Cash
Management for Departments
Some university departments require cash on hand
to pay for small miscellaneous items or to make change for cash
operations such as ticket or food sales. Cash to pay for small,
miscellaneous items is described as a petty cash fund and the balance
generally ranges from $50 to $100. Cash to make change is described
as a change fund and the cash balance is dependent on the scale
of operation for which cash will be collected.
Requests for establishing a petty cash or change
fund should be forwarded to Janet
Rowe in the Business Office. Required procedures for administering
these funds are outlined below.
Petty Cash Fund
One employee in the department is designated responsibility
for maintaining the petty cash fund in a secure location. Only
this employee is authorized to withdraw cash from the fund.
If a student or employee needs to be reimbursed for
a departmental purchase from the petty cash fund, the substantiating
receipt should be provided to the employee responsible for the
petty cash. This person will initial the receipt and withdraw an
equal amount of cash from the fund. The cash is given to the person
to be reimbursed and the receipt maintained with the cash fund.
In some cases, petty cash will be advanced for the
purpose of making a small dollar purchase. The person accepting
the advance should sign a receipt statement for the advance which
states the person's name, amount and date of the advance. Once
the purchase has been made, the receipt and any unused funds should
be returned to the employee responsible for administering the petty
cash fund. The receipt statement for the advance should be returned
to the person who originally received the advance.
A petty cash fund is not to be used to cash checks
for departmental employees. At all times, the cash and the substantiating
receipts for disbursed cash should equal the total beginning balance
of the petty cash fund.
When the cash balance becomes low, the receipts should
be attached to a petty cash request with information below and brought to the Business Office. Cash equal to the total amount
of receipts will be disbursed to replenish the petty cash fund.
Change Fund
One or more employees in a department may be deemed
responsible for administering the change fund, depending on the
scale of cash operations. Departments may require temporary change
funds for one or two events per year or they may have a permanent
change fund with balances increasing during busy periods and decreasing
during slower periods.
Change funds should be locked in secure locations
when not in use such as a safe for larger funds or locked file
cabinets for smaller funds. Attention should also be given to maintaining
the change funds in a secure manner while the funds are actually
in use. Examples include cash registers and cash boxes with physical
access limited to key employees responsible for collecting cash
and making change.
Since many people pay with checks, these sometimes
are collected in change funds. The employee accepting the check
should ensure that the payee is St. Lawrence University, the amount,
both numeric and written, is correct, and the check is signed.
Each change fund has a minimum balance that should
be maintained at the department. Cash in excess of this balance
should be deposited at the Business Office as soon as possible
with a cash remittance report. Checks within the change fund must be deposited
within a week of collection.
Cash Audit
Business Office employee will audit department
petty cash and change funds at a minimum of once every two years.
The audit is conducted to ensure that the assigned cash is still
held by the department, that these procedures are being followed,
and that adequate controls are in place to secure the cash.
