GPI 081 – Do not put employees in a bad position accepting cash; get two present for protection!

In order to protect the reputation of your employees receiving cash, require two to be present to accept and count cash receipts.  In most companies, payments from business customers are normally received now in the form of wire payments or hard checks.  Receipts from business customers are rarely in the form of cash so when these payments occur, require that two employees independently count the cash received in front of the customer, write out a receipt stamped “Paid” and the date and enter the initials of the person receiving the payment.  Give a copy to the customer and retain one to show the procedure was followed.  With two employees independently counting the money, there is no question how much was received from the customer and everyone understands how much should be deposited when it is taken to the bank.

A further check on this process is to have a third independent employee take the monies to the bank.  Before accepting the cash, have the third person sign to accept the total dollar amount.  You can also ask customers to pay with a check, wire transfer or allow for automatic debits to eliminate handling cash in any form.