PETTY CASH PROCEDURES

June 2005

(updated September 2007)

G.20PETTY CASH

G.20.00pOLICY

G.20.05USING PETTY CASH

G.20.10OPERATING A PETTY CASH FLOAT

G.20.10.01Establishment
G.20.10.02Maintaining and Recouping a Petty Cash Float
G.20.10.03Handover/Takeover Procedure

G.20.10.04 Year End Procedure

G.20.10.05Enquiries

G.20.99FORMS

G.21SECURITY AND SAFETY

G.21.01Risk Management

G.21.02Collecting and Transporting cash

G.21.03Storage of Petty Cash

G.21.04Dispensing Petty Cash

G.21.05Identifying and Reporting Suspicious Behaviour

G.21.06Training for Staff

G.21.07Action to Take in the Event of a Robbery

G.21.08Enquiries

G.21.99FORMS

G.20.00policy

UTS policy is to minimise the risk in cash movement and handling and to promote the health and safety of all persons by ensuring compliance with the following petty cash procedures. Other methods of payment, for example, cabcharge dockets, credit cards, or direct re-imbursement through Oracle i-expenses must be considered and used where possible. Petty cash funds are available where there is no viable alternative, to expedite obtaining of certain supplies and services where minor expenditure is involved; and to improve the efficiency of the payment process. Petty cash claims by staff of the University will not be recognised unless approved policy and procedures have been followed.

  • Petty cash may be used for individual purchases to a maximum of $100

Petty cash must not be used for:

  • salaries
  • advertising
  • loans to staff members for any purpose
  • tips related to hospitality expenditure
  • purchases of greater than $100
  • recurrent expenditure

G.20.05USING PETTY CASH

Minor items may be purchased using Petty Cash in one of two ways:

  1. Staff may purchase goods, then present both the tax invoice/receipt and a correctly completed Petty Cash Reimbursement/Acquittal of Advance Form to either their local petty cash custodian or the FSU petty cash custodian and receive a cash reimbursement for the purchase.
  1. Staff may present a correctly completed Petty Cash Advance Form to their local petty cash custodian and receive an advance. This form should be retained by the Petty Cash Custodian for follow-up purposes.

The advance should be acquitted using the Petty Cash Reimbursement/Acquittal of Advance Form immediately the purchase has been made, with associated tax invoices/receipts attached to the form. If the amount of the purchase is less than the advance issued, the change must be returned with the tax invoices/receipts. If the amount of the purchase is greater than the advance, the additional amount must be shown on the Petty Cash Reimbursement/Acquittal of Advance Form and approved by the delegate. Advances of petty cash are available only from local petty cash custodians and are not available from the FSU petty cash custodian.

University staff may obtain petty cash from -

  • their local petty cash custodian, or
  • Level 5, Kuring-Gai Campus, check ext 5168 for current times, usually 11.00am – 12.00pm Tuesday and Friday

Completed petty cash reimbursement/acquittal of advance forms must -

  1. Itemise the goods and date of purchase
  2. Be correctly coded with the full GL account code string, which includes Company, Org Unit, Location, Activity and Natural Account Code.
  3. Show the total against each GL account code
  4. Be authorised by an appropriate delegate
  5. Have the correct tax invoices/receipts attached. For purchases of $50 and over a tax invoice showing the ABN is required and for purchases under $50 a tax invoice or receipt is required.

G.20.10OPERATING A PETTY CASH FLOAT

G.20.10.01Establishment

Schools/Units who regularly use petty cash may be authorised by the Director, Financial Services Unit to hold a petty cash float, provided no other means of payment are possible. The petty cash float is the responsibility of the Head of School/Unit who must nominate a petty cash custodian to maintain the float and be accountable for the cash. The original amount issued is called the accountable amount. Adjustments to the accountable amount may be requested, and will be made on the basis of recorded usage. To maintain the integrity of the float, only one person should have access to the funds at any one time. Schools/units must also meet the security requirements described in this section, and any other requirements of Security Services in order to be authorised to hold a petty cash float. This will include ensuring custodians attend appropriate safety and security training.

Where a petty cash advance has been authorised by the Director, Financial Services Unit, cash must be maintained separately from other moneys or receipts and be held in a separate locked container. The cash box must be locked when not in use and kept in a locked safe or steel cabinet under the control of the custodian. Compliance with these requirements will be audited.

Temporary floats may be issued for use in managing specific events. These temporary floats require approval at Dean or Director level and must be authorised by the Director, Financial Services Unit. Accounts Payable require 7 days notice to issue these floats. At the completion of the event, these floats must be acquitted in full and returned to FSU.

G.20.10.02Maintaining and Recouping a Petty Cash Float

Petty cash custodians must recoup their floats regularly, and at least monthly, to ensure petty cash claims are not outstanding for long periods and to minimise the amount of cash collected in each recoupment for safety and security reasons. Custodians must keep a record of all recoups submitted to Financial Services Unit.

