- Stewardship
- The careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care. As University employees, we are responsible to our stakeholders, to be good "stewards" of the public trust.
- Accountability
- One person has sole responsibility for a fund. This helps to protect the University and the Employee.
- Access to cash should be restricted at all times to only the person (custodian) accountable for the fund.
- All transfers of cash and responsibility should be documented.
- A supervisor should sign and verify overages/shortages and all voids/refunds.
- Key Components: Funds are secured, passwords are not shared, receipts to each customer
- Separation of Duties
- More than one qualified person is involved in the key activities related to the collection, handling, depositing and accounting processes for cash received. Example: The person collecting cash, issuing cash receipts, and preparing the deposit, should be someone other than the person reconciling the general ledger.
- Physical Security
- Counting of cash must not be visible from outside the office.
- Deposits must be adequately protected from loss while in transit.
- Only authorized individuals are allowed in the work area.
- The level of security required, depends on the amount of cash/cash equivalents being stored. Example: Larger amounts may require a safe with certain rating requirements and an alarm system, versus small amounts could be stored in a cash box.
- Safe combination should be given ONLY to supervisory/authorized personnel and should be committed to memory.
- Safe combinations should be changed whenever an employee leaves the unit/position, and at a minimum of once per year.
- A log must be maintained showing the date of combination change and the reason for the change.
- Key Components: Assets are properly stored, overages/shortages are reported, keys are secured, deposits are timely
- Reconciliation
- Cash and cash equivalents collected and reported as deposited, are reconciled with the General Ledger, and are verified as accurate.
- A supervisor, or someone other than the custodian, should perform surprise counts of the petty cash or change fund.