the accounts of which are to be made up and balanced annually; that is to say,— Art. 14. Where the district under a school board contains less than fifteen thousand inhabitants according to the census last published by authority of Parliament, or the school board consists of less than nine members, the accounts shall be made up and balanced annually; that is to say, to the 29th day of September in every year. And we also prescribe the following regulation with regard to the examination of accounts by the school board, and their signature by the chairman, that is to say, Art. 15. The time within which the accounts of the school board shall be examined by the school board and signed by the chairman, reckoned from the day to which the accounts are made up, shall be as follows: School Board for London Where the district under the school board Two months. contains a population of 200,000 or more, Six weeks. Where the district under the school board contains a population between 100,000 Four weeks. and 200,000, according to the last census so published Where the district under the school board Where the district under the school board Three weeks. contains a population of less than 50,000, Two weeks. according to the last census so published And we hereby further order as follows:- School Boards combined under Sect. 52 of the Elementary Art. 16. Whenever the school boards of any two or more school districts combine together, with the sanction of the Education Department (under the provisions of section 52 of the Elementary Education Act, 1870) for all purposes relating to elementary schools in such districts, such boards may, so long as they continue so combined, keep one set of accounts in common, and the several provisions of this order, as well as the instructions contained in the several forms, which refer to separate school boards, shall be construed as applying to boards so combined. (1) (1) For instructions of Education Department as to accounts of combined school boards, see p. 602. Provided that in the ledger separate accounts shall be opened for the borough, parish, or part of a parish, as the case may be, constituting each district, showing, on the one hand, all moneys received from the rating authority of such borough, parish, or part of a parish, and on the other, all charges which are borne by such borough, parish, or part of a parish separately. Art. 17. Whenever the school boards of any two or more school districts, with the sanction of the Education Department, combine together for any purpose or purposes relating to Elementary Schools in such districts, and the agreement provides for the appointment of a joint body of managers, such managers shall render accounts, made up to the dates prescribed by Art. II of this order, to the school board whose school fund is charged with the expenditure incurred in providing and maintaining the school accommodation specified in such agreement, and the accounts shall be duly accounted for in the financial statement of the said school board under the heads of account specified in Art. 5 (2.) of this order. Auditing of Accounts. Art. 18. Where the school board belongs to the class specified in Art. 14, the accounts shall be audited annually; that is to say, as soon as practicable after the 29th day of September in every year and in the case of any other school board, the accounts shall be audited half-yearly; that is to say, as soon as practicable after the 25th day of March and the 29th day of September in every year. Art. 19. The clerk shall, as soon as he shall receive notice from the district auditor of the day or days appointed by him for the auditing of the accounts of the board and of the several schools provided by them in the district, publish the following notice, by causing a copy of the same to be affixed in the board room of the school board and on the outer door of the building where it is situated, and on the outer door of every school the accounts of which are to be submitted to the district auditor : SCHOOL BOARD. "Notice is hereby given, that the yearly [or half-yearly] statements of the accounts of this school board, and of the schools provided by such board, together with the respective books of account, will, on the deposited at day of be ; and such statements and books of account will be open to be inspected, examined, and copied by any ratepayer in the district of the said board, at any reasonable hour in the daytime, when the board is not sitting, until the ; and that on the last-mentioned day of day, at the hour of separate schools will be audited by auditor, at the accounts of the board and of the the district when and where every such ratepayer, who may have any objection to any matter contained in the above-mentioned accounts, may attend, and prefer his objection, and the same will be heard and determined by the district auditor. "Dated "Clerk to the School Board." Art. 20. The clerk or accountant of the board, and the managers or their treasurer, shall, three clear days before the day appointed for auditing the accounts, deposit the said yearly [or half-yearly] statements of the accounts of the board and of the schools provided by such board together with the books of account, in the board room or such other place as the board may appoint, and shall permit the said statements and books of account to be inspected, examined, and copied by any ratepayer in the district, in the presence of the clerk, accountant, or some other person approved of by the board, at any reasonable hour in the daytime, when the board shall not be sitting, after the said statements and books of account shall have been so deposited, and previous to the day appointed for the auditing of the accounts of the board. Art. 21. In case the auditing of any of the accounts shall be adjourned for any longer period than from day to day, the clerk, on receiving from the district auditor notice thereof, shall affix, in manner aforesaid, notice of the time and place of such adjournment, and of the accounts remaining to be audited, as often as such adjournment shall be made. Art. 22. The district auditor shall audit the accounts of the board, and of the schools under the board comprised in the district of the board, once in every year, that is to say, as soon as may be after the 29th day of September if the school board belongs to the class specified in Art. 14, or, if not, once in every half-year, that is to say, as soon as may