Your responsibilities

As a cost centre manager and a staff member who receives cash and cheques.

As a cost centre manager

You are responsible for:

  • arranging effective supervision to prevent losses to the council and school and protect your staff from allegations of theft or fraud
  • minimising the cash held by encouraging customers to pay electronically via the council's/school's corporate systems and banking regularly (at least weekly and more frequently where high volumes are received)
  • reviewing the records of income received at your site on a regular basis to ensure that all income has been banked accurately - see below.

Reviewing records

The expected minimum standard is a monthly check - or more frequently if appropriate - to ensure:

  • that paying-in slips are individually numbered on a sequential basis
  • each paying-in slip number banked by your site has been processed to SAP, and the income is coded correctly - If a paying-in slip number is missing on SAP, the reason should be verified for the voided slip
  • all income recorded on the postal log can be matched to paying in slips and SAP records
  • VAT is properly accounted for 
  • income is received gross (but where it is received net of any fees or any expense, it should be recorded gross, with both the income and expenditure recorded separately and associated VAT)
  • all income has been banked promptly.

As an employee who receives cash and cheques

You are acting as a cashier if you receive money or cheques - either over the counter or through the post.

You should understand the rules before starting work. If you don't, ask your line manager to clarify procedures, or contact the Finance helpdesk LINK for guidance.

When you receive cash or cheques, you must:

  • give a receipt for every payment you receive (not necessary for cheques received in the post, unless requested by the customer)
  • put the reference number and any other relevant information for the income on the council documentation to enable the income to be cross-checked with other council records
  • record the income accurately
  • look after the money you receive securely until you bank it, hand it to another employee, or a security collection service. Keep it in a safe or locked cash tin
  • get a receipt if you hand the money to someone else. You should both check how much there is
  • bank the income promptly
  • bank cash intact - don't make cash payments out of money collected
  • account for income properly, including coding it correctly via IBC
  • report a large single payment in cash (over £1,000) to the strategic finance manager (Treasury Management, Banking and Income) via the Finance helpdesk, stating the nature of the receipt, who it was received from and why it was not considered unusual
  • comply with the council’s money laundering procedures.

You must never: 

  • mix your own or anyone else's money with council or school funds
  • accept cash amounts over £10,000.

Processes

Opening posts and recording income

  • When you open a post, try to ensure a second person is present. Always open post in a secure open area with other people around - not in seclusion. 
  • As soon as you identify cash or cheques, record it immediately on a log showing the date received, amount of payment, type of payment, the customer’s details and any relevant reference numbers. The log should be updated with the banking date when the income is banked. A template log is provided here (xls format, 12Kb).
  • Both you and the second person should sign the log to confirm that it is a complete and accurate record of all cash and cheques received.
  • Although the council discourages sending cash through the post, it sometimes arrives this way. In this case, you should write out an official receipt and send it to the payer.

Over-the-counter income

  • You should record over-the-counter income in the receipt book while the payer is present.
  • Always ask customers paying in person to make cheques payable to 'Oxfordshire County Council' or the school if being paid into a special purposes account.
  • Always give a receipt. Complete receipts in ink, and do not alter them. Give the top copy of the receipt to the payer, and keep the carbon copy in the receipt book.
  • Attach any spoiled or cancelled receipts to the copy in the receipt book – don’t destroy it.
  • Mark the receipt book copy with the number of the bank or post office giro paying in slip used to bank the income and the date banked.

Cash tills

  • Make sure the till display can be seen easily by the customer.
  • Each till operator should have a separate till. If this isn’t possible, the supervisor must agree on an alternative procedure with their directorate’s finance business partner.
  • Check the float at the beginning of each shift.
  • Balance the till at the end of each shift. The operator should sign a daily balance sheet.
  • Log any difference between the cash held and the till balance on a daily balancing sheet.
  • Bank cash in full.
  • Record voids and refunds, and keep the supporting documentation for each. You must only refund the customer using the same method with which they made their original payment.
  • The supervisor should check the Z-total (the 'audit roll') to the daily balance sheet. Till operators should not have access to amend Z-totals or the 'audit' roll.
  • The supervisor should sign the daily balance sheet to indicate that they have verified the Z-total to the daily balance sheet and that voids and refunds are valid.
  • Date all till rolls: An independent person should monitor that there are no missing Z-totals. Z-totals are consecutively numbered; they should all be accounted for.
  • The reviewer should investigate any trends on over or under-banking, document the outcome, and take any necessary corrective action. Report any fraud suspicions to Internal Audit 

Cheques

You should only accept cheques to pay for specific county council or school debts or to pay for applications and services in advance.

When you receive a cheque, please verify that:

  • it is signed
  • the words and figures agree
  • it is payable to 'Oxfordshire County Council'
  • it is not post-dated (dated after the day you received it)
  • the cheque is not outdated (depending on the customer's bank account, cheques over 3, 6 or 12 months old may be rejected).
  • On the back of the cheque, write:
    • the name of your school (if made payable to OCC)
    • the cost centre and general ledger code and any invoice or reference number, if appropriate
    • customer's surname and postcode.

You must never:

  • accept a cheque not made payable to Oxfordshire County Council or the school
  • cash a personal cheque for a customer or a member of staff.