CASH HANDLING - University of Houston



Cash Handling

PROCEDURES & GUIDELINES

The following procedures and guidelines are intended to assist with the compliance of MAPP policy 5.01.01 (Petty Cash, Cash Funds, Cash Handling) for cash handling and to set out specific procedures within our Operation for preparing and depositing cash receipts and for the proper handling of Petty Cash Funds.

General Guidelines for Cash Handling

The Administrator, Plant Operations is ultimately responsible for setting and maintaining internal controls over cash and implementing good business practices. The Manager should maintain a complete list of the cost centers associated with their college and see that the activity in each is reconciled on a timely basis each month. The reconciliation should include budget, revenue, expenditures, encumbrances, and outstanding items. Particular attention should be given to transactions involving cash deposits. The reconciliation should be reviewed and approved by a staff member not preparing the reconciliation.

Receiving Cash

Cash and cash receipts should be physically safeguarded in a secured area, such as a cash register, safe, locked drawer, locked file cabinet or similar device until deposited. Access to the secured area should be restricted to the person having custody of the money. Keeping cash in an unlocked draw in a locked office is not sufficient.

Currently Plant Operations employees designated to receive cash/checks are:

• Lisa Faulkner, Facilities, Planning and Construction

• Dee Ramirez, Plant Operations

• Office Assistants I - Beverly Moses, Hope Salazar, Linda Wynn, Gussie Robinson, Tracey Wiggins; Thelma Cannon, Office Coordinator; Linda Steber, Program Coordinator; Vanessa Turner, Asst. Director; Work-Studies – Michael Uwagbai, Brenda Gonzalez, Cedric Holcomb, Quang Nguyen – Parking & Transportation

ACCEPTANCE OF CHECKS AS PAYMENT

A. Checks provided to the university must be made out to “University of Houston” and be restrictively endorsed with “For deposit only” and the department name and/or cost center number immediately upon receipt.

B. A valid driver license or other identification is required when submitting a personal check in person. (If the individual writing the check does not have a driver’s license, a valid governmental picture I.D., such as an I.D. issued by a state department of public safety, or a passport, may be accepted as identification.)

C. Before payment is accepted by check, the employee with authority to accept checks is required to review the university Master Check List against the name on the check in the following cases:

1. When the check is submitted in person

2. When the check is submitted (in person or otherwise) in exchange for merchandise to be provided upon receipt of the check (for books, teaching materials, tee shirts, etc.)

This employee is responsible for verifying that the check writer’s name is not on the Master Check List, that the required verification procedures indicated above are followed, and for initialing the check to indicate approval. In no case will a check be accepted from an individual whose name is on the Master Check List. Access to the Master Check List may be obtained through SFS.

Cash Receipt Journals

With the implementation of the financial system, PSGL, pre-numbered forms are no longer being used. Departments should assign unique reference numbers to their cash journals and maintain a log to track them in the financial system. The reference is an 8 digit number consisting of the PS Department ID and a three-digit sequence number. (i.e., the first reference number for the president [department ID H0001] would be H0001001.) After reaching the sequence number 999, the department could begin an alpha-digit combination (A01, A02 and so forth).

As a rule, all cash journals should be recorded with

• a credit to an appropriate departmental revenue account and

• a debit to the appropriate bank.

Revenue should be recorded in a manner that provides adequate management information to the department and is easily verifiable between the monthly reports and the departmental records.

There should be a one-to-one match between the bank line(s) and the deposit slip(s) or Totals Report (in the case of a credit card deposit). A single deposit slip or Totals Report cannot be entered with multiple journals. Conversely, several deposit slips or Totals Reports can be included on a single journal with multiple bank lines.

1. Cash, Coin and Check Receipts: Cash totaling $100 or more must be forwarded to SFS within one working day of receipt. Cash totaling less than $100 must be forwarded to SFS within five working days of receipt.

 

2. Departments should not hold checks because the proper cost center cannot be identified or has not been created. The department should not deposit the receipt to one cost center for later transfer to the correct one. The university has clearing accounts established for this purpose. Contact the Treasurer’s Office for assistance in depositing funds to a clearing account.

 

3. At the end of the day (if the total receipts exceed $100) or the end of the week (if the total receipts are less than $100), the cash custodian will prepare a deposit for the bank. The cash and checks can be submitted on a single deposit slip. But coins in excess of $10 should always be submitted on a deposit slip of its own.

