GENERAL DUTIES OF SO (A)/AAO

The Section Officer (A) of a section is responsible to the ACDA-inCharge/Accounts Officer for the efficient management of his section, for keeping the work current and for ensuring that the efficiency of the work is maintained at the highest level. His main duties are briefly as follows:1. He must have a thorough knowledge of all branches of the work with which his section deals and must ensure that the procedure laid down for the disposal of all such work is followed. 2. Under the orders of the ACDA-in-Charge/Accounts Officer, hemust distribute work so as to secure the maximum output in the minimum of time. He must know precisely from day to day:a. The number of letters unanswered and why; b. The number of accounts, bills and vouchers unaudited and why; c. The number of accounts, returns and statements overdue from his section and the reasons why; d. The number of accounts, returns and statements due to the section but not received. He should promptly bring to the notice of the ACDAin-Charge/Accounts officer all cases in which delay or accumulation is anticipated. 3. He must scrutinise carefully all replies to correspondence, statements and returns prepared by his section which are required to be issued under the signature of the ACDA-in-Charge/Accounts Officer. The object of this scrutiny is to ensure. (a) In the case of draft replies:(1) that the reply is correct; (2) that it deals with all the points raised; (3) that it is couched in clear and intelligible terms;

(4) that due dates for issue of reminders are clearly and prominently noted on all office copies of documents on which further action is necessary. (b) In the case of statements, returns, etc. that the statistics or information given are accurate in respect of the period which they cover. 4. In dealing with correspondence be must take care to see that it is not protracted. Every letter written must be with the object of reaching finality and he should on no account pass drafts which are of a temporary nature and are likely to prolong the settlement of the point at issue. He will see that when a case is submitted to or through his ACDA-inCharge/Accounts officer reference is made in all relevant rules and up-todate corrections thereto. 5. In the case of returns, statements accounts, letters, replies to objections, etc., due to the section, the periodic issue of reminders must not be considered by him as a discharge of the responsibilities of his section. Unless good and definite reasons are known to the cause of delay, he should ordinarily after the issue of the first reminder which brings no response, bring the matter to the notice of the ACDA-inCharge/Accounts Officer for special action. This is particularly essential in the case of outstanding demands, accounts and replies to objections. 6. In regard to the supervision of audit of accounts carried out by his section, he is not expected to go over the entire ground covered by auditors. It will be sufficient for him to institute test checks on their audit. These test checks should be designed so as to satisfy himself that the audit has been properly done. But if on applying a test check to an account he finds that it has not been correctly audited, it might be necessary for him to increase the scope of his test check on that particular account. If such a test check brings out evidence of careless work or other unsatisfactory features, it is his duty to arrange, under the orders of the ACDA-in-Charge/Accounts Officer, for the audit to be done over again and done properly, and at the same time, to take steps to prevent a recurrence of incorrect or unsatisfactory audit. The disciplinary aspect of the case will also be brought to the notice of the ACDA-inCharge/Accounts Officer where required.

7. With regard to bills, the duty of checking arithmetical calculations, rates etc., is primarily that of the auditing staff. The Section Officers (A) should check arithmetical calculations in 5% of the documents disposed of by him in a day, if there is enough load, otherwise, in a week, irrespective of the amount involved in the documents. The Section Officers (A) should make suitable enfacement on the documents so checked. Maintenance of separate record of checking done by the Section Officer (A) is not necessary. With regard to the rates etc., the Section Officer (A) should institute a periodical Test Check. For the rest, his duty in checking bills will be to see, inter-alia, that the charge is authorised, that it is accompanied by the necessary certificates, etc, and that all conditions connected with the charge have been fulfilled and that it purports to be correctly signed by the proper authority, where necessary. The following checks will be exercised by Section Officer (A) for ensuring audit verification of the specimen signature of claimants before payment of bills. In all the cases where verification is done it will be so indicated on the vouchers. Sl.No (i) Nature of the claims Percentage of check

Verification of specimen signature of100% in respect of claims claimants and sanctioning authorities beforeover Rs. 1,000 payment of personal claims received from gazetted officers. Verification of specimen signature of the5% in respect of claims officers preferring the claims in respect ofbelow Rs. 25,000. local purchase bills. 100% in respect of claims for Rs. 25,000 and above.

(ii)

Section Officers (A) will also ensure that the Auditors exercise 100% check of specimen signature in respect of all claims and sanctions, and that

the endorsement of verification of specimen signature is so indicated on the bills/sanctions. Note: The extent of check of arithmetical calculations by the Section Officers (A) prescribed above, will apply in the case of all documents requiring action in accounting and audit. 8. Objection statement on accounts of bills must be carefully scrutinised by him to see that they are valid and clearly set out and also that the objections are not raised piece-meal. If the passing of a bill or an account is dependent on some action to be taken or condition to be fulfilled by the authorities concerned, the action required or the conditions to be satisfied are to be clearly and unmistakably defined. 9. He must review carefully all registers which the section is responsible for maintaining and must see that they are written uptodate neatly and in their correct form and that they are submitted to the ACDA-inCharge/Accounts officer for inspection on the due dates. He is responsible for the safe custody of valuable registers like Demand Registers, Register of Payment to Local Purchase contractors, Audit progress Registers etc. 10. He must constantly review all outstanding demands and objections and bring to the notice of the ACDA-in-Charge/Accounts officer all cases in which outside authorities are responsible for undue delay in their settlement. 11. He must see that the duties of writing up section note books are suitably distributed to certain assistants in the section, that such distribution is left clearly as a continuous record and that a proper handing over of these duties is carried out at every change among the assistants performing them. He should see that no congestion occurs in the transmission of batches of orders of decisions requiring note. He must examine the section notebooks at frequent intervals to see that they are kept uptodate and watch that the notes are extracted neatly and intelligently and that the indexing is done in the best possible way to facilitate easy reference. 12. He should see that the duties of correcting regulations and pamphlets of instructions or other publications affecting the work of the section are duly distributed to assistants, that the distribution has been placed on

record so that no evasion of responsibility is possible at any time, and that such duties are formally handed over when any change in assistants takes place. He should frequently examine these books of publications to see that they are being kept up to date and that the initials of the assistants responsible are entered up in the fly leaf appended as a register of corrections. 13. The maintenance of section files and current records in an orderly manner should always receive his closest attention. He should occasionally examine the files to see that they are properly linked and cross-linked in the prescribed manner. 14. A section cannot do its work efficiently unless there is a high standard of conduct and discipline among its personnel. The Section Officer (A) is in closest touch with the members of his section. He knows or ought to know the character and temperament of each individual intimately, and for this reason the measure of his responsibility for maintaining discipline, regularity in attendance, punctuality and for ensuring the prompt despatch of work is great. He is expected to be courteous and firm with his men and should give them all the assistance and guidance they require.