_________________________________
David E. Sundstrom, Auditor-Controller
1.
POLICY
Regular cash advances for travel or expenses related
to such travel shall be issued from the revolving
funds used for petty cash disbursements established
for each County department/agency, according to
the provisions of County Accounting Procedure (CAP)
#C.7., Revolving Cash Funds.
As stated in Section 2.7 of this policy, cash advances
for travel should be monitored separately from other
revolving fund activities, and a separate account
should be maintained.
Cash advances shall be made only to Officers or
their duly authorized representatives.
1.1
Purpose
Cash advances are issued to avoid causing
hardship to employees who would otherwise
have to use their own funds when traveling
on County business.
1.2
Authority
1.2.1
Board of Supervisors' Minute Order
Item No. 21, dated March 16, 1999
Established the County of Orange Administrative
Procedure No. 017-02, County Business
Travel and Reimbursement of Related
Expenses.
1.2.2
Board of Supervisors' Resolution No.
85-1684, dated November 26, 1985
Establishes revolving funds, provides
for expense limitation, and authorizes
the functions of the Auditor-Controller
and the Purchasing Agent to be performed.
1.2.3
Board of Supervisors' Resolution
No. 92-1008, dated September 15, 1992
Amends Resolution No. 85-1684 to set
the limit for individual expenses at
$1,000.
1.2.4
Board of Supervisors' Resolution
No. 92-1274, dated November 17, 1992
Revises the policy for the issuance
of cash advances for travel expenses
incurred by Officers and employees.
1.2.5
State of California Government Code
Sections 29320 to 29334
Authorizes the Board to delegate authority
to the Auditor-Controller to establish
revolving funds for the use of any Officer.
1.3
Definitions
1.3.1
Officer
"Officer" includes any elective
or appointed officer of the County,
and any person in charge of any office,
department, service, or institution
of the County, or a division or branch
thereof, and as enumerated in Section
24000 of the Government Code.
1.3.2
Authorized Representatives
An Officer may designate one or more
individuals as authorized to receive
cash advances.
1.3.3
Cash Advance
A payment of cash to Officers, or
their authorized representatives, to
provide for traveling or expenses, other
than automobile mileage, related to
such travel.
1.3.4
Requestor
The person requesting a cash advance.
2.
PROCEDURE
2.1
Cash Advance Request
2.1.1
Cash Advance Request Form
For a cash advance to be issued, a
Cash Advance Request form shall be prepared.
(See Exhibit
I.) Cash advances must be approved
by a person authorized by the Officer.
The person authorizing the cash advances
should not have other revolving fund
(custodian, check signer, or reconciliation)
duties. Advances over $1,000 must be
approved by the Officer, or, in his/her
absence, by another member of management
in the Officer's department/agency.
The person approving the cash advance
shall sign the Cash Advance Request
form in the box marked "Approved
By."
2.1.2
Employee Signed Statement
The following statement shall be included
in the body of the Cash Advance Request
form and signed by the employee to whom
the advance is issued:
"I
accept full responsibility for safeguarding
the above amount advanced from time
of receipt until repayment. I agree
that I am responsible for obtaining
all necessary receipts documenting travel
expenses and will file a Mileage &
Other Expenses Claim with the revolving
fund custodian no later than five (5)
working days after returning from my
trip. At that time, I will repay any
excess amount advanced over claimed
actual travel expenses to the custodian.
I further authorize that any cash advanced
to me that is not claimed or repaid
can be deducted from any amount due
to me from the County of Orange."
The requestor shall sign and date the
Cash Advance Request in the box marked
"Signature of Requestor."
2.1.3
Reasonable Cash Advance
The amount advanced should be reasonable
and approximately equal to the amount
to be used during the travel event.
The cash advance should not be issued
unreasonably far in advance of the travel
event.
2.1.4
Issuance of Cash Advance
The approved Cash Advance Request
form shall be submitted to the revolving
fund custodian, who shall issue the
check for the cash advance. No advances
will be made unless the Cash Advance
Request is properly completed. The person
who physically receives the cash advance
from the custodian shall sign and date
the Cash Advance Request in the box
marked "Received By."
The cash advance shall be issued in
the form of a check payable to the person
whose name appears in the "Name
of Requestor" box on the Cash Advance
Request form. Drawing checks to "cash"
or signing blank checks is prohibited.
2.2
Reimbursement Claim
2.2.1
Mileage and Other Expenses Claim Form
The requestor shall file a Mileage
and Other Expenses Claim form with the
custodian of the revolving fund, itemizing
the actual and necessary expenses. The
claim shall be submitted within five
(5) working days after the completion
of the event for which the advance is
made. Refer to the back of the Mileage
and Other Expenses Claim form for a
description of the types of expenses
requiring receipts. The date and the
amount of the cash advance should be
noted on the Mileage and Other Expenses
Claim form.
