DEPARTMENTAL CASH COLLECTION PROCEDURES

Transcription

1 DEPARTMENTAL CASH COLLECTION PROCEDURES Issued by Finance Department Cash Office x 4092 March 2002

2 CONTENTS 1 Incoming Payments Page 3-5 Cash Cheques Credit Cards 2 Cash Discrepancies Page 6 3 Referral Fees Page 7 4 Material Fees Page 7 5 Refer To Drawer Cheques Page 8 6 Petty Cash Floats Page 8 7 Individual Petty Cash Claims Page 9 8 Income Received Form Page 10 2

3 1 INCOMING PAYMENTS CASH When dealing with cash payments it is essential to keep the monies in a secure environment until they can be transported by Security to the Cash Office. The following procedures must be adhered to when handling cash: Any time cash changes hands it must be counted back by the person receiving the cash and the amount agreed verbally with the other person. An official University receipt must be issued for any cash taken. Two staff must always collect and count cash. Money must be counted in a secure location accessible only by Northumbria staff, not students or members of the public. Money must be stored in a lockable container in a locked cabinet or safe. The insurance limit for this facility must be agreed with the Assistant Director of Finance. The location of safe keys and knowledge of safe combinations should be restricted to key staff involved in the income collection process. A procedure should be in place for the hand over of keys etc. at holiday times. Whenever feasible no individual should have access to the safe/cabinet on their own. Collections of cash must be sent to the Cash Office on the same or following day via Security. The maximum time allowed between banking is weekly as per the Financial Regulations or when the insurance limit on the cabinet or safe is reached. Till rolls & supporting documentation should be kept for 2 years + current financial year. All income should be banked after the fixed float has been counted and retained. (See section 6 for more details) Banking slips should be completed stating breakdown of monies and state the security tag or security bag number. Two banking slips should be placed in a bag with the cash (areas banking large amount of coin should use the Securitas Coin Only Bags ) and then sealed. The third banking slip should be securely attached to the outside of the bag along with the Income Received/Bankings Made Form + Z readings (Till) Kalamazoo sheet or Car Park Readings. Wherever possible it is advisable for two people to check the amount and initial confirmation on the banking slip. 3

4 Supplies of bags, banking slips, tags, Kalamazoo sheets/receipts and cash collection books are available from the Cash Office on request. The banking slip and supporting documentation should clearly show the sales order number. (If this is not available please quote the customer no). The cash in the bag must match the total on the sales order. A separate sales order should be raised for cash, cheques and credit cards. SAP Cash Accounts must not be used for the following: Refundable Locker Key Deposits Refundable Halls Deposits Advance Rents Advance Tuition Payments Invoiced Sales Tuition Fees Invoiced through SAS In the case of the above items the sales orders should be raised on established Customer accounts. The cash collection book should be completed with the following information: Faculty/Department Member of staff responsible for the cash Number of sealed bags of cash Tag Numbers or Security Bag Number When Security collect the bags they will sign the book that has 3 self carbonated copies. The top two copies are given to Security and the third copy remains in the department. CHEQUES It is not necessary to issue receipts for cheques unless requested by the customer. The cheques should be made payable to University of Northumbria. Ensure the amount in words & figures match and that the cheque is signed and dated. If the customer has a bankcard guaranteeing up to the amount of the cheque, ensure the signature on the card and cheque match. Record the card number, expiry date and card limit on the back of the cheque and if a receipt is issued this should also be recorded. If the cheque payment is for an individual student account this number should be entered on the back of the cheque. 4

5 A SAP sales order should be raised in the same way as for cash. A banking slip is not completed for cheques. The cheques should be sent to the cash office attached to a cheque form. The following should be included on the form: Department/School/Faculty Contact name and telephone number How many cheques attached Total value of cheques Profit Centre/Internal Order Code Sales Order Number Customer Account Number Signature & Date CREDIT CARDS A credit card payment request form should be completed with the following: Department/School/Faculty Contact Name & Telephone Number Customer Name Customer Address Customer Account Number Card Number Expiry Date Start Date if applicable Issue No (This applies to switch & solo cards) Payable Amount Day-time telephone no to contact customer if necessary Date The minimum amount for the PDQ is 5.00 due to the charges incurred. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Switch, Solo & Electron. N.B. We do not accept American Express. If required a SAP sales order must be raised (please see Section 1 for items that do not need a sales order). The form should then be sent to the cash office to process. 5

