The Imprest That Will Not Balance: Unsupported Vouchers and a Silent Shortage
You handle the petty cash imprest of ₹6,000 for a branch office, reimbursed on the 1st and 16th of each month. On the morning of the 15th you count the box and find: currency notes and coins ₹1,190; paid vouchers with supporting bills ₹4,310; an IOU signed by the office boy for ₹250, taken on the 9th to buy postage stamps; a handwritten slip for ₹150 for tea, marked 'sanctioned orally by the Branch Manager'; and nothing else. The Branch Manager is on leave until the 18th, and the Accounts Officer wants the reimbursement statement by 5 p.m. today. You also recall that last month's reimbursement came through ₹200 short of the vouchers submitted, and nobody followed it up. The internal auditor is due next week.
1. Prepare the reimbursement claim with figures, and state how each of the three doubtful items is treated.
Read the worked answer
Establish where the money went. Cash ₹1,190 + proper vouchers ₹4,310 + IOU ₹250 + tea slip ₹150 = ₹5,900 against an imprest of ₹6,000 - an unexplained shortage of ₹100.
Claim: ₹4,310 only, being the total of vouchers supported by bills. This is the amount actually spent for the office and properly evidenced. Present the statement in a form that proves the imprest:
| Particulars | ₹ |
|---|---|
| Imprest fixed | 6,000 |
| Cash on hand | 1,190 |
| Paid vouchers with bills | 4,310 |
| IOU - office boy (recoverable advance) | 250 |
| Tea slip - sanction not on record | 150 |
| Cash shortage (to be investigated) | 100 |
| Total | 6,000 |
Reasoning on each item: the IOU is not an expense and not a voucher - the office boy either repays it or it is adjusted against his salary after written intimation, and it certainly cannot be shown as postage. The tea slip rests on an oral sanction that nobody can verify while the manager is away; hold it as a pending item and put it to him in writing on the 18th, then include it only if he ratifies it. The ₹100 is not a voucher and must not be buried. Claiming ₹4,560 by quietly absorbing the IOU and the slip would misstate the expense and would be the first thing the auditor picks up.
2. What do you do about the ₹100 shortage and last month's ₹200 shortfall, and what controls would you recommend to the auditor?
Read the worked answer
The ₹100: enter it in the cash short/excess register the same day, state it openly in the reimbursement statement, and report it in writing to the Accounts Officer before 5 p.m. Do not make it good from your own pocket, and do not net it off against the tea slip - either action conceals a difference that may recur. A ₹100 gap in a ₹6,000 imprest is small in money but large as a signal: check whether it is a change error, a payment made without a receipt, or a voucher that was lost after payment.
Last month's ₹200: trace it through last fortnight's statement, the reimbursement sanction and the ledger. If the office was reimbursed less than the vouchers submitted, claim the ₹200 now with the reference - it is the office's money and it explains part of today's tight cash. If the cash box had received the full amount, the ₹200 is a shortage and belongs with the ₹100 in the register.
Recommendations for the auditor: pre-numbered vouchers used in sequence; a receipt or bill for every payment however small, with no oral sanctions; no IOUs - staff advances go through a separate advance register with written approval; surprise counts by an officer once a month; replenishment strictly on supported vouchers, with the imprest always reconciling to the fixed figure; and a standing change fund formally sanctioned instead of notes kept aside informally.