Unclaimed Property - you may be richer than you think! - Washington State Department of Revenue

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Speaker Presentation Topics

General Presentations for All Reporters

What is Unclaimed Property?
New Reporters and Holder Education Visits
What to Expect in an Audit
Contacting Owners Prior to Reporting, Due Diligence and Indemnification
Reporting Basics and Electronic Reporting
Avoiding Fraud—Unclaimed Property Internal Controls
After You Report: Claims and Reimbursements
Reporting Securities and Dividends
Owner Outreach

Presentations for Financial Institutions

Common Unclaimed Property Types Held by Financial Institutions
Positive Owner Contact, Ceasing Interest and Inactivity Charges
Safe Deposit Box Reporting
Aging and Reporting Time Certificates, IRAs and Official Checks

Presentations for Insurance Companies

Drafts—Offers to Settle Versus Liquidated
Insurance Industry Unclaimed Property Overview

Presentations for Retailers

Common Property Types Held by Retailers
Stored Value Cards, Gift Certificates, Store Credits and Layaways

Presentations Descriptions

What is Unclaimed Property

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 25 to 30 minutes

Description

A high level overview for those who may need to report unclaimed property or current reporters who want to understand the background and big picture on the Unclaimed Property Program. Topics include: history & purpose of the Act, important court cases, legal concepts, and the operation of the Unclaimed Property Section. In addition, we will cover any new developments in the program and our plans for the future.

New Reporters & Holder Education Visits

Suggested Audience: accounting practitioners, managers and staff responsible for reporting unclaimed property.
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

Does your organization need hands on help with setting up a system to report unclaimed property? Do you have specific questions about potential unclaimed property you may be holding? Afraid that asking for help will trigger an audit? This class gives you the background on our innovative Holder Education Visit Program. Learn how to get tailored assistance that fits "just right." Gain reassurance that assistance won't trigger an audit.

Common Mistakes Found in Audits

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

For participants who want to learn from other's mistakes. This class will focus on common unclaimed property accounting and reporting mistakes. Subject areas include:

Computer Conversions
Buried outstanding checks
Acceptable owner contacts
Duplicate reporting

Compliance, Penalties and Audits

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for unclaimed property reporting, internal auditors, accounting practitioners.
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

This class provides an overview of the Unclaimed Property Section's compliance efforts. Participants will learn about the "costs" of non-compliance and how to avoid those costs. Subject areas include:

Unclaimed Property compliance goals and strategy
Late interest, civil penalties, fines and criminal convictions
Audit selection, types of audits, audit process
Appeal procedures

What to Expect in an Audit

Suggested Audience: accounting practitioners, managers and staff responsible for reporting unclaimed property.
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

Have you ever wondered how audits are selected? From initial contact to audit report, this class covers the steps involved in an unclaimed property examination. Learn how to prepare for an examination and what to expect during each stage. You will learn how factual or legal disputes are resolved.

Activity, Ceasing Interest and Service Charges

Suggested Audience: financial institution managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors including banks, savings & loans, and credit unions
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

Find out what customer account activities are considered positive owner contact. We will cover related account activities and discuss some of the "new" areas of electronic transactions and Internet banking and bill payment. We will also cover the requirements for ceasing interest and inactivity fees on inactive accounts.

Safe Deposit Box Reporting

Suggested Audience: financial institution managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting delinquent safe deposit box contents, internal auditors including banks, savings & loans, and credit unions
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

Abandoned safe deposit box (SDB) contents are often the most interesting and frustrating for everyone involved. We will cover the process from your initial report to the auction of the owner's contents. Topics covered include:

How to describe property
Reporting requirements
Aging boxes for abandonment,
What to do with rejected box contents

Time Certificates, IRAs and Official Checks

Suggested Audience: financial institution managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors including banks, savings & loans, and credit unions
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

This course gets into the details of some unique unclaimed property types. Find out about unique aging requirements for time certificates of deposit and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA). In addition we will cover the unclaimed property requirements for various official checks and money orders that banking organizations issue.

Unclaimed Property in Financial Institutions

Suggested Audience: financial institution managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors including banks, savings & loans, and credit unions
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

Designed for those that want it all, but only have an hour. This is an overview of the various property types that financial institutions report. Depending on the audience, we will direct our focus to banks, saving & loans, or credit unions.

