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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFIN 030-001 Cash Receipts ProcedureCITY PROCEDURE Procedure Title: CASH RECEIPTS PROCEDURE Procedure Number: FIN 030-001 Reference: X Date Originated: November 2008 Date Revised: Approval: Chief Administrative Officer 7 / . Point of Contact: Manager, Accounting Services Procedure Objective To provide procedures related to the safeguarding of cash and the receipt and deposit of cash proceeds. Index 01 Definitions 02 Forms 03 Mail Opening 04 Receiving Payments 05 Recording Payments 06 Cash Balancing, Bank Deposits and Cash Reports 07 Refunds 08 Safeguarding of Cash/General Section Appendix 1 Counterfeit Bill Form 01 Definitions 01.01 Cash — coins, bank notes, cheques, electronic fund transfers, debit and credit card transactions. 01.02 Cash Report — form to be completed when summarizing the cash collected and deposited. 01.03 Cash Summary or Balancing Report - a report printed from a Point of Sale System/computer that summarizes the total day's or shift's transactions by payment type (e.g., cash, cheque, debit, Visa and Mastercard). 01.04 Cashier — City employee assigned cash handling responsibilities. 01.05 City — The Corporation of the City of Pickering. 01.06 Counterfeit Bill Form — form to be completed when staff detect a counterfeit bill. 01.07 Counter Cheques — a blank cheque given to customers who have run out of cheques or whose cheques are not yet available. 01.08 Currency — coins and bank notes. 01.09 End of Day Receipt or Report - a receipt or report printed from a payment terminal that summarizes the total day's or shift's transactions by card type (e.g., Visa, Mastercard and debit). 01.10 Mail Log - form to be completed by mail opening staff to record the cheques received in the mail. 01.11 Payment Terminal — a device used to process debit and/or credit transactions. 01.12 Point of Sale System — a computer used in place of a cash register to record transactions, track inventory, handle credit and/or debit payments and print receipts and reports. Procedure Title: Cash Receipts Procedure Page 2 of 10 Procedure Number: FIN 030-001 02 Forms 02.01 Cash Report forms have been specifically designed for each area of the City that receives cash. 03 Mail Opening 03.01 A mail opening location is permanently designated where payments are expected to arrive. The location is restricted from public view and access. 03.02 Immediately upon receipt, the employee who is opening the mail endorses the back of the incoming cheques with a stamp that includes: a) "For deposit only by the City of Pickering "; b) Current date; and c) Stamp identification number. 03.03 All payments received should be forwarded to the Finance Section of the Corporate Services Department on the same or next business day for deposit. 03.04 Where certain sections or locations may receive cheques in the mail, consideration should be given to recording all cheques in a log (e.g., due to the volume or frequency of cheques received), which should be reconciled to the deposit records. 04 Receiving Payments Coins, bank notes, cheques, debit, Visa and MasterCard are all acceptable payment methods. However, departments may restrict the payment methods accepted for their areas with the Treasurer's concurrence. The maximum dollar amount accepted for a credit card transaction is $2,500. Certain revenues, as prescribed by the Treasurer, are not eligible for payment by credit card. With the exception of registration for Recreation programs, credit card payments for services are not to be taken over the telephone. 04.01 Currency - Currency is counted in front of the customer, making change before placing it into the cash drawer or cash box. The cashier ensures authenticity of the bank notes received by checking every note through a counterfeit bill detector. Procedure Title: Cash Receipts Procedure Page 3 of 10 Procedure Number: FIN 030-001 04.02 Cheques - The cashier ensures: a) That no counter cheques are accepted; b) Cheques are made payable to "The City of Pickering"; c) Cheques are not post-dated or stale -dated for goods and services that are to be provided immediately; d) The figures and body of the cheque match; e) They endorse the back of all cheques with a stamp immediately upon receipt as outlined in section 04 (mail opening); f) The note on back of cheque references to what the payment is for; g) All post-dated cheques (when permitted by policy or regulations) received for goods and services are put in abeyance and kept secure; h) Double endorsed cheques of any kind are not accepted; i) Change is not disbursed for payments made by cheque, i.e. cheques cannot be made payable for an amount greater than the service of goods being paid for; and j) Cashing of personal cheques from cash collections is prohibited. 04.03 Debit, Visa and MasterCard - The cashier ensures: a) Signature on card matches customer's signature on credit card receipt, if no signature on credit card then match signature to driver's licence; and b) Circle the approval on the credit card receipt. 