 

4.  When preparing the deposit, always run two adding machine tapes of the items being submitted. Always run separate tapes for checks, currency (counted by denomination) and coin (also counted by denomination). If the totals on the two tapes match, that is one indication that errors were not made in counting the money or running the tapes. If the bank discovers a discrepancy in the deposit, having these adding machine tapes will help verify the department’s accuracy.

 

5. Enter the total amounts for the checks and the currency on a single deposit slip. Add the two amounts together and enter the amount for the total deposit. If the total amount of coins is in excess of $10, use a separate deposit slip, and enter the total amount for the coins.

 

6. Journal Descriptions: The journal header and lines panels in PSGL allow space for information regarding the transaction. While it may not be necessary to provide specific discussion of the benefit of a deposit transaction; it is important that an ample description of the transaction be included to allow a reviewer to discern who paid what to the department, and why the payment was made. This information is useful during the review of the transaction before it is posted and any subsequent audits.

 

7. Approving Journal Entries: Two authorized employees should sign the journal indicating that they reconciled the deposit. The second signature should also indicate that the receipt is properly classified and that it is recorded into the proper account (certifying signature). Departmental procedures should be established in each college and division to ensure that appropriate internal approvals and signatures are secured before journals are submitted through PSGL. Forward a copy of the signed PS journal with the appropriate support to SFS along with the deposit. (Please see Check Lists for Processing Departmental Deposits and Change Orders on pages 15 and 16 of this handout.)

 

8. Transmitting Deposits: In most cases, deposits should be transported to SFS with an escort. Departments routinely transporting cash should secure their deposit in a bank bag and have it transported by UH Police. Arrangements for this service must be made by the department and involve SFS and the UH Police Department.

Cash Receipt Corrections

It is inevitable that some deposit transactions will be credited to an incorrect cost center or account.

Depending on the stage of processing, the journal entry may be corrected through general accounting or deleted by general accounting and re-entered by the department. Contact general accounting as soon as the error is discovered to ensure that the correction is made with the least amount of overhead to the department, general accounting, or PSGL.

If an error is discovered after the journal has posted to PSGL, contact general accounting in writing.

• Include the cost center, account, amount and the reason that it is in error.

• If the error is a result of an oversight or neglect on the part of general accounting, the journal entry to correct the error will be initiated by general accounting.

• If the error is the result of an oversight or neglect on the part of the department, then general accounting will request that the journal entry to correct the error be initiated by the department.

Errors involving Gift Transmittals must be reported through Institutional Advancement. Institutional Advancement will work with the Treasurer’s Office and/or General Accounting to initiate the correction.

Cash and Check Deposits (Delivered by UH police)

1. Complete a People Soft journal entry according to established guidelines.

2. Attach backup documentation to the original PS journal entry.

3. Prepare four (4) legible deposit slips (make sure carbons can be read easily, photocopies are acceptable within the university, however do not send a photocopied deposit slip to the bank with the deposit inside the bag).

4. Include on each deposit slip:

    Department name

    PS journal reference number

    Bag number

5. Staple backup documentation securely to the PS journal entry. Place staple at the top left corner (using one staple). Tape one copy of the deposit slip to a letter size sheet of paper to be included with your backup documentation.

6. Paper clip the final deposit slip to a copy of the PS journal. (Photo copies of the deposit slip may be used, however it must sized according to the original deposit slip.) Paper clip copies to the original PS journal.

7. In addition to the contents in the bag (currency), include one original deposit slip. Retain one deposit slip in the department. Attach the other two deposit slips to the paperwork.

Coin Deposits

1. All steps above apply.

2. Purchase canvas bags from SFS. (This is a new charge.)

3. Tightly secure coins in bag with pre-numbered seal.

4. Tie tag on bag with the following information.

    Date

    To: Chase Bank

    From: UH (department name)

    Dollar amount

5. Staple one (1) deposit slip to the tag (this is in addition to the 4 deposit slips)

6. Coin amount should not exceed $250 per bag (coins should not be wrapped)

Arrange For Transportation of ‘Deposit’ or ‘Currency Change Order’ to SFS

Deposits received in SFS by 2:00 p.m. will be transported to the bank on same day.

Currency Change Order requests received by 10:00 a.m. will be returned on same day.

• Prepare a money transmittal.