Procedure for maintaining the float:

  1. Use the Petty Cash Recoup Summary template as an excel spreadsheet to keep a running total of cash issued. This template can be downloaded from the FSU website. Record the details for each purchase as a separate line. Update the spreadsheet and balance the float daily or whenever cash is issued, if the float is not used daily. Keep the tax invoices/receipts attached behind each associated petty cash approval form. The total of the approval forms must equal the total of tax invoices/receipts.
  2. The float is balanced when the total cash on hand (A), plus the total of the petty cash reimbursement forms on hand (which must be backed up by tax invoices/receipts) and any unacquitted advances on hand (B) plus the total of any recoups in transit (C) minus the total of the accountable amount of the float (D) equals zero.
  3. When a recoup is required (when the float is half depleted is a good guide), print the spreadsheet and attach the petty cash approval forms, including the attached tax invoices/receipts. Ensure the total of tax invoices/receipts exactly matches the amount claimed in recoupment on the spreadsheet and that this amount is fully covered by the approval forms. Only the total amount of the tax invoices/receipts will be reimbursed.
  1. Forward the spreadsheet, approval forms and tax invoices/receipts to your Accounts Payable Officer and arrange for safe collection of the cash.
  1. If there is a tax invoice/receipt missing or there is a deficiency in the accountable amount, a memo briefly explaining the circumstances should be prepared, approved by the relevant Dean or Director and forwarded to the Financial Accountant or the Finance Manager in FSU. The memo should include relevant details of the purchase and the GL account code. Upon approval in FSU, the deficient amounts will be reimbursed to the float. In approving these reimbursements, FSU will take into account the circumstances surrounding the loss and the history of management of the float. Floats may be withdrawn if they are not correctly managed.

G.20.10.03Handover/Takeover Procedure
Where a petty cash custodian will be absent for a period, or has changed responsibilities, the Petty Cash Handover/Takeover Form must be completed.
The procedure on handover is –

1.Count all cash on hand and record on form (A)

  1. Record the total of the petty cash reimbursements forms not recouped and unacquitted advances (B)
  2. Record the total amount of recoup claims in transit (C).
  3. For the float to be balanced the total of A + B + C – D should equal zero.
  4. Both the person handing over and the person taking over must sign the form.
  5. If the handover is a long term or permanent change, forward a copy of the Handover/Takeover form to the Accounts Payable Supervisor.

Staff taking over Petty Cash floats must notify their Dean or Director and FSU if there is any shortfall in the float. Staff must ensure they are aware of the accountable amount of the float.

G.20.10.04Year End Procedure

Declaration of Petty Cash Float

As part of the annual audit of Financial Statements, all cash on hand must be accounted for and reported to FSU as at 31 December each year. Petty Cash is accounted for via a Declaration of Petty Cash Float form. FSU will contact all Petty Cash float custodians in early December, requesting this form be completed at year end.

The Declaration of Petty Cash Float requires the flowing information

  1. Cash on Hand(A)
  2. Petty Cash reimbursements and unacquitted

Advances on hand (B)

  1. Petty Cash recoups in transit(C)
  2. Accountable amount of float(D)

When the account is balanced, A + B + C – D equals zero. Discrepancies should be reported to FSU and your Dean/Director immediately.

G.20.10.05 Enquiries

Further assistance regarding this procedure may be obtained from the Accounts Payable Supervisor.

G.20.10.99 Forms

The following forms are applicable to this section

  1. Petty Cash Reimbursement/Acquittal of Advance form
  2. Petty Cash Advance form.
  3. Petty Cash Recoup Summary form
  4. Petty Cash Handover/Takeover form
  5. Declaration of Petty Cash on Hand form

G.21 SECURITY AND SAFETY

G.21.01 Risk Management

In order to reduce the health and safety risk to staff, the use of petty cash must be avoided wherever possible, and alternative means of managing minor purchases must be introduced.

The Manager, Security Services will conduct a risk assessment of all petty cash operations to ensure risks are suitably controlled.

G.21.02 Collecting and Transporting Cash

In order to minimise risks when collecting and transporting cash, staff must:

  • Vary the times and routes to collect cash
  • Minimise the amount of cash to be collected by more frequent recoups and hence smaller amounts to be collected.
  • Not transport cash in banking bags which might make an easily identifiable target.
  • Arrange an escort if required as part of the Security Risk Assessment

G.21.03 Storage of Petty Cash

Petty Cash must be stored in a separate locked container. The cash box must be locked when not in use and kept in a locked safe or steel cabinet under the control of the custodian. Keys must be strictly controlled and restricted to those authorised staff.

G.21.04 Dispensing Petty Cash

Take care when dispensing petty cash so that others cannot see where the cash and keys are stored.

G.21.05 Identifying and Reporting Suspicious Behaviour

Vigilance on behalf of staff is important. Report any suspicious behaviour to Security immediately.

G.21.06 Training for Staff

All staff who are involved in cash handling must attend appropriate training in cash handling and robbery safety. Contact Human Resources for details.

G.21.07 Action to Take in the Event of a Robbery

If a robbery has occurred, take the following actions:

  1. Raise the alarm as soon as it is safe (dial 6 for Security or 0000 for the Police)
  2. Attend to any injured or traumatised staff
  3. Report the incident to Security
  4. Preserve the crime scene
  5. Ask any witnesses to remain on site
  6. Note down any details of the offender
  7. Contact the University Counselling Service for support (ext 1177) if required
  8. Complete an Accident/Incident Report form
  9. Notify FSU in writing of the amount stolen.

G.21.08 Enquiries

Further assistance may be obtained from the Manager, Security Services.

G.21.99 Forms

The following form is applicable to this section

1. Accident/Incident Report form.