Date Issued Planned Review PGN No: Issue 1 Nov 13 Issue 2 Nov 16 Issue 3 - May 17 Issue 4 - Nov 17

Transcription

1 Standard Financial Instructions Practice Guidance Note Application for the Use of Petty Cash V01 Date Issued Planned Review PGN No: Issue 1 Nov 13 Issue 2 Nov 16 Issue 3 - May 17 Issue 4 - Nov 17 Author / Designation Responsible Officer / Designation May 2018 SFI-PGN Part of NTW(O)51-Standard Financial Instructions Policy Ailsa Miller - Patients Finance and Cashiers Manager Tracey Sopp Head of Accountancy and Transactional Management Contents Section Description Page No. 1 Background 1 2 Introduction 1 3 Petty Cash Expenditure Guidelines 2 4 Storage of a Petty Cash Monies 3 5 Action in the Event of Suspected Theft of Petty Cash 3 6 Fraud and Corruption 4 Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Appendices Individual Petty Cash Voucher Un-obtained Receipt Form Easy reference Flowchart for Process of Accessing Petty Cash Monitoring Tool 1 Background 1.1 This Practice Guidance Note (PGN) provides guidance to Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (The Trust/NTW) staff on the arrangements for the withdrawal, holding and use of petty cash on an as and when needed basis. 2 Introduction 2.1 Trust staff can access and use petty cash; however, staff should only apply for petty cash if the purchases they are likely to make comply with the Petty Cash Expenditure Guidelines. 1

2 3 Petty Cash Expenditure Guidelines 3.1 Petty Cash is intended for patient s travel reimbursements and small departmental purchases where alternative purchase routes are not available. Petty Cash should not be used if the item is available through the normal purchasing procedures via the Supplies Department e.g. Stationery. Finance will review the use of petty cash and applicants may be refused access to it if expenditure is not suitable. 3.2 Borrowing from Petty Cash and the resultant use of IOUs is strictly forbidden. All cash disbursed must be used solely for the purposes of the Trust. 3.3 Permitted Expenditure: All purchases should be of a minor nature and should be under the value of per purchase. If, however, staff require an individual purchase to be over they should seek authorisation in advance by ing the Patients Finance and Cashiers Manager who will then consider the request and respond via . A receipt must be produced for each purchase and under no circumstances should a receipt over the value of be split over more than one withdrawal. E.g. item of split between two separate withdrawals Patients travel expenses All goods must comply with British Safety standards With regard to Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH), purchases must comply with the Trust s Health and Safety Policy 3.4 Non-permitted Expenditure Payment of invoices Payments of wages or the reimbursement of staff travel, subsistence of other expenses such as parking charges, petrol, taxi or public transport fares which must always be claimed through the normal payroll process as there may be possible tax implications Electrical items must be purchased via Supplies Department to ensure that appropriate health and safety checks are undertaken prior to the item being put into use 3.5 If you identify the need for petty cash you should complete an Individual Petty Cash Voucher (Appendix 1). (Note* only Authorised Signatories on the Trust s Signature Look up System will be permitted to authorise the application of petty cash). 2

3 3.6 Once you have completed your voucher and it has been authorised by an authorised signatory for the cost centre you would like to withdraw from, you can present the voucher at your Site Based Cash Office. Please note: Monies will not be issued until the voucher is fully completed with correct authorised signatories and cost centres where indicated. 3.7 Each withdrawal of Petty Cash must be supported by a receipt from the purchase. The receipts will be checked upon return by the Cashier to ensure they are reasonable and appropriate. Staff should not use their own debit and credit cards in advance to purchase items. Receipts and any change from your Petty Cash withdrawal must be returned to the office you received your Petty Cash from within five working days. There will be a three month limit on receipts and reimbursement will not be made if a receipt provided is in excess of three months old. 3.8 Receipts must be produced at all times, however, if any receipt is not available for any reason an un-obtained receipt form (Appendix 2) must be completed and should be signed by the member of staff who received the cash advance together with Authorised Signatory who approved the withdrawal and detailing the reason the receipt cannot be provided. This form should be returned to the Cashiers Office. 3.9 The Cashier can defer payment on any reimbursement of Petty Cash that is thought to be inappropriate Trust expenditure until the matter has been referred to the Head of Accountancy and Transactional Management for a final decision. 4 Storage of Petty Cash Monies 4.1 If Petty Cash monies are not being spent immediately it must be securely stored in a lockable cash-box which must be kept in a lockable facility e.g., safe or drawer at all times. Petty Cash monies must be held separately and it should not be borrowed to replace other monies e.g., Patients Monies Floats or Charitable Funds. 4.2 Access to the monies should be restricted at all times. The maintenance of sound financial control, accountability for the Petty Cash rests with the person who applied for the withdrawal. Adherence to this procedure also provides protection for individuals against possible allegations of financial irregularities or suspicions of theft, should monies go missing. 5 Action in the Event of Suspected Theft of Petty Cash 5.1 In the event of a suspected theft of Petty Cash, the Line Manager must immediately inform the Patients Finance and Cashiers Manager of the incident by telephone. The Manager must then follow this up with an to the Patients Finance and Cashiers Manager giving details of the incident. 3

