Indian Railway Codes and Manuals-Stores code- Vol-II-Chapter-18 (XVIII)

 

Chapter XVIII
IMPREST STORES
(Other than engineering Stores)

1801. Definition of Imprest Stores.—Materials whether stock items or non-stock items, held in stock at Running Sheds, Train Examining Stations etc., not for specific works but as a standing advance for the put pose of meeting day to day requirements in connection with the repair and maintenance and operation of rolling stock shall, including consumable stores such as cotton waste, jute, oil, grease, etc., be treated as imprest stores, so long as they are under the control of the authority in charge of the executive unit, and have not been issued to works. The material required to upkeep of rolling-stock, by divisional electricians and that required for house lighting purposes at various stations by electric chargeman should also be treated as imprest stores.

Note.—Firewood used for lighting purposes is not an item of imprest.

1802. Object of Imprest System.—The main object of the Imprest System is to control the expenditure on materials used each month in the running repairs of rolling-stock, etc. But this involves inter alia, effective financial and departmental control on the stocks of materials held at out-stations and their issue and recoupment.

1803. Two Systems of Imprests.—These imprest stores may either be "charged-off stores" in which case their cost would have already been finally debited to Revenue working Expenses or stores forming part of the stores balances of the Railway, the cost of which be at the debit of capital suspense. The railways on which the cost of all or most of the imprest stores held at running sheds etc., has been charged off to revenue, should follow the rules in paragraphs 1805 to 1885. Where the cost of such imprest stores stands charged to capital, the rules in paragraph, 1805 to 1858 apply only to the extent they are not inconsistent with the rules in paragraphs 1859 to 1877.

1804. A railway may follow only on of the two systems of accounting for imprest stores at "out-stations". if both systems exist on a railway, the system in which the cost of imprest is "charged off" should be adopted in preference to the alternative system.

 Accountal of "Charged-off" imprest of Stores.

1805. Schedule of Imprest Stores.—Schedule of items of such materials showing the quantities of each item which should be held as an imprest should be prepared separately for each imprest holder. This schedule (S. 1805) shall show the following details :—

Form No. S. 1805

1. Group of Stores.

2. Price List or Part List Number.

3. Brief description of Stores

4. Sanctioned Imprest

5. Rate 

6. Value 

7. Revision of quantity from time to time with reference to authority and annual revaluation.

1806. Copies of the schedule and any subsequent modifications of it should be supplied to the Divisional Superintendent or the immediate superior of the imprest holders, the Stores Department and Accounts Officer, Stores, who should each keep the same up to date.

1807. Basis for fixing Quantities.—The Quantity of each item of Impicst Stores which each imprest holder may hold at a time should be generally based on two months average con- sumption and should be approve;! by 1 lie General Manager of the railway, or any lower authority whom he may authorise.

1808. Requirements of Interchange Stations.—Where interchange stations are required to supply, spares for the repair of home line rolling stock damaged on foreign lines, an allowance for such spares should be included in the imprest stock and they should not be arranged for by special demands on the stores depot. Where the depot cannot supply the demands of all outstations in full, preference should be given to interchange stations.

1809. All materials in hand in excess of such fixed imprest on the date of the application of these rules should be returned to the Stores Department through Advice Notes of Returned Stores (S. 1539) and the cost thereof credited to Working Expenses.

1810. Monetary Limits.—The imprest stores fixed for each subordinate should be priced at Price List rates and the cost worked out by the Accounts Officer, stores and the total value thus ascertained at the fixed approximate limit, in terms of money, of the cost of imprest stores that may be held by each imprest holder. These monetary limits for each imprest holder as revised from time to time should be formally approved by the General manager, once every year.

1811. Control of Imprest.—It should be the duty of the Divisional Officer in charge of the imprest holders to see that the imprests are revised from time to time so as to ensure that they are the lowest possible both as regards quantity and value, consistent with actual working requirements. The imprest holder should be responsible to ask for a reduction or deletion of any item of imprest on the basis of the consumption in his shed or station.

1812. The imprests of imprest holders of one division could be increased or decreased under the orders of the Divisional Officer responsible by a corresponding decrease or increase in the sanctioned imprests of other imprest holders in the same division wherever a change is made in the transportation arrangements involving the transfer of work from one imprest holder to another.

