Who's Counting Your Cash?

10/27/2016 - By Zachary Farrington

In a world of credit and debit cards, it’s easy to forget the importance of proper cash handling. Hundreds of thousands of dollars disappear from medical practices each year simply because “no one was looking.” 

With this in mind, consider these best practices for managing the cash that flows through your practice: 

Double up. The best way to ensure accountability is simple: Have two people count the cash. At the same time, segregate duties so that the person receiving and reconciling the cash is not the same person who prepares the deposit ticket and takes it to the bank. 

Log it.  Maintain a monthly log of all cash collected. At the end of the month, verify that the cash collected is the same as the cash that was deposited. 

Reconcile promptly. Don’t wait until the end of the day for reconciliations. Have someone balance the morning’s front desk collections over the lunch break and then promptly balance out at the end of the day.

Always get a receipt. It could be as simple as the practice manager receiving an email verifying the amount of cash counted. For example: “$568.48 cash deposit received from Barbara at 1:00 p.m. – morning collections.”

Verify your balance. Use online banking to verify your balance. Accessing deposit records allows you to confirm the amount that went out the door is the amount that was deposited into your account. 

Set the tone. When it comes to handling cash, the message to send to your employees is this: “We trust you to handle cash properly, but we will verify.” Make your cash-handling processes very public, and then clearly show employees that you are enforcing them.

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