Change Fund Procedures

Change Fund &and Departmental Fund Procedures Form

What Money is Kept in the Change Fund Box?

Change Fund

A change fund is money advanced to a responsible individual for the purpose of giving change for business transactions made within a department. Normally, the department requesting a change fund is engaged in the selling of merchandise or services to others.

Departmental Funds

Departmental funds are monies that have been collected by a department for the selling of goods/services. They can also include the collection of money for non-routine transactions, such as reimbursement by employees for telephone charges or photocopy usage. Such funds should be remitted promptly to the Financial Services.

Note: petty cash money/receipts are NOT to be stored in the change fund box and vice versa! Please use the cash boxes specifically set aside for their designated purposes! If you have been using petty cash to make change for customers, and do not currently have an authorized change fund, please come in and apply for a change fund.

Change Fund Forms

Application for change fund - this is for long-term change fund use (e.g. for use in a new vending machine).

Application for petty cash fund - this is for temporary use of small purchases, reimbursements or transactions in which cards, CPOs or POs are not logical to use (e.g. to reimburse swap meet entry fees used during new student orientation).

Application for temporary change fund - this was created during the Pandemic for departments who need an additional temporary change fund but may not need it once business has resumed to normal operations (e.g. Mail Center needed this to cover their funds on the days that the Cashier's Office could not accommodate them).

Bring the applicable completed form to the Cashier’s Office to receive the change fund.

What is Allowable for Collecting Cash and Checks?

1. Auxiliaries are allowed to sell merchandise and services.
2. Departments are allowed to receive checks from donors. However, such checks should be forwarded immediately to the Development Office, which is responsible for depositing the funds with Financial Services and providing a receipt to the donor. Departments are also allowed to be reimbursed by students and outside parties for costs of supplies. They may also collect cash and checks for professional activities (seminars, conferences, lunches, dinners, etc.).
3. All departments may collect funds for personal use of copy machines, long-distance telephone, fax, etc.
4. As a general rule, academic and support departments (non-auxiliary) may not collect cash or checks for sales of inventory or services without prior approval from the Administration VP.
5. As a general rule, in order to comply with tax reporting requirements, student and office supplies (books, paper, diskettes, computer peripherals, etc.) should only be sold by the BYUH Store rather than by other departments.

How Should Cash Collections be Handled?

1. Give the customer a receipt! All cash transactions should be receipted. If an electronic cash register, which produces a receipt, is not used, then the department should use a numerically controlled BYUH two-part receipt. This rule does not apply to extremely small individual transactions, such as reimbursement for personal copy usage.
2. Cash and checks should be secured at all times.
   
   1. Cash register drawers or change fund boxes should remain closed and locked except when transacting business.
   2. In the absence of a cashier, all funds should be deposited with Financial Services, locked in a departmental safe, or secured in a locked filing cabinet.
3. Each cashier is responsible for his or her own “cash drawer”. End-of-shift closeout procedures should be performed every time an employee completes work for a particular shift.
4. End-of-shift closeout procedures include:
   
   1. Cashier to count all cash, checks and credit cards.
   2. Cashier to balance cash and checks against sales (as per cash register or log).
   3. Cashier to account for over/short.
   4. Cashier to prepare “Cashier’s End-of-Shift Form”.
   5. Separate verification (preferably by supervisor) of cash/check count and accuracy of “Cashier’s End-of-Shift Form”.

What is the Sales Log used For?

If using the receipt book in place of a cash register, a sales log must kept. This means every time a receipt is written, an accompanying entry to the log is made. The sales log serves as documentation of the cash collected. When making a deposit to the business office, attach a copy of the log. The total amount in logged sales will equal the amount of cash that is being deposited.

Although there is no need to write a receipt for extremely small transactions, such as personal copy/print money collected, the transaction should be recorded in the log. Simply recording the date, the amount, and a quick description of what the money was collected for will do. The importance of written documentation that correlates with cash collected can not be stressed enough!

What are the Procedures Regarding Deposits?

1. Deposits of collected cash and checks should be made at the Cashier's Office at least weekly, or whenever collected funds exceed $50.
2. Cash or checks should never be held over a weekend, except for those campus departments, which are open for business on the weekend and have been pre-approved to hold cash and checks. In such circumstances, a deposit should still be made on Friday of all funds collected previously during the week.
3. A BYUH Departmental Deposit Form should accompany all deposits made with Financial Services. The deposit form should be prepared completely and accurately and should be signed by the preparer and a supervisor who has verified the accuracy of the deposit. Verification includes the physical counting of all cash and checks.
4. To ensure personal safety, “After Hours” deposits should be taken to Financial Services by two employees.
5. Deposits may be made at the Cashier’s Office during normal business hours or may be deposited into the night deposit box at any time.

Checklist for Making a Deposit

A complete deposit includes the following:

• An accurately completed BYUH Departmental Deposit Form.
• Supporting documentation of sales: either cash register tape(s), or sales log.
• The cash and checks secured in the plastic deposit bag

Tips on using your Electronic Departmental Deposit Form

1. Open the deposit form saved under _____________________________________
2. .Point cursor to the “Deposit Form Template” tab.
3. Right-click the tab.
4. When the menu comes up, select “Move or Copy.”
5. Check the “Create a Copy” box
6. Click OK
7. Fill out the form—make sure you are working on the COPY of the template—not the original, blank template!
8. Print the form two times (make sure the preparer and verifier have signed both copies), or if signing twice seems burdensome, make a photocopy of the signed and completed form.
9. After printing, right-click the “Deposit Form Template (2).”
10. When the menu comes up, select “Delete.”
11. Click OK.
12. Now, you should have 2 hard copies of the deposit form and a computer screen that only the “Deposit Form Template” tab available.
13. Take your deposit and both copies of the deposit form to Rita, the head cashier, at the Cashier's Office window. She will initial both copies, one for her records, and one for your records.
14. Keep your record of the deposit on file.
15. You are now ready to start the whole fun process over!

If you desire to keep a record of your deposit on the computer in addition to the hardcopy on file, the old “save as” trick will work nicely. Simply work directly on the original deposit form and save it as a different name every time—perhaps the date of the deposit. This way, when opening the file named “Deposit Form” it always remains blank.

Access to Cash Funds

1. Change funds and departmental funds should be secured in a safe or locking file cabinet when not in the presence of a designated cashier. Access to the safe should be limited to authorized employees.
2. Combination or key locks to safes and filing cabinets should be changed at least annually or whenever there is a termination or transfer of anyone having access to the safe or cabinet. The head cashier in Financial Services is to maintain a log of changes to department safe combinations and those individuals with authorization for access.