Cash controls for concession stands and fundraisers

Why controls protect volunteers, too

Most booster club cash problems are not theft. They are a missing $40 nobody can explain, a reimbursement paid from the cash box with no receipt, or a deposit made two weeks after the game by someone who has since left the board. Each one leaves an honest volunteer unable to prove what happened.

Controls take suspicion off people. When two volunteers count together and sign, and the deposit matches the sheet, nobody has to wonder.

Before the event

• Start every cash box with a set, recorded amount of change (the “starting bank”)
• Number your cash boxes or bags and sign them out to a named volunteer
• Print blank count sheets and keep them with the boxes
• Use prenumbered tickets or a simple item tally sheet for sales, so sales can be checked against cash
• Set up a payment-app account in the club's name, not a volunteer's personal account

Personal Venmo or PayPal accounts are the most common gap. Money received in a volunteer's personal account is hard to trace, mixes with personal funds, and leaves when the volunteer leaves.

Cash count procedure

Print this and tape it inside the lid of every cash box.

1. 1.At close, two volunteers who are not related to each other count the cash together, in the same place.
2. 2.Count and record bills and coins by denomination on the count sheet.
3. 3.Subtract the starting bank to get the event's cash sales.
4. 4.Record card and payment-app sales for the same event from the device or app report.
5. 5.Compare total sales with the ticket or tally count and note any difference, even small ones.
6. 6.Both counters sign and date the sheet and write their names clearly.
7. 7.Seal the cash and a copy of the sheet in a bag. Keep the starting bank separate.
8. 8.Deliver the bag to the treasurer, or deposit it, the same day or the next business day.
9. 9.The treasurer records the deposit and attaches the count sheet and the deposit receipt to the event file.

Rules that prevent most problems

• Deposit cash whole. Do not pay vendors, refs or pizza deliveries from the cash box.
• Reimburse volunteers by check or bank transfer, only against a receipt, and approved by someone other than the person being reimbursed.
• Never let the person who counts the cash also be the only person who records the deposit and reconciles the bank account.
• Require two signatures, or two approvals in online banking, above an amount set by your board.
• Have someone other than the treasurer review the bank statement each month.
• Never lend the club's money, or cash personal checks from the cash box.

Payment apps and card readers

Card readers and payment apps make counting easier and reconciling harder. Each app pays out on its own schedule, deducts its own fees, and can combine several events in one deposit.

Record each event's sales at the gross amount, the app's fees as an expense, and the payout as a transfer into the bank. Once a month, match the app's payout report with the bank deposits. Gross recording also matters at year-end: gross receipts, not net deposits, decide whether the club can file the 990-N.

When the numbers do not match

Small differences happen at a busy stand. Record them honestly and move on; do not “fix” the sheet or make up the difference from your own pocket, which hides the pattern if one develops.

If differences are frequent or large, change the process rather than the people: add a second counter at the register, simplify prices, or move more sales to card. If you believe money is missing, tell the president and keep the records intact.

Where we come in

Murphy can set up event-level bookkeeping, reconcile the bank and payment apps each month, and give the board a simple report it can review. We give you a scope and a price in writing before anything starts.