Updated March 2012 by Paul McMorran
Daily Cashbook balancing –
Operational Procedures
Background
The daily balancing of the cashbook is a critical process in the smooth running of Bulleen Art & Garden. The cashbook provides us with a great level of detail on many aspects of the business and also is the basis for many of our legal reporting requirements.
The balancing process
There are a number of steps involved in balancing each of the registers, each person will create their own preferred method of balancing but as a general guide there are certain tasks which need to be completed in sequence.
Step 1 – Stop using the register that is going to be balanced
When balancing each of the registers, you need to stop using them for the day before you ring them off.
· Register 1 (yard) is linked to Register 5 (R5 – invoice sales) as they both share the same EFT machine, when you ring off the cash register and the EFT machine ensure you collect the hand written list of R5 payments.
· Register 2 (R2) is a stand alone register and can be rung off separately to the others
· Register 3 (R3) is linked to Register 4 (R4 – invoice sales) as they both share the same EFT machine, when you ring off the cash register and the EFT machine ensure you collect the R4 book.
Step 2 – Ring off the register and EFT machine
Both the register and EFT machine need to be rung off at the same time, if any transactions are completed between the ringing off of both machines the cashbook will not balance.
To ring off the register
1. Get the key for the registers from next to Heather’s desk
2. Put the key into the keyhole on the registers and turn it from REG to Z
3. Hit the big blue CA/amt tend button
4. The register will then start to reconcile itself and print out the summaries, tear off the summary.
a. If it is a Wednesday or the last day of the month you will need to also do a periodic ring-off this is done by leaving the key in the z position and typing in 200 into the register and hitting the big blue CA amt tend button.
5. Turn the key back to the REG position
6. Return the key back to the its home next to Penny’s desk.
To ring off the EFT Machine
1. Hit the blue F key
2. Hit number 1 (one) EFTPOS
3. Hit number 3 (three) TOTALS
4. Type in the password and then hit the green OK button
5. Hit number 1 (one) Settlement
6. The machine will take a couple of minutes to reconcile, once completed tear off the settlement.
Step 3 – Counting out the float
1. Take the register money tray, Z readout, EFT slips and settlement into the office to the money computer.
2. Take the Returns book into the office with you, sign and remove the returns for the register that you are balancing from the book.
3. Put the returns, any gift vouchers, eft slips and summaries to one side.
4. Count out a $200 float, start by counting out the $2, $1 and 50c coins, estimate the value of the remaining coins and add the total value of the coins together. Make up the remainder of the float with the $5, $10 and $20 notes as required.
5. Remove the remainder of the vouchers, cheques and cash etc that does not make up the float from the register tray, put the float directly into the float bag.
a. On some busy weekend days it may be necessary to reopen the register after the float has been counted, if this is the case simply leave the float in the cash tray and return the tray to the register for further use for the afternoon.
6. The float bag is placed in the draw in the bottom safe of the left hand side for use the following day.
Step 4 – Entering the data into the cashbook
1. Turn on the money computer and logon
2. Open up the cachbook excel file. It located in the pubic directory in the cashbook folder.
3. Scroll up or down to the relevant day being balanced and enter your initials and the date which is being balanced into the relevant cells.
4. Count up the amount of cash taken from the register, if a clearance was done during the day you will need to also add this into the cash amount.
5. Start with the R4 register (invoices and deliveries from in the shop)
a. Manually add up the invoice totals listed in the red book for the day, type this total into the R4 reg readout celll in the cashbook
b. Take out the $20 float (please note: the float is $20 not $200 for R4) from the register and count the remaining cash, add the amount to the cash cell for R4
c. Individually count up the EFT slips and the cheques, add the totals to the corresponding cells for R4
d. Cross your fingers and hope the error cell for R4 displays $0 or close to it. If it doesn’t, check that the eft slips and cheques correspond to the red book and that the cash matches up. If it doesn’t, the most likely reason will be due to a transaction not being written into the book, in which case it will need to be added.
6. Balance R3 next
a. Start by typing in the net daily total from the reg read-out into the corresponding cell on the spreadsheet.
b. Enter the number of transactions for the day, from the reg readout into the corresponding cell in the spreadsheet.
c. Add the total cash for the day from the register, including any armaguard drops into the R3 cash cell.
d. If there are any cheques, add these up and add them to the cheques cell for R3
e. Using the eft summary, minus the total eft figure from R4 from the eft summary total, type the resultant number to R3 eft cell.
f. Type the gift vouchers and returns into the returns section of the spreadsheet for R3, make sure that they are correctly allocated to the right department. All gift vouchers are allocated to nursery.
g. Check that the Reg 3 error displays a number close to $0, anything between -$20 and $20 is fine, if it doesn’t….
i. Double check you have typed the correct amounts into the correct cells
ii. Double check you haven’t missed a return or gift voucher, including around the front desk where there may be some strays
iii. Check on the register readout if the cash and eft correspond roughly to what you entered.
1. If the efts are out, check each of the eft slips for declined slips that may have been missed by the reg staff. Also look for amount that don’t look right such as transactions under $5, these sometimes are made by mistake by missing a number when it is being typed into the machine, ie the transaction should have been $55.95 but was put though as $5.95
2. To work out if the cash is out, start by adding the total returns to the cash amount and then compare this to the reg readout cash summary, if they are out you will need to check through the register roll for missed returns.
