Beancounting
What is "beancounting"?
Beancounting is a job that needs to be after a cash till is pulled from the front desk or thrift store. The staff member counts the money from till, transfers it into the safe, and makes the till ready for the next shift.
The Bookkeeping Toolbox
Get the bookkeeping toolbox (currently located in the Monkeyhouse. It should contain:
- An endorsement stamp for checks received
- Some hard copies of the end of shift form
- Some large envelopes
- Deposit tickets for making deposits at the bank
- A pen or two
The Till
Get the till (or tills) from the front desk or the store. This can happen at the end of the day when the shift is over, or at the beginning of the next day. At the end of the day get the till from the cashier at the front desk or store. At the beginning of the day, get the till from the safe. Make sure that you get the till that has been used. (There may be a couple of fresh tills waiting to go in the safe.)
Each till will contain:
- Cash (bills and coins) received that day
- Checks received that day
- A completed end of shift form
It might also contain:
- Reimbursement slips with proof of purchase receipts attached
- Miscellaneous money receipts
- Cash transfer slips
- Notes about data entry errors that should be corrected in the database
- Copies of receipts for clients to be invoiced
The job
- Get the bookkeeping toolbox
- Get the uncounted tills and the cash box from safe
- Pull up the income report for the day in question
- Check the completed end of shift form for data entry errors
- Print hard copy of income report and manually correct if necessary
- Review the checks.
- Each one should say "TS" for Thrift Store of "FD" for Front Desk. If not, write that on the check. (Note: sometimes the folks in the store write "ST" instead of "TS". We can live with that.)
- Stamp each check with the endorsment stamp.
Count the money
Verify that the cashier who last used the till filled out the end of shift form correctly.
- "Face" the bills and the checks. (That is, put all the bills face up with the dead presidents' heads pointing in the same direction. This makes counting easier and it makes it easier to spot a five in the tens, for instance.)
- Count the checks, the bills, and the coins
- If your count doesn't match what the paperwork says, double check your work and then correct the paperwork by crossing out the incorrect amount and clearly writing in the correct amount.
- If the counts match, then put a check mark next to the amount on the paperwork.
Verify the paperwork
There are places on the paperwork for all the kinds of transactions that typically happen in the course of a day. Verify that they are correct and put a check mark next to them or correct them as necessary. These are:
- Money receipts -- These are standard receipts from the office supply store and are used for miscellaneous sales or donations that aren't covered by the standard receipt.
- Reimbursement records -- for when money goes out of the till to buy something for Free Geek
- Transfer records (both transfers in and out) -- for when money goes from one till to the other or into the safe. (There should be a transfer out of the till that loses money and a transfer in for the till that gains money.)
- Unpaid IOUs -- For when someone borrows money from a till (typically to buy something for Free Geek) and hasn't paid it back at the end of the day. (IOUs that are paid up at the end of the day can be discarded. If someone borrowed money to buy something though, there should be a reimbursement record.)
Transfer out excess money
Leave a standard till.
- Transfer the money from the tills to an envelope
- Transfer all checks, and all 20s, 50s, and 100s.
- Transfer whatever else you need to to make the remaining till come out right ($100).
- Try to leave enough ones and quarters. (See Standard Cash Drawer for details on how much of each denomination is needed for each till.)
- On the envelope, write:
- The date the till was active
- The amount of money enclosed
- Which till (Front Desk or Thrift Store) was being counted.
Other notes OLD STUFF
- Shortly before the end of the shift, get the data corrections from each till and make the corrections in the database, so that the income report will be accurate.
- Record the transfers on the cashbalance spreadsheet.
- When finished, print out a copy of the cashbalance spreadsheet to record what the tills and cash box looked like after the transfer.
- Prepare the deposit:
- Get a blank deposit ticket and fill out
- Normally just deposit all checks, all bills with denominations of five and up, and all but 25 or 50 ones.
- From time to time, deposit excess coins, leaving enough quarters to replensish tills.
- Deposit into our main checking account.
- List checks on the back of deposit ticket.
- Double count and double check the math.
- If extra changes is needed (usually quarters or maybe ones), mark this in the LESS CASH BACK box on the deposit ticket.
- Prepared deposits can go into the safe in the deposit box, while awaiting deposit.
- Make the deposit
- Take the money to the bank (Oregonians Credit Union on NE 20th just south of Sandy). This is easier to do earlier in the day than later on.
- Return the deposit receipt and any cash back (typically rolls of quarters) to the bookkeeper. Note any discrepencies between the prepared deposit ticket and the actual deposit as counted by the teller at the bank.
Recording the transactions in Gnucash
In Gnucash, record the transactions from the shift:
- For the Store:
- Enter the Net Sales number from the income report in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Store" account as "Income:Thrift Store:Cash Sales" as of the date of the shift with a description of "Sales".
- Enter (miscellaneous) Money Receipts as seperate transactions in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Store" account. Each should have an appropriate income account and description. Enter them as of the date of the shift. The total of all Money Receipts entered should match the Money Receipts line on the end of shift form.
- Enter Reimbursements as seperate transactions in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Store" account. Each should have an appropriate expense account and description. Enter them as of the date of the shift. The total of all Reimbursements entered should match the Reimbursements line on the end of shift form.
- Make sure that all Transfers in and out from the end of shift form are recorded in gnucash as well.
- Enter the Till Adjustment number from the end of shift form in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Store" account as "Equity:Adjustments:Petty Cash Adjustments" as of the date of the shift with a description of "Till Adjustment -- Thrift Store".
- Enter the Money for Safe number from the end of shift form in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Store" account as "Assets:Petty Cash:Safe" as of today's date with a description of "Daily Transfer".
- Verify that the balance in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Store" account is $200.00 (two tills at $100.00 each).
- For the Front Desk:
- Enter the Cash number from the income report in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Front Desk" account as "Income:Donations:Cash Donations" as of the date of the shift with a description of "Cash Donations".
- Enter the Monitor Fees number from the income report in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Front Desk" account as "Income:Recycling:Monitor Fees" as of the date of the shift with a description of "Monitor Fees".
- Enter (miscellaneous) Money Receipts as seperate transactions in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Front Desk" account. Each should have an appropriate income account and description. Enter them as of the date of the shift. The total of all Money Receipts entered should match the Money Receipts line on the end of shift form.
- Enter Reimbursements as seperate transactions in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Front Desk" account. Each should have an appropriate expense account and description. Enter them as of the date of the shift. The total of all Reimbursements entered should match the Reimbursements line on the end of shift form.
- Make sure that all Transfers in and out from the end of shift form are recorded in gnucash as well.
- Enter the Till Adjustment number from the end of shift form in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Front Desk" account as "Equity:Adjustments:Petty Cash Adjustments" as of the date of the shift with a description of "Till Adjustment -- Front Desk".
- Enter the Money for Safe number from the end of shift form in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Front Desk" account as "Assets:Petty Cash:Safe" as of today's date with a description of "Daily Transfer".
- Verify that the balance in the "Assets:Petty Cash:Front Desk" account is $180.00 (two tills at $90.00 each).