• Call the UH Police department at extension 3-0600 and request a pick up from your department.

• Secure multiple deposits included on a single Money Transmittal Form together and attach the Money Transmittal Form on top. Please do not staple individual deposits or credit card deposits together. Use a clip or a rubber band instead.

Petty Cash and Change Funds

A Petty Cash Fund is for reimbursing purchases less than $100 where circumstances preclude following the regular payment or reimbursement process. Expenses have the same restrictions as the budget account to which the reimbursement is charged. In other words, if the item cannot be purchased off of the account, the item cannot be reimbursed using petty cash funds. Certain items, such as travel, consulting fees, meals, alcoholic beverages, event tickets, and credit card receipts, are expressly prohibited from being reimbursed through a petty cash fund.

Plant Operations currently has 3 individuals designated as petty cash custodians:

• Clif Rapier, $500 Wortham House

• Lisa Castro, $500 Facilities Maintenance

A Change Fund is used to make change of currency or coin from cash transactions. Change funds are usually set up to support services such as copy card machines and bill changers.

Plant Operations currently has one (1) individual with the responsibilities of maintaining a change fund

• Evelyn Ghalib, $25 Key Control

• Thelma Cannon, $300, Parking & Transportation Info Booths

• Thelma Cannon, $12,600, Garage POF machines

Commingling of a petty cash fund and a change fund is strictly prohibited. These are two separate cash funds used for expressly separate purposes and should be accounted for and reconciled separately.

Responsibilities of the fund or cash custodian: A fund or cash custodian who does not comply with these responsibilities is subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination and criminal charges.

A. Providing safe and secure storage of the cash;

B. Keeping each fund and/or cash recipient account separate from other funds or accounts;

C. Maintaining proper documentation;

D. Notifying the Treasurer (through the college/division administrator) of changes in custodian, location of fund or cash recipient account, account number, or change(s) in the physical security of the fund;

E. Ensuring that cash handled by other employees involved in the segregation of cash handling duties, and/or any temporary employees involved in cash handling, follow this document. All employees authorized to handle cash shall sign Addendum A acknowledging the University of Houston’s cash handling policies and procedures;

F. Making prior arrangements for a temporary custodian during any absences;

G. Reporting theft of funds or overages/shortages in accordance with this MAPP; and

Where cash funds are involved:

H. Ensuring that each transaction is for the purpose for which the fund was authorized;

I. Replenishing the petty cash fund on or before the last day of each month if disbursements made since the last time the fund was replenished exceed $50. Also, the fund must be replenished on or before the last day of the fiscal year no matter the amount of disbursements made during the fiscal year;

J. Balancing a cash fund each time a disbursement is made or a minimum of once a month if no disbursements have been made, as well as monthly and annual reporting of any overages or shortages in the fund; documentation of balancing is to be maintained with the cash records;

K. Obtaining reauthorization of the cash fund each year through the treasurer; and

L. Returning the fund to SFS when the need for the fund or the account expires.

Shortages/Overages must be charged against or credited to a departmental account using the cash over/short account 50015. Individual shortages or overages of $20 or more must be reported immediately to General Accounting. Initial notification must be followed by a written incident report. The fund custodian must maintain a log of all overages/shortages, indicating the date and the amount. When annual cumulative overages/shortages exceed $40 absolute total, the Treasurer must be contacted immediately.

Fund custodians will replenish their petty cash through the use of the PS voucher submitted to Accounts Payable (AP). Where no petty cash fund exists in a department, an employee may be reimbursed through the petty cash fund in the Cashier’s Office in SFS. Petty Cash and Change funds are subject to unannounced audits by General Accounting and/or Internal Audit.

Petty Cash Reimbursement Procedures

1. Department prepares a voucher payable to Student Financial Services (vendor 0000007916, address 21) for authorized petty cash transactions.

• Receipts must be uploaded to the voucher Documents page.

• Fund custodian’s signature must be included in the voucher backup, unless the fund custodian is the voucher Creator or Department Approver.

• Department submits the voucher into workflow choosing the Dept-AP path.

2. Accounts Payable approves the voucher. (SFS will not reimburse petty cash funds unless the voucher has been approved by AP.)

3. Fund Custodian goes to Student Financial Services (Room 9, E. Cullen) to get cash reimbursement for petty cash fund.

• Fund custodian provides SFS with a valid photo ID and a printed voucher coversheet, which indicates AP has approved (see Approval History at bottom of voucher coversheet).

