Cash Handling & Deposit Procedures

All payments received by a college employee or student organization must be deposited within 24 hours of receipt at the controller’s cashier office.

Small deposits of less than $200 may be held securely in a department, but must be deposited within 72 hours. At no time should more than $200 in cash or checks be held by any department or organization without the advance approval of the controller.

All deposits must include a completed Daily Deposit Form. Care in transporting funds to the cashier should always be a high priority. Deposits containing cash or checks should never be sent though campus or U.S. mail. The preferred method of transporting deposits is by hand delivery.

All departments must have written procedures for the handling of cash. It is the responsibility of each department to make the provisions necessary to properly safeguard the cash receipts in its area. The college Controller must approve all departmental procedures for the handling of money. Departments with new revenue-generating activities must submit proposed departmental cash handling procedures to the Controller.

Cash and checks should be physically protected through the use of a vault, locked cash drawer, cash register, locked metal box, or the like. All boxes and drawers should be securely fastened such that they cannot be removed.

Cash and checks must not be retained in desk drawers, closets or standard file cabinets since they may be easily accessed with minimal force or have readily available keys.

All checks, money orders, etc. should be made payable to Smith College. No one should accept post-dated checks or agree to hold checks for future deposit.

Starter Checks

All checks must be pre-printed with the name and address of the account holder.
 

No individual is authorized to remove money from the campus for safekeeping, or to use cash funds to cash personal checks for themselves or others. Checks should be made payable to the college and may not be endorsed or “made payable to” any other party. Funds collected may not be used as a petty cash fund.