Petty Cash Procedures and Controls

The petty cash system is part of the school’s internal control system and should be carefully monitored.  Petty cash should be used for small payments of goods or services where the school has no formal account. The petty cash expenditure limit should be set by the Board of Management at say €50 maximum for each transaction and a suggested monthly maximum of €200. These limits should be reviewed annually and ratified by the Board.

  • One person should be responsible for petty cash.
  • All petty cash payments must be made from money in the petty cash box and on no account, should cash received from students or other cash receipts be used to make petty cash payments.
  • All cash receipts should be lodged intact to the school’s main bank account.
  • A separate, lockable box for Petty Cash should be kept safely.

Procedures:

  • The school should draw one petty cash cheque per month to replenish the petty cash funds and the petty cash book should be presented to the principal for signing off.
  • The cheque is then cashed at the bank and the money is put into the petty cash box.
  • When a request for cash is made, a petty cash voucher is filled out for the exact amount of cash given out and the voucher is signed by the person receiving the cash. See example below.
  • When the item is purchased, the shop receipt is handed into the office where it is attached to the petty cash voucher and placed in the box.
  • The petty cash vouchers are entered in the petty cash book in numeric sequence on a weekly basis. See example below.
  • The cash is counted on a weekly basis and agreed to the balance in the petty cash book.
  • The petty cash vouchers are filed in numeric sequence in a lever arch file.

It is important that the petty cash is used only for the purpose for which it was set up and the following should be avoided:

  • Cash advances for payments. If this is necessary, the advance should be authorised.
  • Borrowing cash from the petty cash.
  • Paying wages out of petty cash.
  • Cash expenditure exceeding the limit set by the Board. For any larger items of expenditure either pay by cheque or draw the cash out of the bank separately.  Keep these items separate from the petty cash system.
  • Open access to the petty cash box. Access to the petty cash box should be restricted, with responsibility for the money being clearly assigned. This is to minimise the risk of errors or unauthorised expenditure occurring.

NOTE: The FSSU have developed these templates for internal use for monitoring monthly income, expenditure, budget management, cash flow etc. The use of the FSSU internal templates is optional for schools who may wish to continue to use the IPPN Airgead Bunscoile/Financial Template, CPSMA Accounts templates etc. for their internal use.

If you need any further information please email primary@fssu.ie or phone (01) 9104020.