• SFS gives the fund custodian the amount of cash indicated on the voucher coversheet to reimburse the petty cash fund.

• Fund custodian must sign the voucher coversheet acknowledging receipt of cash.

• SFS uploads the voucher coversheet signed by the fund custodian into the voucher Documents page.

Requirements for Petty Cash

• Permitted Transactions

• The transaction must meet all of the following to be reimbursed through petty cash:

• a. Purchase is under $100, including sales tax

• b. Purchase is less than 30 days old at the time of reimbursement

• c. Purchase was made with a personal check or cash

• d. Not a prohibited transaction (see below)

• e. Supported by a proper receipt (see below)

• Prohibited Transactions

• a. Travel expenses (exception: university police officers required to transport prisoners on short notice)

• b. Reimbursements for meals, alcoholic beverages, or tickets to social, cultural, or athletics events

• c. Payments for honorariums or personal services, including consulting and professional services

• d. Sales tax reimbursement from sponsored project funds (sales tax may be reimbursed through petty cash when other funds are used)

• e. Splitting a transaction between two or more receipts to stay under the $100 limit

• f. Splitting the method of reimbursement for a single receipt between petty cash and a voucher

Credit Card Sales

• All credit card transactions shall be handled by a cash custodian or an employee authorized by the cash custodian who understands cash handling procedures and merchant guidelines. All employees authorized to handle credit card transactions shall sign Addendum A acknowledging the University of Houston’s cash handling policies and procedures.

• Copies of each transaction must be retained by the selling department as part of their records. Also, to assist in tracing a charge back, a listing of charge card names and card numbers should be kept at a site separate from the sales area to expedite tracing.

• Credit card receipts must be accumulated and posted daily via GLJ entry. As a general rule, credit card transactions are posted as credits to the appropriate cost center revenue account, with offsetting debits to the institutional credit card clearing bank for the gross amount of sales. The credit card commissions are posted as debits to the appropriate cost center expense account, with offsetting credits to the institutional credit card commissions bank.

• Exceptions to the general rule are American Express and Diners Club. They are posted as credits to the appropriate cost center revenue account for the gross amount of sales, with offsetting debits to the appropriate cost center expense account for the commissions and the institutional credit card clearing bank for the net amount of sales.

• Refunds are posted in the reverse direction.

• Settlements are made to the university by type of credit card (i.e., American Express, Diners Club, Discover, Mastercard/Visa, and debit cards). An entry for each type of credit card is recorded on a separate Bank line on the journal to enable verification between the university’s books and the bank records. An exception to this is Mastercard and Visa which are added together on a single bank line.

• A copy of the Totals Report of the terminal batch receipt shall be attached as documentation. The amount on each bank line of the journal should match each amount on the Totals Report of the terminal batch receipt.

• Journals will be approved, processed, documented, and reconciled in accordance with college/division procedures and this MAPP.

•

Parking & Transportation Specific Policies

A. CASH & CHECKS VERIFICATION BY ANOTHER PARKING OFFICE ASSISTANT

1. A Parking Office Assistant will retrieve the cashiers’ money bags from the safe; the keys to the money bags are kept locked in the key cabinet.

2. Use the JetScan to count and verify the money collected by each cashiers.

3. Record the amount collected by cash drawer on the Cash/Checks Collected report. (Addendum A)

4. Generate two tapes from the JetScan (money counter) of all money collected.

5. Each cashier should have stamped the checks they collected “For Deposit Only Parking and Transportation” with the applicable parking revenue account number.

6. Sign the report and give it to the Office Assistant who is balancing today’s paperwork.

DAILY BALANCING PROCEDURES

1. The Parking Office Assistant balancing the paperwork for today should Close Out the API cash drawer (on-line citation payments) in the morning by 8:00a.m. Select Menu => Register, login with your password; Select Register => Register Tapes, press Ctrl-B (previous) until you see Sales API cash drawer name; Select Items Listing => Close Out => OK

2. Next, generate the following PowerPark closing reports: Receipt Payments Report sorted by cash drawer (Main => Reports => Payment Transactions => Register Payment Summary by cash drawer; enter yesterday’s date, highlight cash, check, master card, visa); and Receipt Payments Report sorted by payment type (Main => Reports => Payment Transactions => Register => Payment Summary by cash drawer; enter yesterday’s date, highlight cash, check, master card, visa)