1813. Provision for Special Demands.—In case of special demands arising for such work as reconditioning certain classes of rolling stock, which is not expected to be completed within two months, the Divisional Officer may authrorize a temporary increase in the imprest stock. A copy of this authority, showing the amount of the increase, the reason for it and the probable duration, should be sent to the Accounts Officer, Stores, and to the Controller of Stores.

1814. Deleted.

1815. Excess Stores.-—The sanctioned allotments present the fixed quantities which should be stocked by the imprest holder. Should any excess arise, it would either be used under the instructions of the controlling authority to recoup other imprests on the Division, or be returned to Stores Depots promptly and the cost thereof credited to Revenue in the usual way. Such recoupment of imprest should be shown as minus issues with relevant allocation by the receiving imprest holder.

1816. Numerical Ledgers.—Each imprest holder should maintain a numerical ledger showing all receipts, issues and balances of imprest material.

1817. These ledgers should preferably be in loose-leaf Form (S. 18!7), one sheet being used for each item. The heading of the sheet should show the designation and station of the imprest holder, class of stores, price list number, correct nomenclature and unit of accounting, authorized stock with rate per unit, and a reference to the authority under which the stock has been authorized or subsequently revised.

The ledgers should be closed monthly on a date fixed by each imprest-holder, this date being shown in the Imprest Schedule.

1818. As each sheet for an item of imprest is completed, the imprest holder should count the balance of the item in stock and record the actual balance as the last entry on the card, e.g., "balance by actual count 42". In case of heavy balances, such count may be made whenever the stock is conveniently low. Discrepancies, if any, should be adjusted in the ledger by a plus or minus entry and also accounted for through the combined Issue and Recoupment Schedule (S. 1830). The explanation of the discrepancy should be furnished in a letter to his departmental head, who will pass it on to his Accounts Officer with his remarks.

1819. Issue of Material.—All issues should be made on Issue Tickets which should be signed by a person duly authorized to approve of the drawing of the material. The issue Tickets will be prepared in a form such as that shown below :—

1820. A separate Issue Ticket should be made out for each item of stores and should show the head of account to which the cost of material is debitable. The correct part or price list numbers should be entered by the Imprest Ledger Clerk.

1821. Daily Agstract of Issues.—At the end of each day the issue Tickets should be arranged by classes, price list numbers, and heads of allocation. A daily abstract in a form ruled as shown below should then he prepared separately for each class of materials showing the total quatntity of each item issued for the day and the quantities debitable to each head of account.

1822. Posting of Ledgers,—The ledgers (S. 1817) should be posted daily from the abstract of each tickets for each day.

1823. Monthly Summary of Issues.—A monthly summary in a form designed as shown below should be posted daily from the daily abstracts (S. 1821) and totalled at the end of the month.

Note.—The need for the daily abstracts and monthly summaries provided for in paragraphs 1821-23 docs not arise in case the Issue Tickets (S.18J9) themselves are valued.

1824. Returned Stores.—Supplies of Serviceable stores should generally be obtained from the stores depots. But such serviceable material as may be received from line or reclaimed from scrap and is not used up immediatley on work, should be taken on to the imprest Ledgers (S.1817) besides which there should be no other account. If the balance is thereby increased to a figure in excess of the fixed imprest, all such excess should be retuned to the depot on Advice Notes on Returned Stores (S. 1539).

1825. Whenever such stores are taken into imprest stock, the transactions should be shown as minus issues and accounted for accordingly.

1826. Scrap material received back from the line should not be taken on to the Imprest Ledgers (S. 1817), but should be returned to the stores deposts under Advice Notes (S. 1539). These advice Notes should be given a separate serial number for each shed or station and be marked "Imprest".

1827. The quantities demanded in recoupment of imprest should be the total issues minus such receipts, i.e., the quantity required to bring up the stock to the sanctioned level.

1828. Transfers.—No transfer to stores between imprest holders should be made except in emergencies. In such exceptional cases, the stores required may be obtained from a neighbouring imprest holder, who will however account for them as an issue made by himself to work and will give a suitable remark on all connected documents to show where the material has actually gone.

