Occasionally, when petty cash claims are being processed, a query may arise.
Possible reasons for this include:
The person making the claim should be advised that petty cash claims cannot be paid if they are incomplete or without proper authorisation. The claimant should be asked why authorisation has not been obtained and to complete the claim properly.
There could be a perfectly understandable reason for this. For example, there may be only two persons permitted to authorise claims, and they may both be absent. There should be established procedures for dealing with such circumstances. Usually, the query should be referred to someone more senior for a decision.
Alternately, the claimant may simply not have tried to obtain the necessary authorisation. If this is the case, the claimant should be asked to do so.
There may be insufficient supporting documentation as evidence of the expense. For example, the claimant may have forgotten to obtain a receipt, or the claim may be for a local bus fare and there is no receipt. Unless there are established procedures for dealing with such situations, the query should be referred to a more senior person for a decision.
If the petty cash claim exceeds the limit for payments from the petty cash float, the claimant should be asked to make an expenses claim in line with the business's normal procedures.