4 6 Fraud and Corruption 6.1 The Trust is absolutely committed to maintaining an honest, open and well intentioned atmosphere within the Trust and to the elimination of fraud and corruption within the Trust. 6.2 If staff knowingly provide false information within the Petty Cash system this may result in disciplinary action and staff may be liable for prosecution and civil recovery proceedings. In addition, information within the Petty Cash system will be disclosed to and by the Trust and NHS Protect for the purpose of verification and for investigation, prevention, detection and prosecution of fraud. 6.3 Any suspected cases of fraud and corruption will be referred immediately to the Trust s Local Counter Fraud Specialist and investigated in accordance with Trust s NTW(O)23 Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy. 4

5 Appendix 1 PETTY CASH VOUCHER Voucher No *Note Only Authorised signatories registered on the Trust s Signature Look up system can authorise this form. Date: PETTY CASH VOUCHER Voucher No *Note Only Authorised signatories registered on the Trust s Signature Look up system can authorise this form. Date:. Purpose of Petty Cash Expenditure Amount Required Purpose of Petty Cash Expenditure Amount Required Amount in Words:- GRAND TOTAL Amount in Words:- GRAND TOTAL Pounds Only Authorised By*: Pounds Only Print Name Date: Authorised By*: Print Name: Date: Cash Received By: Print Name: Date: Cash Received By: Print Name: Date: Paying Officer: Hospital/ Location: Date: Paying Officer: Hospital/ Location: Date: Cost Centre 98 Subjective Code Sub-Analysis Cost Centre 98 Subjective Code Sub-Analysis 5

6 Appendix 2 Un-obtained Receipt Form Petty Cash Date of Purchase Serial No. of Withdrawal Description of Items Purchased Where Items Purchased Amount Spent Reason why no receipt was obtained Signature of member of staff who made the Purchase Authorised by Date This form should be completed and returned to Cashiers Office when receipts have been misplaced or not received during purchase of goods or services 6

7 Appendix 3 Flowchart for Process of Accessing Petty Cash If Petty Cash is required, does intended purchase meet permitted expenditure guidelines? Yes No Look for alternative routes for purchases/ payments e.g. Supplies, Payroll, Accounts Payable If the amount required is over 40.00, authorisation must be given in advance by ing Patients Finance & Cashiers Manager detailing reason for purchase and total amount required. Complete an Individual Petty Cash Voucher which must be authorised by: a member of staff who is listed against the cost centre on the Trust s SLS system. Monies can be collected from local Site based Cash office Supporting Receipts and any change must be returned to the local Site based cash office within 5 working days. If receipts are not available a non- receipt form must be completed. Staff should not use their own debit/credit cards for purchases. 7

8 Appendix 4 Statement Monitoring Tool The Trust is working towards effective clinical governance and governance systems. To demonstrate effective care delivery and compliance, policy authors are required to include how monitoring of this policy is linked to auditable standards/key performance indicators will be undertaken using this framework. Application for the Use of Petty Cash - Monitoring Framework Auditable Standard/Key Performance Indicators Frequency/Method/Person Responsible Where results and any Associate Action Plan will be reported to implemented and monitored; (this will usually be via the relevant Governance Group). 1. Compliance check of documentation submitted for the use of Petty Cash, to include: Correct Voucher Used Date Completed Voucher No. Completed Details of Expenditure correct e.g. date; expenditure type. Correct Financial Coding completed. Voucher signed by Authorised Signatory. Upon Reimbursement/Cashiers Department Reported to Applicant for correction. Repeated noncompliance will be reported to the Budget Holder 2. Compliance check of Voucher to include: Details of Expenditure appropriate to the use of Petty Cash. Expenditure within authorised limit. Voucher signed by Authorised Signatory Correct Financial Coding is used. Weekly/Chief Cashier Reported to Head of Accountancy and Transactional Management and Patients Finance and Cashiers Manager The Author(s) of each policy is required to complete this monitoring template and ensure that these results are taken to the appropriate Quality and Performance Governance Group in line with the frequency set out. 8