Cash and Treasury Services

PETTY CASH FUNDS POLICY
Effective:  December 1, 2011

Related Procedures

Policy

The University provides for procurement and payment of services and supplies, however, in certain circumstances due to the timing and nature of transactions, a petty cash fund may be required. These instances should be extremely rare and limited to special circumstances.  The petty cash fund is not to be used to circumvent University procedures and record keeping in regards to purchases and payments. The fund should be a small amount of currency issued and held by departments to cover payments of day-to-day miscellaneous purchases and postage charges. All departments maintaining petty cash funds should exercise controls over their use.

Discussion
Departmental petty cash funds and custodian must be approved by the Cash and Treasury Services Department before they can be established or increased. Each department is responsible for designating a custodian that is responsible for the safekeeping, disbursing, and balancing of the fund. The Cash and Treasury Services Department must be notified and approve any time there is a change of custodian.

The custodian must obtain a receipt for each expenditure reimbursed using petty cash funds. In instances where a receipt cannot be obtained, a Petty Cash Voucher must be completed. It is the custodian’s responsibility to replenish the fund on a regular basis and to reconcile and reimburse receipts and Petty Cash Vouchers on a monthly basis. Receipts older than 90 days shall not be reimbursed.

Any overages in the fund must be deposited with the Cash and Treasury Services Office. Shortages in the fund beyond the control of the custodian are to be repaid using the department's operating funds. Shortages must be fully documented in writing. 

Petty cash funds are to be maintained on an imprest basis, which means the amount of the fund remains constant. Currency and coin plus petty cash receipts in the fund should always equal the authorized amount of the fund. This fund belongs to Clemson University and should be kept on University property at all times. As such, the fund can be subject to surprise count by the Auditing Department, Cash and Treasury Services Department, and the University's external auditors during normal business hours. Department supervisors should periodically perform surprise counts on a regular basis.

Certain restrictions as to the use of petty cash funds have been established by the University. Under no circumstances shall monies be loaned or borrowed from the fund for personal use. The fund may not be used to cash personal checks or to purchase gifts and/or make advances. Mishandling of petty cash funds will be addressed in accordance to the University discipline policy and any other applicable state and federal law enforcement.