ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
The objective of the accounts payable department is to verify expenditures of the county are accurate and payments are made timely. We desire to provide responsive and quality service to vendors and County departments in accordance with established laws, policies, and procedures.
Verification under these statutes includes but is not limited to all County purchases, any services rendered to the County, and refund requests made to the County.
The law requires all expenditures of the County be approved by the County Auditor before presenting them to the Commissioners Court for their approval.
The court typically receives all expense registers the week prior to Commissioners Court in order to allow the Commissioners time to look them over and ask questions about them if necessary. Once presented in court, the Commissioners approve the bills and then issue the order or directive to the County Treasurer to disburse the funds from the County's operating accounts to the County's clearing account.
While the Treasurer has no bill approval authority, they perform a vital check and balance process by reviewing the expenditures and taking any bill they feel is illegal or inappropriate back to the court for consideration.
Once the Treasurer has been issued the order for disbursement of money to pay the expenditures, checks are prepared and mailed to vendors.
While the process has many steps and checks and balances by the County Auditor, the Commissioners Court and the County Treasurer it is still very efficient and helps to make sure Taxpayer money is being spent properly.
The County Treasurer and County Auditor are both required to sign all checks leaving the County, with the exception of Jury checks. However, Erath County officials choose to use the same protocol for Jury checks as is followed for all other disubursements.
If you have any questions not addressed by this page, or the website, please feel free to contact the Accounts Payable Department.