be after the 25th day of March and the 29th day of September respectively; but not sooner than two weeks after each of those days respectively, or such other limit of time as is fixed by Art. 15 of this order for the several classes of school boards therein specified. Art. 23. The district auditor in respect of every audit shall give to the clerk to the board fourteen days' notice in writing of the time and place on and at which he intends to commence the audit of the accounts of the board and of the school or schools, and shall cause a copy of such notice to be advertised in one or more newspapers published or circulating in the district of the board. Art. 24. The officers of the board, and the managers and officers of the schools, who by law are bound to account to the district auditor, shall attend at the time and place appointed by him for the audit of their accounts, and shall submit to him all books, documents, appointments in writing, contracts, bills, orders for payment, receipts, and other vouchers containing or relating to their accounts; and the same shall at the time of the audit be open to the inspection of any ratepayer interested in such accounts, but to such extent and in such manner only as will not in the judgment of the district auditor interfere with the audit. Art. 25. In auditing the accounts, the district auditor shall see that they have been kept and are presented in proper form; that the particular items of receipt and expenditure are stated in sufficient detail; and that the payments are supported by adequate vouchers and authority; and he shall ascertain whether all sums received, or which ought to have been received, are brought into account; and he shall examine whether the expenditure is in all cases such as might lawfully be made; and he shall reduce such payments and charges as are exorbitant, shall surcharge moneys not duly accounted for, or lost by negligence, upon the person who ought to account for the same, or whose negligence or improper conduct has caused the loss, and shall disallow and shall strike out such payments as are not authorised by law. Art. 26. When the district auditor disallows any payment or surcharges any sum upon any person, he shall declare the ground of his decision, and offer to state such ground in writing, if required by the person aggrieved to do so, in the proper book of account forthwith, or as soon as the arrangements for the business of his audit will permit. Art. 27. The district auditor shall examine and collate the several books and papers of account of the several accounting parties, and shall ascertain that the several entries correspond with and balance each other, where such balance may be required; but in the case of any error caused by inadvertence or accident in the account of any officer, he may require such officer to correct the same, and such officer shall make the necessary correction, and the district auditor shall then deal with the account so corrected. But if such officer shall refuse to do so, the district auditor shall himself make the correction, and report the circumstances of the case to the board or managers as the case may require. Art. 28. The district auditor shall compute the several accounts so as to verify the arithmetical accuracy thereof, and the balance due to or from the board or managers, as the case may be, or the officers rendering the same at the time to which the audit relates; and he shall state the balance in words at length, and certify the same by his signature or initials, and add the date of the audit; and when he certifies any sum or other matter to be due he shall, as far as practicable, enter his certificate and his reasons for the same (when they are required) in some part of the book of account which shall be free from other writing. Art. 29. The district auditor shall receive any objection made by a ratepayer or any person aggrieved against the accounts undergoing audit or any item or charge therein, or any vouchers or authority for the same, and shall examine into the merits of such objection, and make a decision respecting the same, stating the grounds thereof, and offering to enter the same in the book of account then being examined, if required to do so, as in the case of a disallowance or surcharge. Art. 30. If the district auditor shall doubt the correctness of any account, or any item or charge in any account, he shall require the manager or officer rendering the account, or any other person holding or accountable for any money, books, deeds, or chattels, relating to the board or separate school, to appear before him, and shall call upon such person to produce any accounts, books, or papers, which he may lawfully require; and he shall examine such officer or person as may then appear, and such accounts, books, and papers as may be produced before him, respecting such account, item, or charge. Art. 31. If the district auditor find that any money, goods, or chattels belonging to the board, or any school in the district, have been purloined, embezzled, wasted, or misapplied, or that any deficiency or loss has been incurred by the negligence or misconduct of any officer or other person accounting, and shall surcharge such officer or person with such amount or value in his account, he shall submit a statement of such surcharge to the board as soon as he conveniently can do so. Art. 32. The district auditor having audited the several accounts in the ledger of the board, and in the cash book of each separate school as aforesaid, shall sign a certificate at the foot of the balance sheet therein, to the following effect : "I have examined the several accounts of which the foregoing is the balance sheet, and I have compared the several payments for which the treasurer takes credit with the vouchers, and I hereby certify that the entries appear to be correct and legal. And that [when the balance in the treasurer's account does not agree with the balance in the cash book], subject to the explanation below [the difference to be explained at the foot of the certificate], the balance of the cash book, viz., £ , agrees with the balance which by the treasurer's book appears to have been in his hands at the time of closing this account; and I find from the information laid before me that the amount of the outstanding liabilities of the board at that time was £ "Dated (Signed) "District Auditor." And in the other books the district auditor shall enter a cer |