure” as cash when checking the cash contained in the ATM -
even though it is not present: this is because the ATM is dealt with daily at
16.30 and the cash reduces as withdrawals are made, but they are not
accounted for by POL/ BOI until after 16.30 each day. This is the only
exception where we count a cash figure that is not physically present.
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Last Cash Declaration (ONCH — Overnight Cash Holding)
This is good place to start if the cash you have counted doesn’t equal the
figure on the Office Snapshot. It is easy to count a bag of coin at the wrong
value so check your figures against the last declaration and see if there is a
difference in any particular denomination. You need to physically recount the
cash (move coin bags even when they are stacked) to ensure an error is
being carried over or compounded. Use Appendix B to list the branch cash.
Position of Cash Dec button shown in Appendix A Fig 4
F14 Back Office
42 Cash Declaration
Highlight the last cash declaration
Enter
Enter
32 Print: This will print the last cash declaration on the counter printer.
Note: if the stock is shown as “Shared” in the line along the bottom of the screen, there
is a “Variance” button on the same screen as “print’- this will show the difference
between the cash value of the system and the physically declared total.
choice whether to open & check them or not (best practice is to open all
pouches):
e If you choose not to open the pouches then you need to make sure
that you are present when they are collected by CiT and that all the
bags are handed to the CiT collection officer.
e If the next collection is on a different day, you need to return to the
branch to ensure that the pouches are despatched. You will need to
take a note of the sealed bag numbers, as they are one-trip pouches
and can't be resealed (it is the long number under the barcode) to
ensure that the pouches you saw previously, are the ones that are
despatched.
e If you decide to open the pouches they will need to be reversed out of
the Horizon Online System as a new pouch and remittance will need to
be prepared once you have verified the contents. Follow the
instructions below.
Reversal of Pouches
F14 Back Office
FS Rems & Transfers
42 Reverse
* Now follow the screen instructions and at some point you will be asked to
“scan” the barcodes of the bag/bags. Settle & finish the reversal.
‘eversing pouches will increase the cash/ stock holding of the office and it is
advisable to start the whole checking process again, starting with a new
Office Snapshot.
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Spoilt Postage Labels
Spoiling postage labels is a common everyday occurrence, but if they are not
accounted for correctly (or stored for the correct amount of time) amounts
appearing on the Office Snapshot can be discounted at an audit and the
liability falls to the branch to make good that amount.
Spoilt postage labels are labels that HOL has been told have printed
correctly. The cost has been added to the sales stack but the postage label
has not been used. The branch needs a refund for the value of this postage
label and it can only be removed from the transaction stack by finishing the
transaction (as if the postage label has been paid for). The correct process
should be followed to claim back the cost of spoilt postage labels so they
don’t become a loss against the branch.
F14 Back Office
F1 Reports
F3 Office Weekly
46 Postage Labels
32. Print
This report prints off the back office printer and should be done weekly or/and at every
Trading Period Balance.
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The Short Route
Ask the Officer in Charge of the branch to print:
Last nights Cash Declaration
Office Snapshot
*Transfer Reconciliation
Suspense Account
Spoilt Postage Label reconciliation
*only if more than 1 stock-
Ask to be shown via “view”, the office stock unit list from the “Admin” screen
Following the instructions relating to each of the reports above, count all the
cash held at the branch using the sheet contained in Appendix B and
compare it to the cash figure held on the Office Snapshot.
This is probably best done before the branch opens or just before it closes.
If you are confused or feel there may be issues or have
any concerns, at any point:-
Call the
Network Business Support Centre
fe)
G
Ask for help around branch accounting
explaining who you are, the level of your
knowledge and all your concerns.
Make a note of the reference number the NBSC gives you.
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Appendix A
Fig 1 Office Snapshot. Fig 2
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Fig 5
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Fig 7
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Appendix B
Cash Check Sheet.
DATE: STOCK UNIT (S):
£100 £50 £20 £10 £5 £2 coin £1 coin
50p 20p 10p 5p 2p 1p Unusabl I Lottery
e
ATM Dispeniesd Add this total as if the cash is present.
otal
CASH DISCREPANCIES
Cheques on I Servic Stock Cash on Cash counted I Difference (+ or -
hand e Unit balance )
snapshot
Appendix C —
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Other Areas....
We are now going to briefly explore some further areas where
reports may give clues that you need some further assistance.