1829. Closing of Ledgers and Recoupment of Imprests.—The Divisional Officers should fix the dates of accounting period for each imprest holder and intimate the same to the Accounts Officer, Stores.

1830. Each Imprest holder should close his ledgers monthly on the dates fixed for him and check them with the Issue and Recoupment Schedule which should be prepared in the form shown below from the Monthly Summary of Issues (S. 1823).

1831. The issue and recoupment schedule should be prepared in four copies all of which should be sent to the Stores Depot, which the Controller of Stores may assign as the supply depot for each imprest holder.

1832. Items of stores relating to different classes of stores should be prepared on separate sheets.

1833. The first six columns should be Filled in by the imprest holder and the quantity  show under column 6 should be no more or less than the quantity issued by him to work unless certain receipts from other sources than the depot had been received during the recoupment  period or there has been less recoupment on the last occasion

1834. The imprest holder shall ordinarily recoup the full quantity necessary to bring up his balance to the fixed imprest. The stores Department will carry out a (percentage) check to ensure that the above rule is not infringed and bring to the notice of the Transportation Department any irregularities that may be detected.

1835. Allocation.—The imprest holder should split the quantity under column 6 by heads of account debitable and show the same in column 13. The values debitable to each head of account would then be split up accordingly by the Accounts Officer, Stores and shown along side the quantities.

1836. If the depot had "less-recouped" any item, the debit should be made by the Accounts Officer in the order of the heads of allocation shown, in column 13, the quantity "less-recouped being worked off against the last head of account. In the recoupment schedule for the following month, the imprest holder should take care to show the quantity "less recouped" in the previous month against the corrected head of allocation. The columns for the allocation and values are shown on the sample form but should not be printed, being left to the imprest holder of columinize in manuscript as and when required.

1837. Column 7 will be filled in by the Ward of the Depot making the recoupment and columns 11 and 12(a) will be entered by the Depot Ledger Section. The figures of rate, unit and value by each detailed head of account and for the total will be filled in by the Accounts Department.

1838. Authority to Sign Indents.—Indents for recoupment may be made directly by the imprest holders under their signatures and the counter signature of District or Divisional Officer for such indents is not necessary.

1839. New for Old.—In respect of repairable materials, the general principle should be followed that old items of stores should be returned in exchange for each new item demanded. A list of items which should be invariably returned in this way should be issued by Railway Admistration. An illustrated list is punted as Appendix VIII to this Code. Reference to the Advice Note (S. 1539) under which such stores have been returned should be quoted on the Recoupment Schedule (S. 1830) against the relevant items. If an item on such a list has been lost or cannot be returned for some reason, a statement should be sent detailing the shortages and giving brief explanation why the item could not be produced in cexhange

1840. Depot Procedure.—On receipt of the recoupment schedules (S. 1830) in the depot, they should be checked to see that in all cases of failure to submit an old item in exchange for a new one an explanation has been given. The statement should then be sent by the Depot Officer to the Divisional Officer concerned for any action he may consider necessary.

1841. Recoupment of Imprests.—The Depot Officer should enter in the copies of the Recoupment Schedule (S. 1830) the quantities of materials actually issued against the quantity demanded. If the former is different from the latter, the balance of the indent is automatically cancelled. The imprest holder may recoup the balance through the next schedule or through a special recoupment schedule as and when necessary.

1842. Review of Scales of Imprests.—Suitable arrangements should exist for the periodical examination, at intervals of not less than six months, of the scales of Imprests with reference to the actual issued for the purpose of seeing of the Imprest can be reduced.

1843. Despatch of Imprest Stores.—The depot will despatch the materials by the usual railway services or stores vans and the supply will be treated as having been issued to imprest holders as soon as stores are made over to the Traffic staff" or the subordinate in charge of the
stores van.

1844. Disposal of the foils of the Recoupment Schedule S. 1830.—Two copies of the issue and recoupment schedule as completed by the Stores Depot should be sent along with the material Acknowledgements for the material supply should be obtained on both the copies
from the imprest holder. One copy will be held by the depot as receipt, while the other copy will be submitted by the imprest holder to his District or Divisional office for check with the copy received from the Stores Accounts Office.