3. Prepare the Daily Deposit Summary. (Addendum B) This report summarizes the money collected by general ledger parking revenue accounts and by payment methods. Use the Register Receipt Payments Reports sorted by cash drawer to enter the data into the excel spreadsheet. (Addendum C)

Add all F/S permits - by cash drawer - by cash & checks => enter total under Acct#43631 cash/check column

Add all F/S permits - by cash drawer - by Visa & MC => enter total under Acct #43631 credit card column

Add all citations - by cash drawer - by cash & checks => enter total under Acct #43632 cash/check column; check

information booths for citation payments

Add all citations - by cash drawer - by Visa & MC => enter total under Acct #43632 credit card column

Add all Tows - by cash drawer - by cash & checks => enter total under Acct #44001 cash/check column

Add all Tows - by cash drawer - by Visa & MC => enter total under Acct #44001 credit card column

Add visitor revenue - by information booth shifts - by cash & checks => enter total under Acct #44026 cash/check column; do the same for visitor revenue sold from the main office

Add all student permits - by cash drawer - by cash & checks => enter total under Acct#44028 cash/check column

Add all student permits - by cash drawer - by Visa & MC => enter total under Acct #44028 credit card column

Include miscellaneous revenue such as gate cards and special events => enter total under Acct #44041

4. Your totals should equal the cash and checks collected and credit card transactions of the prior day’s activity. These totals are verified to the Receipt Payments Report sorted by payment type. (Addendum D)

5. Compare the Cash and Checks Collected report to the Register Receipt Payment Report sorted by cash drawer. (Addendum C) If applicable, record any overages/(shortages).

6. Verify the Information Booths - Daily Booth report (Addendum E); verify change fund amount, visitor/temporary permits issued and token distribution and inventory. The revenue collected should be the same amount as reported on the Receipt Payments Report sorted by cash drawer.

7. Prepare the deposit ticket. On the deposit ticket, record the cash and checks amount collected, the PeopleSoft journal entry number and the tamper resistant bag number.

8. Put the cash and checks into a tamper resistant bank bag. The cash and tape (from money counter) goes into the top portion; the checks, deposit ticket (original and one copy), and calculator tape goes into the bottom portion of the bag. (Addendum F) Do not seal the bag until all paperwork has been completed and reviewed.

9. Prepare the PeopleSoft on-line journal entry (refer to PeopleSoft journal entry workshop handout). The revenue information, revenue account number and revenue collected, is taken directly from the Daily Deposit Summary.

10. Record each credit card terminal (front office and tow lot) as a separate line item.

11. A supervisor will verify all paperwork, money, closing reports, and journal entry.

12. After the paperwork has been approved by the Assistant Director, prepare Money Transmittal (Addendum G), seal money into tamper resistant bag and take to Vault Services for deposit. See Vault Services checklist below.

Checklist of paperwork for Assistant Director:

✓ PeopleSoft Journal Entry

✓ Daily Deposit Summary and/or manual log from information booth

✓ Receipt Payments Report sorted by payment type

✓ Deposit ticket and credit card settlement report.

Checklist of paperwork for Vault Services/General Accounting

✓ Deposit tickets – 4 copies; original and one carbon copy placed in tamper resistant bag with cash and checks section; original slip taped to a letter size sheet of paper for General Accounting; one copy to Vault Services

✓ On deposit ticket record (1) PS journal reference number and (2) bag number

✓ PeopleSoft Journal Entry

✓ Credit Card Settlement – tape original settlement to a letter size sheet of paper; also include one photocopy

Checklist of paperwork for Parking Office:

✓ PeopleSoft Journal Entry - photocopy stamped ‘COPY’

✓ Daily Deposit Summary

✓ PowerPark Register Receipt Payment Report sorted by payment type (cash, checks, credit cards)

✓ PowerPark Register Receipt Payment Report sorted by cash drawer

✓ Credit Card Settlement – photocopy

✓ Daily Booth Report and/or Manual Temporary permit log

✓ Photocopy of checks stamped ‘For Deposit Only’ for deposit

Checklist of paperwork for filing student and faculty/staff postings

✓ Register Tape Items Listing

To sell a temporary or punch-out permit, refer to Section IV – Register – How to sell a Permit.

Last updated: Tuesday, May 8, 2007 Department: Finance & Operations

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