One of the REALLY BIG Policy debates...
There is a debate around the industry and has been for at least the last 20 years or so about whether or not to have a petty cash fund or make money disbursements from your cash drawer. Arguments can get heated and the list of pros and cons are about equal length.
Having been an Internal Auditor for a very large group of dealerships, I can argue the case for both sides with equal conviction. There is always a risk no matter which you choose, and I would dearly love the meet the organization that does without one or the other.
What I can tell you is that we at AFS Dealers prefer to use disbursements from the cash drawer. My experience has taught me that the petty cash fund walked out the door more often than problems arose with the cash drawer.
From things like "postage due" on a package, to paying a customer for referring a friend to buy a vehicle, the amount is usually reasonable and there is something that makes someone who is responsible for the payment drawer take it more serious.
So, I would like to ask the community: Which do you use? I would really love to hear what your organization does and how it is working for you.
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Seems to me that the best control is a miscellaneous payout system which would require two (2) approvals; 1 from the associate conducting the transaction and one from a member of management.
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Joyce, what is the single most effective, yet least time consuming practice you would recommend a manager use to reasonably assure all payments are accounted for each month?
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Eddie Hight I would say the most effective method to assure all payments are accounted for is daily cash balancing. When you combine this with matching the validated bank deposit slip with the daily cash report, the manager has reasonable assurance that payments are all accounted for.
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