These reports can be checked and may make the picture clearer
BUT they must be looked at in an impartial manner, unless you are
sure that you understand what you are reading.
We are going to briefly look at 4 reports:
Detailed Cash Declaration Summary
Existing Reversals
Reversal/ Refund
Stock Adjustments
The same rule applies when viewing these reports as it does to all
the reports so far; if you are confused by figures on the reports you
are to ask the staff members for an explanation or call the Network
Business Support Centre (NBSC) on: GRO ‘(as detailed
on Page 1 and Page 8 of this guide); or both options.
Detailed Cash Declaration Summary
Each time a cash declaration is made on the HOL system, the
system records the value of cash entered and the difference
between what the HOL system calculates it should have and what
has been declared as physically present within the branch.
To access this report follow the path below - it is recommended
that the range starting date should be around 7 to 10 days previous
as this can be a lengthy report (depending on how many stocks the
office has and how many declarations have been made).
F14 Back Office
F1 Reports
F5 Event Log
73 Balancing
Date From & Date To
42 Print
This will print on the Counter Printer.
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As you can see from the picture, there are
9 HOL entries shown and 7 of them are for
Te ay the same day (02/05/2012).
oa sk famine : Some of the entries show a variance
I between what the system should have and
the actual cash declared as present — this
is because the branch has it’s stock units
set up as “shared” (multi user rather than
“individual”) — with shared units any
variance is only calculated if you press the
button in the declaration screen to check
the variation — it is at that point the system
records the variation.
Large variations can just be a simple counting error (e.g. someone counts a
bundle of £10,000 of £20 notes as £5000 — this is easily done OR there are 7
bags of 500 of £1 coins +£3500 but only 6 have been seen and counter).
If you have counted the cash as detailed earlier in this aide, you should have
a clear picture of how much cash is within your branch; if there is a
difference, the question is does a figure close to that difference appear on
this report? Regardless of the answer to that question, if the cash you have
counter does not match the HOL system, you are responsible.
If you feel that you need help or if you are confused by figures on the reports
you are to ask the staff members for ai lanati r call the Network
Business Support Centre (NBSC) on as detailed on Page 1
and Page 8 of this guide); or both options.
The next 3 reports:
e Existing Reversals
e Reversal/ Refund
e Stock Adjustments
can be printed at the same time as once you have entered the path
for the first one and it has finished printed, it is a case of using the
“back” button, entering “Mode” again and highlighting the next
report you want to print (Then - Enter, Enter, Print).
F14 Back Office
F1 Reports
52 Transaction Log
54 Mode
41 ER or /then Type R for: RV (84) or/then SA (44)
Highlight then ENTER
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Reversal Refunds
This is a simple report that shows reversals in the
current branch balance period (BP). It can be any
length so again a recommended date-range is 7 to
10 days.
Each entry should have 2 parts —
e the reversal (the in — returned to the system)
e the refund (the out shown by “-“)
Existing Reversals
During every day working, it is easy to make
mistakes, be it a settle to fast-cash instead of
cheque or selling a large first class stamp on the
screen when you meant to push standard first
class — nobody is perfect.
This report just shows you those reversals in a
similar fashion to the previous report.
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Stock Adjustments
This report shows if any “Stock Adjustments”
have been made. For instance, when you are
balancing and you realise that you have sold
second class stamps through HOL but at the
time you recorded the sale as loose stamps, as
opposed to a self adhesive sheet of stamps —
when you count your stamps, you are 100 loose
second class more than the system says but
you are 1 sheet of 100 second class self
adhesive less than the system says..... you will
need to adjust the stock accordingly so that
what is actually present is recorded correctly.
This can be described as a “corresponding
error” as there is no loss or gain once
corrected.
Don’t Panic!
I have added this example to demonstrate that
some errors can look very big when if fact they
are easily explained.
In this instance, Post Office Financial service
had been settled incorrectly. The correction
was made and the branch balanced.
Seeing large amounts doesn’t always mean
there is a problem and asking for an
explanation and seeking out the other parts of
the transaction may help you see things in a
different light.
Again though, I stress that if you feel that you need help or if you
are confused by figures on the reports you are to ask the staff
members for an explanati ll the Network Business Support
i(as detailed on Page 1 and Page
This is a training aide designed to support more understanding of
the reports that can be printed by HOL; it is not a definitive guide &
does not replace any official material.
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