A day-end cash close for field officers, step by step
The cheapest fraud control a lender can have is a ten-minute count at the end of every day.
The FinanceMe.lk team. . 5 minute read.
Field officers carry more cash than anyone else in a lending company, often for hours, often alone. Most owners trust their officers, and most officers deserve that trust. A daily cash close protects both.
Why daily, not monthly
When cash is reconciled once a month, a Rs. 2,000 difference could have happened on any of twenty-five days. Nobody remembers, the officer feels accused, and the money is rarely recovered. When it is checked the same evening, the officer can usually explain it on the spot: a borrower paid the next morning, a receipt was entered twice, change was given wrongly.
The three numbers
Every officer, every day, should have three numbers:
- Expected: the instalments due on today’s collection sheet.
- Collected: the payments the officer actually recorded today.
- Handed over: the cash the officer gives to the cashier or deposits.
*Expected* minus *collected* is a collection question: who did not pay, and why? *Collected* minus *handed over* is a cash question, and it should be zero.
Step by step
- The officer finishes recording the day’s payments before returning.
- At the office, the officer counts the cash and enters the amount handed over.
- If there is a difference, the officer writes the reason before closing.
- The cashier counts the same cash and confirms the amount.
- The branch manager reviews every close that day and marks shortfalls for follow-up.
Handling a shortfall
Treat the first small shortfall as a process problem, not a crime. Check for duplicate or missing receipts, payments entered against the wrong loan, and money held back for change. Record what was found. A pattern of shortfalls from one person, or receipts entered long after the date on them, is different and needs a conversation.
Signs worth watching
- Payments entered days after the date on the receipt.
- Receipts recorded far from where the borrower lives or meets.
- The same person reversing payments often.
- An officer whose collection rate is high but whose borrowers say they are behind.
How FinanceMe.lk handles it
Each officer closes their day in the app. FinanceMe.lk fills in *expected* and *collected* from the day’s sheet and receipts, the officer enters *handed over* and a reason for any difference, and managers review every close on one screen. Back-dated receipts, payments taken far from the borrower and repeated reversals appear on the fraud alerts page automatically.