The University of Virginia is committed to safeguarding University assets and has established requirements governing cash receipts and handling in order to reduce the risk of misappropriations.
The University discourages departments from collecting cash and encourages, where practical, departments to accept credit cards or checks for payment. If accepting cash cannot be avoided, departments must establish appropriate internal controls in accordance with this policy. Each collection point may: have different requirements for receipting, use different numbers of employees, and deposit at different locations. Appropriate departmental fiscal personnel must perform all receipting, recording, and depositing of cash and other monetary instruments. Departments are advised to use remote deposit for checks, and the nearest bank location/night depository for cash/coin deposits whenever possible.
The financial institutions that the University uses for commercial banking services.
Currency and coins.
The collection, recording, safekeeping, and deposit of cash and other monetary instruments.
Checks and money orders.
Documentation that shows vendor name, address, items purchased, cost, and date.
The process of using a desktop scanner that creates images of checks that can be deposited to a bank account without physically depositing at a bank branch or UVA Cashier’s Office.
The process of safeguarding assets by assigning the authorizing, recording, and reconciling of transactions to different individuals. This practice assists in detecting errors, deterring improper activities, and mitigating collusion opportunities.
All University employees involved with the collection of cash and other monetary instruments must comply with the University’s requirements governing cash receipts and handling as set forth in this policy. Departments should avoid operations in which cash is accepted. When accepting cash cannot be avoided, departments must establish appropriate internal controls and follow cash handling procedures. These controls must include proper segregation of duties, securing cash and other monetary instruments appropriately, and depositing in a secure and timely manner.
University employees involved in receipting must adhere to the following requirements:
Any requests for exceptions to this policy, e.g., less than $100 with adequate safekeeping facilities, must be referred to the Director of Financial Reporting. Certain situations, such as inability to meet deadlines for processing during peak workload periods may justify an extension of the depositing requirements and will be considered by the Director of Financial Reporting on an exception basis.
All cashiering operations are subject to review by internal and external auditors. Departments are required to show that all receipts are related to a deposit and all deposits are entered into the University’s Integrated System General Ledger.
Compliance with Policy:
Failure to comply with the requirements of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination or expulsion in accordance with relevant University policies.
Questions about this policy should be directed to the Contact Office.
Procedures are currently under revision. Any questions should be addressed to the Contact Office.