Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 4 - ADMINISTRATION
Part XIII - Statewide Reporting and Accounting Policy
Chapter 1 - Collection Policy and Procedure
Section XIII-105 - Collection Process Overview, Objective, and Policy Guidelines
Universal Citation: LA Admin Code XIII-105
Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. The following procedures are very general and broad for the purposes of identifying area of concerns and general concentration.
1.
Collection Process Objectives
a. To establish
and implement a collection policy and procedure that the Cash Management Review
Board has approved.
b. To identify
delinquent accounts.
c. To pursue
delinquent accounts by creating collection letters that are tailored to the
agency/department's need.
d. To
apply late charges and interest to delinquent accounts.
e. To interface with other software to
enhance the intercepting of payments.
f. To provide an updated customer account
balance for any collection activity:
i.
payments or NSF checks.
g. To provide the ability to write off
uncollectible accounts with proper authority and documentation, debt is still
owed to the state.
h. To establish
and maintain internal controls.
2. Collection Process
a. Begins when the debt is recognized or the
service is completed. The agency/department shall provide an invoice or
statement in a timely manner to the debtor.
b. Different messages would appear on the
statement according to the status of the account to remind the customer of the
amount owed to the state, any payments and/or adjustments made since the last
printed statement.
c. Apply
interest and/or late charges as statutorily prescribed.
d. With the proper documentation and
approval, write off from the financial statements any account that is deemed
uncollectible after following the procedures outlined in
§107.
B The debt is still owed to the
state.
3. Collection
Follow-Up Procedures
a. Policies and
procedures are established and implemented at the agency/department that were
approved by the Cash Management Review Board.
b. Send a minimum of one follow-up billing
statement to debtor. The scheduled billing cycle shall be designated by
agency/department.
c. Send second
billing statement to debtor with a warning (dunning) message explaining the
action that will be taken within a scheduled billing cycle from the first
statement.
d. Third billing
statement notifies the debtor that the account has been forwarded to a
collection agency or attorney general's office within a scheduled billing cycle
from the second statement.
e.
Course of Action after the Third Billing Statement
i. Discontinue service and notify debtor by
letter that service has been discontinued, if applicable to the
agency/department.
ii. The
agency/department will continue to collect amounts by all available means-
private collection agency, debt offset, etc.
f. Further Action (discretion of
agency/department policies and procedures approved by Cash Management Review
Board).
i. Agency/department's secretary or
undersecretary may approve the account to be written off or continue to collect
(agency's discretion).
ii.
Agency/department may continue its collection process or assign the account to
a collection agency.
iii. Follow-up
with the attorney general's office or collection agency on the status of the
account.
g. If
appropriate, contact past due customers by telephone at any time during the
collection process to ensure collection.
4. Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
a. Each agency/department should establish an
allowance for doubtful accounts to ensure that the agency/department's
receivables are not overstated for financial reporting purposes.
b. The allowance method used shall be
established by the agency/department with the Cash Management Review Board
approval. However, the amount should be based upon historical data or other
pertinent information relative to the receivable. Sound accounting theory must
be used at all times.
AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 39:88.1 through 39:88.4 and Act 904 of Regular Session 2001.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Louisiana may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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