3. To check for missed returns and errors, remove the register roll and look at each transaction, initially look for straight cashed out transactions, if they are followed by a transaction that is very similar, it is probable that the transaction is a return, check if it has been written up in the returns book and processed. If it has not been process the transaction and hopefully this will solve the problem.
7. Balance R2 next
a. Follow the same steps as for R3, as R2 is not linked to any other register the eft machine total is entered directly into the corresponding R2 cell without needing to deduct any other figures.
8. Balance the R5 Register (invoices and deliveries from in the yard)
a. Manually add up the invoice totals listed on the invoice payments slip for the day, type this total into the R5 reg readout cell in the cashbook
b. Count the cash, add the amount to the cash cell for R5
c. Individually count up the EFT slips and the cheques, add the totals to the corresponding cells for R5
d. Cross your fingers and hope the error cell for R5 displays $0 or close to it. If it doesn’t, check that the eft slips and cheques correspond to the invoice payments slip and that the cash matches up. If it doesn’t, the most likely reason will be due to a transaction not being written onto the payments slip, in which case it will need to be added.
9. Balance R1 (yard)next
a. Start by typing in the net daily total from the reg read-out into the corresponding cell on the spreadsheet.
b. Enter the number of transactions for the day, from the reg readout into the corresponding cell in the spreadsheet.
c. Add the total cash for the day from the register, including any armaguard drops into the R1 cash cell.
d. If there are any cheques, add these up and add them to the cheques cell for R1
e. Using the eft summary, minus the total eft figure from R5 from the eft summary total, type the resultant number to R1 eft cell.
f. Type the gift vouchers and returns into the returns section of the spreadsheet for R1, make sure that they are correctly allocated to the right department. All gift vouchers are allocated to nursery.
g. Check that the Reg 1 error displays a number close to $0, anything between -$20 and $20 is fine, if it doesn’t….
i. Double check you have typed the correct amounts into the correct cells
ii. Double check you haven’t missed a return or gift voucher, including around the yard shed desk where there may be some strays
iii. Check on the register readout if the cash and eft correspond roughly to what you entered.
1. If the efts are out, check each of the eft slips for declined slips that may have been missed by the reg staff. Also look for amount that don’t look right such as transactions under $5, these sometimes are made by mistake by missing a number when it is being typed into the machine, ie the transaction should have been $55.95 but was put though as $5.95
2. To work out if the cash is out, start by adding the total returns to the cash amount and then compare this to the reg readout cash summary, if they are out you will need to check through the register roll for missed returns.
3. To check for missed returns and errors, remove the register roll and look at each transaction, initially look for straight cashed out transactions, if they are followed by a transaction that is very similar, it is probable that the transaction is a return, check if it has been written up in the returns book and processed. If it has not been process the transaction and hopefully this will solve the problem.
10. Collect all the eft summaries (totals) and add together all the total bank amounts. Enter this number into the yellow cell below the eft summ. Once this is entered the eft diff should read $0. If it does not, recheck your additions, if it is still wrong the most likely reason is that there has been an eft transaction in either R4 or R5 that has not been written up and not put into the register. Interrogate the register staff on the day using whatever means necessary to rekindle some memories of what may have occurred. If still no luck, go through the MYOB transactions for the day checking for invoices equal to the difference. Once found, check who entered the invoice and determine if that particular invoice is the issue. If so, add the amounts to the appropriate register and reg readout.
11. Stick the R5 payment summary slip into the R4 book below the R4 payments for the same day. Below the summary slip, write the Book R4 and R5 total (Total R4 and R5 on the spreadsheet), the R4 and R5 take and the difference between the two.
12. Add together all the cheques and enter the total into the cell labelled Pay in Book, the difference should then be $0. If you are doing the money for Sunday, the total needs to include the cheques from Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
13. If you are doing the money for a Sunday or a Wednesday you will need to total up all the armaguard slips for the period. To do this, add the individual amounts on the green armaguard dockets onto the yellow armaguard summary pad. Once totalled, enter this figure into the armaguard cell, hopefully the difference will be $0. If not, recheck figures and calculations.
14. The cashbook is now hopefully balanced. Save and close the spreadsheet. Collect all the reg readouts, eft summaries and returns in a plastic envelope and put them in the pink bucket on Heather’s desk.
Cheques
1. In the same cashbook folder there is a spreadsheet called cheque listing. Open this file and add in the details of each of the cheques for the day. The total should match up with that for the Pay in Book for on the cashbook spreadsheet.
2. Add the date to the spreadsheet and hit the print button, two copies should spew out of the printer.
3. Hole punch one of the copies and put it in the bulk check listings folder above Sally’s desk.
4. From above the safe pull down a Express Cheque Deposit Envelope and the tear out Credit summary book. Fill in the details and follow the instructions on the back of the Express Cheque Deposit envelope.
5. Once completed, seal the envelope and place in the top safe.
6. Call the dirty yard boys and tell them you have some banking to do and they will come up and grab it during the day.
Gift Vouchers
All redeemed gift vouchers need to be marked off in the gift vouchers book, ensure that the price on the gift voucher corresponds with that in the book. Once recorded, shred the gift voucher.