1845. The remaining two copies of the schedule be sent to the Stores Office after the depot, numerical ledgers have been posted from one of the copies.

1846. Accounts Office Procedure.—The Stores Accounts Office should insert the rates on the schedules, and after valuing the actual quantities issue by the depot separately for each head of account, should post the relevant priced ledgers, and forward one copy to the Divisional or District Officer concerned in support of the Daily Summary of Issues (S. 2702). The other copy will be retained for record in the Stores Accounts Office. 

1847. In the Divisional or District Office, the amount debited by the Stores Department will be allocated to the correct heads of account of summarizing the debit to the different heads.

1848. Special Recoupment.—As far as possible, recoupment of imprest should be made at monthly intervals through the issue and recoupment schedules; but in the event of the whole imprest stock of any item being exhausted, a special recoupment demand may be made if this is considered absolutely necessary.

1849. Ordinary Requisitions.—Except as provided in paragraph 1851, ordinary requisitions in Form (1313) should be not submitted for items appearing in the imprest schedule and if so submitted, should not be complied with by the Stores depot.

1850. Requisitions for non-Imprest Items and Specific Works.—All stores other than those specified in the imprest schedules which may be required for the purpose of meeting urgent requirements will be obtained on ordinary requisitions (S. 1313) countersigned by the controlling officer as and when required, and the cost of these will be charged to the final heads of revenue account. The controlling officer will be held responsible for scrutiny that the articles indented for are really required and that none of the articles available in the imprest could have been used instead.

1851. If stores on the imprest schedules are required for specific works, they should be obtained on ordinary requisitions (S. 1313). Such stores should be issued immediately to the specific work for which they have been obtained and should not be brought on to the quantity
accounts (numerical ledgers S. 1817) maintained by imprest holders for the accountal of imprest stores. If any scuh stores are found later on to be not required, the procedure indicated in paragraph 1815 above should be followed.

1852. Annual Revaluation and Accountal.—The imprests should be valued at price list rates by the Stores Accounts Officer on the 31st of march year (the extent to which the increases or decreases in the value of the imprests as compared with the sanctioned amounts of the previous year, is due to a variation in the quantities or prices of materials should be explained by him), for purposes of incorporation in an annexure to the Annual Statement of Stores Transactions (S. 3001). The Stores Accounts Officer should intimate every departmental head at the same time of the revised money value of the imprest with each of the imprest holders under his control.

1853. Wherever there has been an increase in the value, the amount of the increase with brief remarks as to the cause, should be given to enable the departmental Officer to examine the imprest sanctions before obtaining the General Manager's formal sanction, vide para 1810.

1854. A schedule should be attached to the Annual Statement of Stores Transactions (S. 3001) showing the value of these imprests with each imprest holder in each Division.

1855. Verification and Inspection.—Departmental verification of imprest stocks should be carried out annually and a certificate thereto appended to the Annual Statement of Stores Transactions (Form S. 3001).

1856. The stocks should also be verified by the Amounts Stock verifiers, at least once in two years alongwith the departmental verification. they Should then draw up a report for each imprest holder, which would detail any discrepant vi irregularity found; the imprest holder should furnish on the stock verification sheet itself full explanations for all such irregularities. On the occassion of such verifications, opportunity should be taken by the Stock Verifiers to examine whether the schedules are based on actual consumption. Copies of reports of such investigation should be sent to the General Manager and the Divisional Officer concerned. Any revision of imprests necessary on a consideration of these reports should be made by the General Manager or the Divisional Officer.

1857. Inspections.—Officer and senior subordinates of the Mechanical Engineering Department should see, during their visits to sheds and stations, that the orders regarding the maintenance of imprests are being faithfully followed and that the ledgers, abstracts and summaries are being maintained up-to-date in accordance with the rules and that there are no stores kept on hand other than those in the sanctioned imprest.

1858. The offices of imprest holders should be regularly inspected by Accounts Staff not less frequently than once in three years.

Accountal of Imprests at Debit of Capital Suspense

1859. The control and accountal of imprests, the cost of which has not been "charged off" but lies at the debit of capital suspense, should be regulated by the same rules as for "charged off" imprests, except to the extent they are inconsistent with or modified by the rules in the following paragraphs.