2.2.2
Automobile Mileage Expenses Excluded
Mileage expenses for the operation
of a private automobile shall not be
included with cash advances. The employee
should submit a separate claim to the
Auditor-Controller for the reimbursement
of mileage expenses.
2.2.3
Review of Mileage and Other Expenses
Claim Form
The Mileage and Other Expenses Claim
form should be subject to the same review
process required for any other Mileage
and Other Expense Claim form, to insure
that expenses are appropriate and required
receipts are attached. The form must
be signed by an employee who is authorized
to approve such claims for payment.
2.3
Repayment of Unused Portion of Cash Advance
The requestor shall return any unused portion
of the cash advance to the revolving fund
custodian. The unused portion must be returned,
with the Mileage and Other Expenses Claim
form, within five (5) working days after the
completion of the event for which the advance
was made. This repayment shall be in the form
of a personal check, and not cash, made payable
to the Officer, to minimize the risk associated
with the handling of cash.
If a check submitted for repayment is returned
for insufficient funds, the requestor has
not fulfilled this requirement, and may be
subject to service charges and damages as
provided by CAP #B.4., Insufficient
Funds Checks.
2.4
Recording the Receipt of Claim and Unused
Portion of Cash Advance by the Custodian
Immediately upon receipt of the Mileage
and Other Expenses Claim form, the revolving
fund custodian shall sign and date the Cash
Advance Request in the box marked "Claim
Received By," and post the amount of
the claim to the box marked "Amount of
Claim." Immediately upon receipt of any
unused portion of the cash advance, the custodian
of the revolving fund shall sign and date
the Cash Advance Request form in the box marked
"Repayment Received By," post the
amount of the repayment to the box marked
"Amount of Repayment," and deposit
the check into the checking account used for
the revolving fund. The custodian shall otherwise
record and deposit this receipt in the same
manner as other reimbursements to revolving
funds.
A copy of the Cash Advance Request form, signed
by the custodian to acknowledge receipt of
the claim and repayment, if any, shall be
issued to the requestor.
2.5
Reimbursement of Expenses in Excess of Cash
Advance
The revolving fund custodian shall reimburse
the requestor, from the revolving fund, for
any claimed actual travel expenses in excess
of the cash advance. This payment shall be
in the form of a petty cash check, and not
cash, made payable to the requestor, to minimize
the risk associated with the handling of cash.
2.6
Reimbursing the Revolving Fund
When a department/agency wishes to have
its revolving fund reimbursed for cash advance
travel expenses, the custodian shall complete
a Petty Cash/Cash Advance Reimbursement claim
envelope and enclose all Mileage and Other
Expenses Claim forms and supporting documents.
An authorized signer, a person who does not
have custodian, check signer or reconciliation
duties, reviews the envelope's contents for
propriety, signs and seals the envelope, and
submits it to the Auditor-Controller Claims
and Disbursing Section.
Claims for reimbursement for cash advance
travel expenses shall be submitted separately
from regular revolving fund reimbursement
claims.
A more complete discussion of the accounting
for revolving funds can be found in CAP #C.7.,
Revolving Cash Fund.
2.7
Monitoring Cash Advances in the Revolving
Fund
Cash advances for travel should be monitored
separately from other revolving fund activities,
but a specified amount attributable to cash
advances need not be separately established.
For example, a revolving fund of $10,000 may
at various times have $2,000, $3,000, or $4,000
of outstanding cash advances, for which a
separate accounting should be maintained.
Each department/agency shall monitor the outstanding
cash advances on a regular basis.
2.8
Certification of No Advances Outstanding
Signing and submitting the Petty Cash/Cash
Reimbursement claim envelope for reimbursement
of the revolving fund shall represent department/agency
certification that all cash advances were
made in accordance with policies and procedures
established for petty cash funds and cash
advances for travel purposes. Such signature
and submittal is also a representation that
any cash advances outstanding for more than
30 days after completion of the travel event
have been brought to the attention of the
department head and are being actively pursued
for collection at the earliest possible time.
2.9
Unauthorized Expenses
Expenses not consistent with County policy
will not be reimbursed by the Auditor-Controller.
2.10
Use of Purchasing Card/Credit Card Encouraged
In lieu of using cash advances, departments/agencies
may use purchasing cards for employee travel
expenses, or should encourage employees to
record travel expenses on personal credit
cards and seek direct reimbursement using
a Mileage and Other Expenses Claim form, unless
the use of credit cards is not feasible for
a given situation. Eliminating the need for
a cash advance facilitates record-keeping
and reduces the portion of revolving fund
cash tied up in cash advances.
Legal