Petty cash is a small amount of discretionary funds in the form of cash used for expenditures when it is not feasible to make the disbursement by check or electronic funds transfer. The University requires each petty cash fund to have an approved Custodian, who documents expenditures, keeps receipts, and safeguards the funds. Wherever possible, units should use other disbursement methods (i.e., ePayment, GEMS, BuySite, etc.) instead of petty cash. If petty cash is to be used for human subject testing fees on an on-going research project, a separate human subject petty cash account should be established. If the research subject-testing project is a "one-time" event, the Principal Investigator should request a Cash Advance.
Opening a Petty Cash Fund
Refer to the Accounting Services page for additional information
Maintaining The Fund
Refer to the Accounting Services page for additional information