1860. Accounts Register of Capital Imprests.—The Stores Accounts Officer should maintain a manuscript Register of Imprests (Form S. 1860) showing a total value of each imprest as varied from time to time by the increase or the reduction of the imprests. The Register should be maintained in the form shown below. The Subsidiary Register for Capital Heads of Suspense Accounts (Form S. 2937) should be posted each month from these registers for purposes of reconciliation with General Books.

1861. Transfers of stores between imprest holders should be accounted for therein as Inter Depot Transfers, and issues on account of such transfers will be posted in red ink as minus receipts.

1862. Procedure in Running Sheds & c—The imprest holders should prepare daily a Priced Daily Abstract of Issues, in a form such as that shown below.

1863. From these Daily Abstracts, should be posted daily two Monthly Summaries, one by quantities for each item of stores and another by detailed heads of accounts on the lines indicated in the two forms shown below.

1864. Issue and Recoupment Schedules.—The recoupment should be made on a Printed Imprest Recoupment Schedule in a form, such as that illustrated below in which columns 1 to 4 will be printed showing all the items of the imprest sanctioned for each imprest holder. Columns 5 to 12 except 10 will be posted by the imprest holder. The 'rate' in column 5 should be latest rate at which recoupment was made.

1865. The total amount allocated during the month of each detailed head of account should be extracted from the Monthly Allocation Summary (S. 1863-B) and shown on a separate sheet to be attached to the Recoupment Schedule (S. 1864).

1866. The Recoupment Schedule (S. 1864) should be prepared in quadruplicate and one copy should be sent to the Accounts Officer, Stores, direct, the other three being sent to the Depot Officer concerned. 

1867. Procedure in the Stores Depots.—The Depot Officer should issue the stores requisitioned for in the Recoupment Scheme and enter the quantity of material actually issued in column 13a on all the three copies of the schedule.

1868. Material will be treated as issued from the main stocks and brought in to the imprest reserves from the time of its being made over for despatch. As these imprests reserves from part of the Capital Suspense Account, such issue will mean merely a transfer from stocks available
for general purposes to stocks reserved for the repair or operation work at special points. 

1869. Two copies, of the Recoupment Schedule (S. 1864) should then be sent by the Depot Officer with the materials to the Indentor who should retain one copy and return the other to the Depot Officer after acknowledging thereon the material supplied. This copy should be filed in
the depot as record.

1870. The third copy of the Recoupment Schedule (S. 1864) should be issued by the Depot Officer for posting his Numerical ledgers after which it should be sent to the Stores Accounts Officer for posting the priced ledgers.

1871. Procedure in the Accounts Office.—On receipt of the first copy of the schedule as prescribed in paragraph 1866 in the Stores Accounts Office, the totals of the value of stores issues as per column 9 to works should be calculated at the rates shown in column 5 and inserted in
column 10, and the total struck for the schedule. This should be checked with the total amount shown in the allocation slip accompanying the schedule (vide paragraph 1865). The amount should then be entered in the Registers of Imprests (S. I860). The register should be closed at the
end of each month and debit summaries prepared in quadruplicate for each division, district or department. The rates shown in column 5 of the schedule should be test checked to the extent of 20 per cent to ensure that latest rates have been adopted in pricing the issues to works. The
opening and closing balances should also be test checked.

1872. One of the copies of the summary should be retained as office record and two copies of the summaries should be forwarded to the head of division or department duly supported by the Recoupment Schedule (S. 1864) and the allocation slips (paragraph 1865) on the authority of
which the debit is raised. The Divisional or District Officer should retain one copy of the summary and Recoupment Schedule (S. 1864) for his record and forward the other copy of the Summary (after recording thereon acceptance of the debit) to his Accounts Officer for accountal.
The fourth copy should be sent as a supporting voucher along with a debit Transfer Certificate to the Accounts Officer concerned. On receipt of the Transfer Certificate, duly accepted, the Stores Accounts Office should debit the amount thereof to "Transfers Divisions or Departments"
by credit per contra to Capital Imprest Suspense Account. 

