Hillary King, Rodney Price, and Megan Dukes work for a family physician, Dr. Gail Cook, who is in private practice. Dr. Cook is knowledgeable about office management practices and has segregated the cash receipt duties as follows. King opens the mail and prepares a triplicate list of money received. She sends one copy of the list to Price, the cashier, who deposits the receipts daily in the bank. Dukes, the recordkeeper, receives a copy of the list and posts payments to patients' accounts. About once a month the office clerks have an expensive lunch they pay for as follows. First, Price endorses a patient's check-in Dr. Cook's name and cashes it at the bank. King then destroys the remittance advice accompanying the check. Finally, Duke's posts payment to the customer's account as a miscellaneous credit. The three justify their actions by their relatively low pay and knowledge that Dr. Cook will likely never miss the money.

Who is the best person in Dr. Cook's office to reconcile the bank statement and why is this the best person?

Would a bank reconciliation uncover this office fraud?

What are some procedures to detect this type of fraud?

Suggest additional internal controls that Dr. Cook could implement.