FINANCIAL POLICIES & PROCEDURES MANUAL - Ministry of Health

HSSP Financial Policies & Procedures Manual
_____________________________________________________________________________________
o Cashiers are prohibited from cashing personal cheques and making unauthorised
advances;
o Original (no photocopies) receipts or vouchers bearing the signature of the payee support
all disbursements from petty cash accounts.
o Petty cash accounts are reconciled monthly by the cashier along with a person other than
the custodian.
o Surprise counts of petty cash are made periodically by a person other than the custodian.
6.3.2 ESTABLISHING PETTY CASH FUND
Petty Cash shall be established with a limit not to exceed US$1,000 with a maximum single
payment of US$500 for central level and US$ 200 for filed offices (National Programs, PHD,
and eligible ODs)
Procedural steps in Opening Petty Cash Fund:
1) The Accountant prepares a Request for opening a petty cash fund using the prescribed
form. The leader of the FMG checks the request and makes the appropriate
recommendation on the request.
2) The request should be approved by the Program Director or Program Coordinator.
3) The approved request will be forwarded to the Accountant for cheque preparation. After
approval of disbursement voucher the cheque shall be cashed by the custodian through
the bank.
4) The receipt of fund shall be automatically posted in the “Debit” column of Petty Cash
Book.
5) The entry in the General Ledger to record the establishment of petty cash fund is:
Dr. Petty cash fund xxxx
Cash in Bank
xxxx
6.3.3 PETTY CASH CONTROL
The petty cash advance cheque must be converted to cash and kept by the Custodian in a
lockable safe box in a locked vault.
The Accountant should make unannounced verifications (“spot checks”) of all petty cash funds
at irregular times (at least once a month) to assess the propriety of the transactions and to ensure
that the funds are adequately protected against loss or misuse. Either casher or accountant should
hold the key or combination code of the safe. No individual person who could hold both.
6.3.4 PETTY CASH CLAIMS
All expenditures should have the approval of the supervising officer responsible for the
budget.
A pre-sequential ordering numbered Petty Cash Payment Voucher (PCPV) (with
appropriate supporting documents) must be used for every payment from a petty cash fund
and for reference to record into a Petty Cash Book.
The payee must sign for the receipt of the payment and the Custodian must sign that the
payment has been made.
All receipts and/or vouchers that are submitted for reimbursement should be annotated
“paid” in a manner that will prevent their reuse.
If disbursements are infrequent, the Custodian should check the fund at least once a week and
verify that no differences occur.
Second Health Sector Support Program (HSSP2) Financial Policies & Procedures Page 46 of 144