04.04 Counterfeit Notes - A supervisor must be notified if a counterfeit note is detected. The supervisor will re-examine the bill through the detector to confirm the initial assessment. Inform the customer that the City's counterfeit bill detector indicates that the bill does not appear genuine and retain the bank note. Have the customer complete a Counterfeit Bill Form (see Appendix 1). Photocopy the bill on both sides and attach the photocopy to the form. Provide the customer a copy of the complete package (completed form and photocopy of bill). Retain the original package for the City's records. Call the Durham Regional Police and indicate a counterfeit bill has been found and ask for an officer to attend. Forward the package to the Accounting Clerk II in the Accounting Services Section. Procedure Title: Cash Receipts Procedure Page 4 of 10 Procedure Number: FIN 030-001 05 Recording Payments All cash is recorded immediately upon receipt and in the presence of the customer if possible. A receipt must be issued to the customer indicating the purpose of payment, amount and payment type. 05.01 Point of Sale System/Computer - High volume transactions should be set up with preset revenue keys. Customer receipt printing function must be turned on to ensure a receipt is printed for every transaction. For each transaction the customer name, description of transaction and type of payment must be entered. Receipt is provided to the customer. Where there are two receipts printed, top copy is provided to the customer and second receipt is attached to the Cash Report. Where possible, supervisory intervention and/or approval is required for all voids and cancellations. All voided cash receipts should be retained and attached to the Cash Report. At the close of the business day (or end of shift) the responsible staff person closes the computer terminal and prints the Cash Summary or Balancing Report to be used for balancing the cash collected. 05.02 Manual Receipts — A sequentially pre -numbered manual receipt form is completed and issued for payments received. Manual receipt forms are to be issued in numerical sequence, and are used to record all payments received, including partial payments. Manual receipt forms are available from the Financial Services cashier staff, who are responsible for tracking their issuance and, once issued, become the responsibility of the department. When completing a manual receipt form, it must include the customer's name, address, amount paid, any previous amounts owing (if applicable), payment method (cash, Visa, etc.), purpose of payment, and account allocation (include net and any tax distribution). Procedure Title: Cash Receipts Procedure Page 5 of 10 Procedure Number: FIN 030-001 Manual receipt forms are three-part: the original copy is given to the customer, the yellow copy is attached to the daily cash report, and the pink copy may be kept by the department for record keeping or in abeyance if there is money still outstanding. When cancelled or spoiled, "VOID" is written across the manual receipt form, and it is sent to the Accounting Clerk II in the Accounting. Section. 05.03 Cash Register — High volume transactions should be set up with preset revenue keys. Customer receipt printing function must be turned on to ensure a receipt is printed for every transaction. Where possible, use of the no -sale key requires supervisory intervention or approval. Where possible, supervisory intervention and/or approval is also required for all voids, cancellations or other alterations to cash register tapes. All voided cash register receipts should be retained and attached to the Cash Report. At the close of the business day (or end of shift) the responsible staff person clears the cash register for the following day and prints the cash register tapes to be used for balancing and preparing deposit. 05.04 Payment Terminals — Where possible, payment terminals are configured to require supervisor password authorization to process refunds and void transactions. Debit or credit card refunds may only be processed against the original card. The payment terminal produces an "End of Day" receipt or report that records the total day's or shift's transactions by card type (e.g., Visa, MasterCard and debit). At the close of the business day (or end of shift), the supervisor clears the merchant terminal for the following day and prints the "End of Day" receipt or report. The payment terminal "End of Day" receipts or reports are retained to support the Cash Reports. All records containing credit card details are kept in a secure area with access restricted to only those employees who require it. 06 Cash Balancing, Bank Deposits and Cash Reports 06.01 Point of Sale System / Computer — At the end of the day or shift, the change float is counted and separated from the cash received. The remaining cash (coins, bank notes and cheques) is counted and the total bank deposit amount is recorded on the Cash Report. Procedure Title: Cash Receipts Procedure Page 6 of 10 Procedure Number: FIN 030-001 a) Close workstation or sign off computer terminal. Print Cash Summary or Balancing Reports from system. b) If a payment terminal is used, close the terminal and print the "End of Day" receipt or report. Record the total debit and credit card deposits on the Cash Report. c) The cash collected, which includes debit and credit card deposits, is reconciled to the Cash Summary or Balancing Report. d) Any differences are recorded as either cash shortages or overages on the Cash Report. e) Significant shortages/overages (over $5.00) are investigated and resolved to the extent possible and adequate explanations are documented on the Cash Report. f) A supervisor reviews the Cash Report and supporting documentation to verify its accuracy, and signs the report to evidence his or her review. g) Cash Reports and supporting documentation are forwarded to Accounting Services. h) A bank deposit form is completed in triplicate. The original and a copy of the deposit form, along with the cash and cheques are sealed in a bank bag. i) The number of the bank bag and the deposit amount is recorded on the Cash Report. j) A copy of the bank deposit slip is also attached to the Cash Report. k) The sealed bank bag is picked up by the City's courier or armoured car for deposit into the City's bank account. 