Avoiding Fraud — UCP Internal Controls

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

Learn why unclaimed property is a high-risk area for external and internal theft. This course will offer simple solutions to help safeguard unclaimed property until it can be reported. We will also provide information on how frauds and embezzlements are perpetrated and what you can do to prevent them.

Claims and Reimbursements

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 25 to 30 minutes

Course Description

Learn how to file claims to the State of Washington for items you have refunded to the owner but had previously reported as unclaimed property. Learn how to file claims for money due your company being held by the state. Learn what documentation must be kept for future examinations.

Reporting Securities

Suggested Audience: accounting practitioners, managers and staff responsible for reporting securities to unclaimed property.
Suggested Length: 30 minutes to 45 minutes

Course Description

Does your company issue stocks or mutual funds and need help in understanding what needs to be reported as unclaimed property or when to report the property? This course will give an overview of what types of securities are to be reported and how they are to be reported as unclaimed property.

Hot Topics in Unclaimed Property

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

While the course content will change with time, we will explore proposed law changes, emerging issues and areas of legal dispute in unclaimed property. From stored value cards to Internet store credits, we will look at new technologies and how it impacts unclaimed property. A portion of the time will be spent listing and discussing participant's "hot issues" with unclaimed property.

Reducing Unclaimed Property in Your Accounts

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

Learn what steps can be taken to reduce the amount you need to pay to the State of Washington as unclaimed property. Topics covered include:

Helpful tools and techniques to locate your lost owners.
How to identify candidates before the trail is cold.
Resources you already have that can help reduce your unclaimed property.

Drafts-Offers to Settle Versus Liquidated

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

Learn specific unclaimed property law about drafts exempted from unclaimed property reporting. Learn case law about this subject that has been adjudicated in the past.

Insurance Industry Unclaimed Property Overview

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 25 to 30 minutes

Course Description

Learn the property types of unclaimed property usually found in the insurance industry. Learn the history of unclaimed property in the insurance industry.

Contacting Owners Prior to Reporting, Due Diligence & Indemnification

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 25 to 30 minutes

Course Description

Learn the legal requirements regarding notification to owners of unclaimed property prior to abandonment. This course will cover the business reasons to notify your missing owners and the costs of not performing due diligence. Find out the allowable exceptions to due diligence. Learn the specifics on how holders are indemnified under the unclaimed property law.

Reporting Basics & Electronic Reporting

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Course Description

Learn the forms for reporting unclaimed property, and get step-by-step instructions on properly completing the forms. We will discuss the forms of reporting currently being accepted and where to find help on electronic reporting. We will give some helpful tips from our owner locator on how to locate owners before their names and money are reported as unclaimed property.

Common Property Types Held by Retailers

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 25 to 30 minutes

Course Description

Learn how to identify, age, and report the common types of unclaimed property held by retailers. Topics include: unpresented checks, accounts receivable credits, gift certificates, customer store credits, and layaway deposits. This is a good overview for companies involved in retailing.

Stored Value Cards, Gift Certificates and Layaways

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 25 to 30 minutes

Course Description

Learn unclaimed property laws specific to stored value cards, gift certificates and layaway deposits. The course will look at some of the landmark case law on these property types and the differences in various states on reporting these items. Discuss the problems and potential solutions to accounting for unclaimed property in these areas.

Reporting Equity and Debt

Suggested Audience: Managers and staff responsible for tracking and reporting unclaimed property, internal auditors, accounting practitioners
Suggested Length: 25 to 30 minutes

Course Description

Learn how to report unclaimed property arising from equity and debt. Topics include underlying versus undeliverable shares, distributions of stock and dividends, reinvestment plans, bonds, and other property types. Learn about accounting and aging these property types for unclaimed property reporting.

Owner Outreach

Suggested Audience: Employees and staff at companies interested in unclaimed property
Suggested Length: 5 to 30 minutes for presentation, outreach display as negotiated

Description:

If you would like to have our Owner Locator set up our outreach display at your next staff meeting/retreat or even in your lunch room, this is the course to select. Our database has close to one million owners and we have a laptop computer that we are able to bring to businesses to see if your employees might have unclaimed property being held by our office.