1873. Recoupments—The Recoupment Schedules (S. 1864) on receipt from the Depot (vide paragraph 1870) should be posted direct into the priced ledgers and the total value of the recoupments posted in the registers of Imprests (S. 1861). At the end of the mo nth, the issues from
stores depots to the imprests should be adjusted through a Journal entry crediting the head "Transfers Stores" and debiting "Capital Imprest Suspense Account".

1874. Increase or Decrease in Imprest.—On receipt of an intimation from the District or Divisional Officer regarding an increase or decrease in the imprest stock with certain imprest holder (vide paragraph 1814) the increase or decrease should be noted in the respective Imprest Schedule (S. 1805) and discrepancies discovered in the Recoupment Schedules (S. 1864) later on, should be pointed out to the imprest holder. 

1875. Stock Verification.—Stock sheets showing the results of verification should be sent to the Accounts Officer, Stores who will deal with them on the lines of the procedure mutatis mutandis for stock sheets relating to stores depots.

1876. Annual Revaluation.—At the close of every financial year, the value of the closing balances shown in the Issue and Recoupment Schedule (S. 1864) for the month of March should be calculated at the latest Price List rates. The total value of stock with each imprest holder should
then be entered in the Register of Imprests (S. 1805) opened separately for the new year. The total value for each kind of imprest should then be compared with the figures shown in the Registers of Imprests (S. 1860) for the last year and the difference adjusted by debit or credit to the Stock Adjustment account after full reasons have been recorded for the discrepancies after careful scrutiny.

1877. Engineering Imprest Stores and Surplus Stores.—The detailed rules for the maintenance and accountal of Imprest and Surplus Stores with Engineering Subordinates have been laid down in Chapter XVII of the State Railway Code for the Engineering Department. Such
stores will be borne at debit of Capital Suspense 'Stores' under the following heads of accounts.

Engineering Stores........................Imprests...........................Permanent-way

Engineering Stores........................Imprests...........................Other than Permanent-way

Engineering Stores........................Surplus............................Permanent-way

Engineering Stores.........................Surplus...........................Other than Permanent-way

The initial documents and accounts vouchers affecting these heads of accounts will be dealt with by the Accounts Officer of the Engineering Subordinates. Each month, these Accounts Officers will send necessary Transfer Certificates for the amounts of debits and credits to the several heads of accounts to the Stores Accounts Officer who will take them into account and post the Subsidiary Registers (Form S. 2937) for the heads of accounts for purposes of the monthly reconciliation with the General Books.

 

 

 

Multiple choice questions:

Question 1:

What are imprest stores? a) Materials held in stock specifically for ongoing projects
b) Materials held in stock at various stations for meeting day-to-day requirements in repair and maintenance
c) Items held in stock for resale purposes
d) Personal items held by employees for emergency use

Answer: b) Materials held in stock at various stations for meeting day-to-day requirements in repair and maintenance

Question 2:

What is the main objective of the Imprest System? a) To increase the stock of materials at running sheds
b) To control the expenditure on materials used each month in the running repairs of rolling-stock
c) To create a backup stock of all materials
d) To manage the sale of surplus materials

Answer: b) To control the expenditure on materials used each month in the running repairs of rolling-stock

Question 3:

What are the two systems of imprests mentioned? a) Charged-off stores and stock-keeping stores
b) Temporary stores and permanent stores
c) Charged-off stores and capital suspense stores
d) Revenue stores and expense stores

Answer: c) Charged-off stores and capital suspense stores

Question 4:

What form should be used to prepare the schedule of imprest stores? a) Form S. 1805
b) Form S. 1539
c) Form S. 1817
d) Form S. 1821

Answer: a) Form S. 1805

Question 5:

Who should approve the quantity of each item of imprest stores held at a time? a) The General Manager of the railway or any lower authority he may authorize
b) The Depot Officer
c) The Storekeeper
d) The Accounts Officer

Answer: a) The General Manager of the railway or any lower authority he may authorize

Question 6:

What should be done with all materials in hand in excess of the fixed imprest? a) They should be discarded
b) They should be returned to the Stores Department through Advice Notes of Returned Stores
c) They should be sold at a discounted rate
d) They should be kept as surplus stock