06.02 Manual Receipts — At the end of the day or shift, the change float is counted and separated from the cash received. The remaining cash (coins, bank notes and cheques) is counted and the total bank deposit amount is recorded on the Cash Report. a) If a payment terminal is used, close the terminal and print the "End of Day" receipt or report. Record the total debit and credit card deposits on the Cash Report. b) The cash collected, which includes debit and credit card deposits, is reconciled or balanced to the manual receipt forms. c) Any differences are recorded as either cash shortages or overages on the Cash Report. d) Significant shortages/overages (over $5.00) are investigated and resolved to the extent possible and adequate explanations documented on the Cash Report. e) A supervisor reviews the Cash Report and supporting documentation to verify its accuracy, and signs the report to evidence his or her review. Procedure Title: Cash Receipts Procedure Page 7 of 10 Procedure Number: FIN 030-001 f) Cash Reports and supporting documentation are forwarded to Accounting Services. g) A bank deposit form is completed in triplicate. The original and a copy of the deposit form, along with the cash and cheques are sealed in a bank bag. h) The number of the bank bag and the deposit amount is recorded on the Cash Report. i) A copy of the bank deposit slip is also attached to the Cash Report. j) The sealed bank bag is picked up by the City's courier or armoured car for deposit into the City's bank account. 06.03 Cash Register - At the end of the day or shift, the change float is counted and separated from the cash received. The remaining cash (coins, bank notes and cheques) is counted and the total bank deposit amount is recorded on the Cash Report. a) Close the payment terminal and print the "End of Day" receipt or report. Record the total debit and credit card deposits on the Cash Report. b) The cash collected, which includes debit and credit card deposits, is reconciled to the cash register tapes ("Z" reading). c) Any differences are recorded as either cash shortages or overages on the Cash Report. d) Significant shortages/overages (over $5.00) are investigated and resolved to the extent possible and adequate explanations documented on the Cash Report. e) Ideally, staff handling cash should not complete the Cash Report. If this is not practical, a supervisor reviews the Cash Report and supporting documentation to verify its accuracy, and signs the report to evidence his or her review. f) Cash Reports and supporting documentation are forwarded to Accounting Services. g) A bank deposit form is completed in triplicate. The original and a copy of the deposit form, along with the cash and cheques are sealed in a bank bag. h) The number of the bank bag and the deposit amount is recorded on the Cash Report. i) A copy of the bank deposit slip is also attached to the Cash Report. j) The sealed bank bag is picked up by the City's courier or armoured car for deposit into the City's bank account. Procedure Title: Cash Receipts Procedure Page 8 of 10 Procedure Number: FIN 030-001 07 Refunds 07.01 All refunds require a Supervisor's intervention or approval and are subject to their authorized signing limits and scope. Documentation is retained of the individual's name, address and contact information. 07.02 Refunds are usually made in the same manner in which they are received (i.e., refund for a payment by credit card is by crediting the customer's same credit card). All electronic funds transfers, cash or cheque payments are refunded by cheque. 08 Safeguarding of Cash/General Section 08.01 Under no circumstances are cash proceeds to be used for making loans, advances or to pay for City expenses. All cash received must be recorded and deposited intact. 08.02 Bank deposits over $100 are made the next business day. If less than $100 is on hand, deposits can be made weekly. Regardless of the amount, a bank deposit should be made at the end of each month. 08.03 Wherever possible, employees do not work simultaneously out of the same cash drawer. Where this is not possible, the number of employees accessing cash is limited. 08.04 Wherever possible, segregation of cash duties is provided such that: a) Supervisory staff approve cash register no sale transactions, voids, overrides and refunds; b) Staff handling cash should not perform the cash balancing or complete the Cash Report; and c) Accounting staff who reconcile and post the bank deposits to the G/L do not have access to cash receipts. 08.05 Cash balancing is done out of the public's line of vision. 08.06 All cash must be kept in a secure location. During business hours, all cash and cheques are kept in a locked cash register, cash drawer, or cash box. Cash must not be unattended at any time. Any large accumulations of cash are immediately transferred to a safe, if possible. Procedure Title: Cash Receipts Procedure Page 9 of 10 Procedure Number: FIN 030-001 08.07 Cash and cheques received are placed in a safe or a secure location overnight until the bank deposit is made. Cash boxes are stored in a locked desk, filing cabinet, or preferably a safe in a secured office. Access is restricted to only those staff who require it. 08.08 Safe combinations are located in a secure place and records are maintained listing those individuals who have knowledge of the combinations. The safe combinations are changed periodically and whenever there is a change in staff (e.g., terminations or change in position). 08.09 The payment terminal pin pad should be disconnected and secured out of sight at the end of each business day. 08.10 Cash drawer and/or computer must be locked when the workstation or terminal is left unattended. 08.11 Cash drawers are to be locked at all times and cash drawer keys not left on desks or in the drawers. Procedure Title: Cash Receipts Procedure Page 10 of 10 Procedure Number: FIN 030-001 DATE: RECEIVED FROM: TELEPHONE # SERIAL # RECEIVED BY: APPENDIX 1 Counterfeit Bill DENOMINATION DENOMINATION DENOMINATION DENOMINATION THE ABOVE CURRENCY HAS BEEN RETAINED BY THE CITY OF PICKERING PENDING VERIFICATION FROM THE DURHAM REGIONAL POLICE DEPARTMENT. Date Police Called: Incident No.