6 2 CASH DISCREPANCIES In the event of a discrepancy, 10% of the value of the transaction up to a maximum of 10 does not require further investigation but anything over this must be reported. The following procedures must be activated immediately: A Senior Manager (Grade 2 or above) must be informed the day the anomaly occurs. No one should be allowed to leave the office until the Senior Manager gives permission. The Senior Manager will bring in Security if they feel this is necessary. Any other staff must not be allowed to enter the office until the go ahead from the Senior Manager. Staff bags etc. can be searched by Security if the Manager deems it necessary. The Director of Finance must be notified. If the missing money still cannot be traced Senior Management / the Director of Finance will take whatever steps they feel appropriate. This will normally include the involvement of Internal Audit and investigative interviews with members of staff. Staff Management Procedures may be initiated if Senior Management decide this is necessary. 6

7 3 REFERRAL FEES When the number of students who have to re-sit their exams are known, a Sap Sales Order should be raised to Customer A/C No for the relevant amount. Example: 10 Students to re-sit 1 Unit and 10 students to re-sit 2 Units. Item Material Qty Net Price Total A different line item should be used for the number of referred units. The relevant I.O or Profit Centre for each Faculty should be used. The Sales Order number should be quoted on the Referral Fee Details form that is sent to the student. The form should also instruct students to send or present the payment at the Cash Office. The student will be issued with a receipt as proof of payment. When Finance enter the receipt on SAP the students name will be quoted NB: The Customer A/C No must be used by all Faculties. 4 MATERIAL FEES Material fees are collected by Faculties/Schools once a year at enrolment. A till receipt is given to the student. The reconciliation of cash/cheques collected against the z reading of the till is carried out in a secure environment at the end of the session. A copy of the z reading is sent with the cash/cheques to the Cash Office 7

8 5 CASH ACCOUNT REFER TO DRAWER CHEQUES Departments will be informed by memo about any cheques entered on a cash account which are returned from the bank when there are insufficient funds to honour the cheque. It is up to the individual departments to pursue the debt, however, if requested Debt Management will pursue any cheques over 50 provided they are furnished with all the details. If the debt is not cleared then departments must raise credit notes against the original sales order. 6 PETTY CASH FLOATS Access to the petty cash float should be restricted to designated personnel and kept in a secure area. The float should be balanced on at least a weekly basis and any major discrepancies should be reported to a Senior Manager (see section 2). As the petty cash floats vary in amount a benchmark to use for discrepancies is 10% up to a maximum of 10. Anything over 10 should be reported (see section 2) When the float requires a top-up the petty cash claims should be presented to the Cash Office to be reimbursed. The claims must have: Original receipt(s) attached Cost centre & general ledger code(s) Authorised signature Claimants signature Once a year every departmental Manager (not the float administrator) will be requested to sign a confirmation of the float held. They should check at this time that the float is correct, however, Internal Audit can carry out a spot check at any time. The Manager should also spot check the float at least four times each year. If the float is no longer required it should be returned to the Cash Office for the appropriate documentation to be cancelled. 8

9 7 INDIVIDUAL PETTY CASH CLAIMS Petty cash claims are paid out in cash for a maximum of 20 per day. The claim must be brought to the Cash Office for reimbursement, as money cannot be sent through the Internal Post. The claims must have the following details: Original receipt(s) attached Cost centre & general ledger code(s) Authorised signature Claimants signature Failure to provide these details could delay the payment. The following should not be claimed through Petty Cash: Taxi Fares Business Entertainment/Hospitality Any Travel related expenses All Expenditure exceeding 20 should be processed via SAP purchasing. Should individuals purchase items over this limit they can reclaim these via a correctly authorised Expenses Claim Form. The claim form can be found at NB You must attach the relevant receipts and forward it to the Travel Section. 9

10 INCOME RECEIVED/BANKINGS MADE DEPARTMENT/SCHOOL CONTACT NAME TEL. NO *Z Readings/Car Park Readings etc. should be attached to the sheet to support the bankings made. Date Reading No. Amount per Reading Actual Income Received Variance Date Banked SAP Sales Order No. Notes SIGNED DATE