Answer: b) They should be returned to the Stores Department through Advice Notes of Returned Stores

Question 7:

How often should the monetary limits for each imprest holder be formally approved? a) Monthly
b) Quarterly
c) Annually
d) Bi-annually

Answer: c) Annually

Question 8:

Who is responsible for ensuring that the imprests are revised to meet actual working requirements? a) The General Manager
b) The Divisional Officer in charge of the imprest holders
c) The Storekeeper
d) The Accounts Officer

Answer: b) The Divisional Officer in charge of the imprest holders

Question 9:

What should be done in case of special demands for reconditioning rolling stock? a) Special demands should be arranged through the Stores Department
b) The Divisional Officer may authorize a temporary increase in the imprest stock
c) Extra stock should be procured from other divisions
d) The work should be postponed until regular stock levels are restored

Answer: b) The Divisional Officer may authorize a temporary increase in the imprest stock

Question 10:

How should excess stores be managed if they arise? a) Discard them
b) Recoup other imprests on the Division or return to Stores Depots
c) Store them indefinitely
d) Issue them to employees for personal use

Answer: b) Recoup other imprests on the Division or return to Stores Depots

Question 11:

Under what circumstances are transfers to stores between imprest holders allowed? a) Regularly for balancing stock
b) Only in emergencies
c) Annually
d) Never allowed

Answer: b) Only in emergencies

Question 12:

What must be done with ledgers at the end of each month? a) They should be archived for future reference
b) They should be closed and checked with the Issue and Recoupment Schedule
c) They should be audited by external auditors
d) They should be destroyed

Answer: b) They should be closed and checked with the Issue and Recoupment Schedule

Question 13:

Who should prepare the Issue and Recoupment Schedule and how many copies are required? a) The Storekeeper; three copies
b) The Accounts Officer; two copies
c) The Imprest holder; four copies
d) The Divisional Officer; five copies

Answer: c) The Imprest holder; four copies

Question 14:

What should be included in the Issue and Recoupment Schedule when there are different classes of stores? a) Separate sheets for each class
b) A summary page for all classes
c) A single sheet for all classes
d) An additional approval from the Divisional Officer

Answer: a) Separate sheets for each class

Question 15:

How often should monetary limits for each imprest holder be formally approved? a) Monthly
b) Quarterly
c) Annually
d) Every two years

Answer: c) Annually

Question 16:

What should the imprest holder do if the depot "less-recouped" any item? a) Issue a complaint to the Accounts Officer
b) Recoup the balance through the next schedule or a special recoupment schedule
c) Return the items to the depot
d) Adjust the ledgers accordingly

Answer: b) Recoup the balance through the next schedule or a special recoupment schedule

Question 17:

What principle should be followed for repairable materials? a) Old items should be discarded
b) Old items should be repaired on-site
c) Old items should be returned in exchange for new items
d) New items should be issued without any returns

Answer: c) Old items should be returned in exchange for new items

Question 18:

What action should the Depot Officer take if an explanation for not returning old items in exchange is missing? a) Accept the recoupment without any issues
b) Discard the recoupment request
c) Send the statement to the Divisional Officer for necessary action
d) Issue new items without requiring old ones in return

Answer: c) Send the statement to the Divisional Officer for necessary action

Question 19:

How often should scales of imprests be reviewed? a) Monthly
b) Quarterly
c) Every six months
d) Annually

Answer: c) Every six months

Question 20:

How should imprest stores be despatched from the depot? a) By road transport
b) By the usual railway services or stores vans
c) By air freight
d) By private courier services

Answer: b) By the usual railway services or stores vans

Question 21:

How many copies of the Issue and Recoupment Schedule are sent with the material? a) One copy
b) Two copies
c) Three copies
d) Four copies

Answer: b) Two copies

Question 22:

What should the Stores Accounts Office do after valuing the quantities issued by the depot? a) Forward copies to the Divisional Officer and retain one for record
b) Archive the records for future reference
c) Issue a compliance certificate to the depot
d) Discard the copies

Answer: a) Forward copies to the Divisional Officer and retain one for record

Question 23:

When can special recoupment be requested? a) Only at the end of the financial year
b) When the whole imprest stock of any item is exhausted
c) During the annual audit
d) On the first day of each month

Answer: b) When the whole imprest stock of any item is exhausted

Question 24:

How should stores required for specific works be obtained? a) Through a special requisition form
b) On ordinary requisitions (S. 1313)
c) By direct purchase from the market
d) By transferring items from other imprest holders

Answer: b) On ordinary requisitions (S. 1313)

Question 25:

When should the imprests be valued by the Stores Accounts Officer? a) On the 1st of January each year
b) On the 31st of March each year
c) At the end of each month
d) Every quarter

Answer: b) On the 31st of March each year

Question 26:

How often should departmental verification of imprest stocks be carried out? a) Monthly
b) Quarterly
c) Annually
d) Every two years

Answer: c) Annually

Question 27:

How frequently should Amounts Stock Verifiers verify the stocks? a) Monthly
b) Quarterly
c) Annually
d) At least once in two years

Answer: d) At least once in two years

Question 28:

During verification, what should the Stock Verifiers examine? a) Whether the schedules are based on actual consumption
b) Whether the ledgers are archived
c) Whether there is sufficient manpower
d) Whether the materials are in good condition

Answer: a) Whether the schedules are based on actual consumption

Question 29:

How often should the offices of imprest holders be inspected by Accounts Staff? a) Monthly
b) Quarterly
c) Annually
d) Not less frequently than once in three years

Answer: d) Not less frequently than once in three years

Question 30:

Who maintains the manuscript Register of Imprests for capital suspense accounts? a) The Depot Officer
b) The General Manager
c) The Stores Accounts Officer
d) The Divisional Officer

Answer: c) The Stores Accounts Officer

Question 31:

How should transfers of stores between imprest holders be accounted for? a) As direct sales
b) As inter-depot transfers
c) As donations
d) As monthly summaries

Answer: b) As inter-depot transfers

Question 32:

What should the imprest holders prepare daily in running sheds? a) Daily work logs
b) Priced Daily Abstract of Issues
c) Monthly expenditure reports
d) Weekly summaries

Answer: b) Priced Daily Abstract of Issues

Question 33:

How often should the Monthly Allocation Summary be extracted from the Daily Abstracts? a) Weekly
b) Monthly
c) Quarterly
d) Annually

Answer: b) Monthly

Question 34:

How many copies of the Recoupment Schedule (S. 1864) should be prepared? a) Two copies
b) Three copies
c) Four copies
d) Five copies

Answer: c) Four copies

Question 35:

When should material be treated as issued from the main stocks? a) When the materials are requested
b) When the materials are delivered to the imprest holders
c) When the materials are made over for despatch
d) When the materials are paid for

Answer: c) When the materials are made over for despatch

Question 36:

What should be done with the third copy of the Recoupment Schedule (S. 1864)? a) Sent to the Divisional Officer
b) Filed as a record
c) Used for posting the numerical ledgers
d) Sent to the General Manager

Answer: c) Used for posting the numerical ledgers

Question 37:

What should be done at the end of each month in the Stores Accounts Office? a) Prepare a monthly budget
b) Archive all records
c) Close the registers of imprests and prepare debit summaries
d) Conduct a full stock audit

Answer: c) Close the registers of imprests and prepare debit summaries

Question 38:

What is the procedure if there is an increase or decrease in the imprest stock? a) The imprest holder should adjust the balance internally
b) The changes should be noted in the respective Imprest Schedule
c) The changes should be approved by the General Manager only
d) The imprest holder should report the changes directly to the Accounts Officer

Answer: b) The changes should be noted in the respective Imprest Schedule

Question 39:

What should be done at the close of every financial year regarding the value of closing balances? a) Archive the closing balances
b) Calculate the value at the latest Price List rates
c) Submit the balances to the General Manager
d) Discard the old records

Answer: b) Calculate the value at the latest Price List rates

Question 40:

Who is responsible for the maintenance and accountal of Engineering Imprest Stores and Surplus Stores? a) The General Manager
b) The Divisional Officer
c) The Accounts Officer of the Engineering Subordinates
d) The Depot Officer

Answer: c) The Accounts Officer of the Engineering Subordinates

 

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