Cash Handling Guidance & Best Practices
 
Introduction
The Fall 2021 South Compass edition focused on general internal controls. In this edition, we apply those principles to CASH!! Proper cash collection, security, reconciliation and disbursement are extremely important functions, and those charged with cash responsibilities need to be diligent to minimize the possibility of loss.
 
Established Cash Handling Guidance
The University of South Alabama has adopted guidance regarding cash handling which can be found in the new Cash Collection of University Funds (policy) and Petty Cash (policy), both in the University Policy Library. Below are some highlights from the guidance, as well as additional best practices.

Guidance Highlights
  • Cash and cash equivalents should be deposited only into University established accounts in a timely manner
  • Depositing University cash or cash equivalents into unauthorized accounts is strictly prohibited; the deposit of any University funds into personal accounts is expressly prohibited
  • The use of electronic payment platforms (eg. Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, etc.) is not authorized by the University
  • Deposits should be made daily
  • Cash should be properly safeguarded
  • Deposits should be made intact, meaning expenditures should never be made from a collection (eg. collection should be “gross” not “net”)
  • Checks should be made payable to the University of South Alabama
  • Cash handlers should operate in a secure environment
  • Access to cash should be restricted to the person accountable
 
Additional Best Practices
  • Record cash receipts when received and issue receipts to customers
  • Cashiers should have separate drawers
  • Supervisors should approve all voids or refunds
  • Restrict cash access to as few people as possible
  • Provide safe access (combinations, passwords, keys) only to authorized personnel, and change combinations or passwords at least annually, or when authorized personnel leave
  • Minimize the amount of funds held overnight
  • Count cash in a non-public area that is not easily visible to others
  • Use the buddy system when taking funds from one location to another
Conflicts of Interest

What Are They?
“A Conflict of Interest (COI) is a situation in which an individual or organization has competing primary and secondary interests. A COI may strongly predispose an individual or organization to exploit a professional or an official capacity in some way for personal or organizational benefit. An improper COI occurs when an individual’s or organization’s interests unduly influence judgments concerning professional responsibility.”1

For example, a person might have a loyalty to an employer and also loyalty to a family business. The conflict itself is not necessarily harmful – because it can be managed. But without transparency and management, a conflict may result in bias-influenced behavior or decisions that impact the university, faculty, employees, students, conduct of research, university business partners, etc., which would be inappropriate and likely harmful.

Potential Harms of Conflict of Interest When Not Disclosed and Managed: 
  • Diminished trust, sense of fairness and justice among co-workers
  • Damage to the reputation / integrity of the university
  • Waste or abuse of university resources
  • Corrosion of university culture
  • Violation of federal and/or state law

What does USA have in place to support prevent conflicts of interest? 
  • Policies and procedures
  • Annual COI disclosure and review process for specified employees
  • Guidance for managing conflicts of interest
  • External Professional Activity (EPA) request process
  • Informational COI web page

Policy Spotlight
Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment policy: This is USA’s umbrella policy, under which more specific conflict of interest (COI) and conflict of commitment (COC) policies fall, including the External Professional Activities (EPA) policy, featured below. The COI/COC policy provides general information about USA’s COI/COC program, particularly the annual COI Disclosure process.

External Professional Activities (EPA) policy: This policy defines conflicts of commitment (COC) and external professional activities (EPA), and establishes guidelines for when and how an EPA request form should be submitted for review and approval by a faculty member’s Department Chair and Dean. 

Conflict of Interest Issues - In the News!
Foreign Interest: University of Arkansas
Foreign Interest: Harvard University
Financial Interest: CDC Director
Expert Testimony: University of Florida
Insider Trading: Loyola University Chicago

1LD Claxton, per Bekelman, et al., 2003; Boyd and Bero, 2006; Stark, 2000;Thompson, 1993.
The South Compass is a joint newsletter from the Offices of
Internal Audit and Compliance at the University of South Alabama.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Ethics & Compliance Hotline or Direct Dial 1-844-666-3569