Petty Cash Funds

Update: October 20, 2025

Effective January 1, 2026, petty cash availability for departmental and student expenses will be replaced with the use of departmental PCards, which may be made available for student use as approved.

  • Petty cash funds for human subject payments will remain available and are not affected by this change.
  • All existing petty cash funds for departmental and student expenses must be reconciled and returned to the Bursar's Office by December 31, 2025. The Bursar's Office will send additional communication to petty cash custodians with the next steps and instructions for returning funds.
  • New petty cash fund requests for departmental and student expenses will not be approved.

Additionally, the Bursar's Office will no longer process petty cash reimbursements after December 31, 2025. For small-dollar expenses that were previously reimbursed from petty cash, please use individual or departmental PCards and reconcile the charges via an Expense Report.

While discouraged, if you must use a personal payment method for an emergency reimbursable expense, you may request reimbursement by submitting either:

  • An Expense Report for an Out-of-Pocket cost
  • A Non-Standard Disbursement (NSD) for a Non-Employee Expense Reimbursement

Helpful Resources:

Requesting a New Petty Cash Fund for Human Subject Payments

To request a new Petty Cash Fund for Human Subject Participant Payments or an increase to an existing fund, a Petty Cash Fund Request form and the IRB approval for the study must be submitted to the Bursar's Office.

Each request should have one Fund Custodian responsible for documenting payments, maintaining disbursement logs, and safeguarding the funds. The Principal Investigator, or other Authorized Approver, must confirm approval on the request form.

Request may be approved for up to $1,000 based on need and current availability of funds. Fund requests that exceed these circumstances should be sent to bursar@rice.edu for further review.

Wherever possible, alternative payment methods should be used instead of petty cash, such as gift cards or a Non-Standard Disbursement (NSD) request for Research Participant Payments.

Using Petty Cash Funds for Human Subject Payments

A Petty Cash Voucher should be submitted through the Bursar's Office to record cash that has been distributed to participants. Include the appropriate funding source (sponsored project, faculty fund, department fund, etc.) on the voucher.

The Fund Custodian must provide supporting documentation for the cash issued to participants. All disbursement logs should be compliant with privacy guidelines.

If a cash replenishment is needed, the Petty Cash Voucher should be delivered in person to the Bursar's Office. If a cash replenishment is not needed, the Fund Custodian may email a completed Petty Cash Voucher with supporting documentation to bursar@rice.edu.

The Bursar's Office will process and submit the Petty Cash Voucher, and costs will be recorded to the funding source listed on the form.

Petty Cash Reconciliation

The Bursar's Office is required to reconcile Petty Cash Funds. Fund Custodians will be contacted periodically by the Bursar's Office for certification of active Petty Cash Funds.

To reconcile a Petty Cash Fund, a Petty Cash Fund Request and a Petty Cash Reconciliation must be completed by the Fund Custodian and verified by the Authorized Approver. Completed forms should be sent to the Bursar's Office for review.

In certain cases, a Petty Cash Voucher will also need to be submitted to the Bursar's Office for any cash payments distributed to participants that have not yet been recorded.

Petty Cash Funds that are not reconciled by the deadline may be closed, and the appropriate department will be charged for the cash.

Reporting Cash Differences

When it is determined that there is a cash overage or shortage, the Fund Custodian should provide a letter of explanation to the Bursar's Office. The Bursar's Office will record an offsetting entry to the department using Account Code 8280.

If it is suspected that the shortage is due to theft or other illegal activity, RUPD must be contacted. A copy of the police report should be provided to the Bursar's Office.

Evaluate the Need

Fund Custodians should evaluate whether a Petty Cash Fund is still needed to meet the needs of the study. Inactive funds should be returned and closed with the Bursar's Office (see Returning Petty Cash Funds).

Returning Petty Cash Funds

Petty Cash Funds that are no longer needed should be closed with the Bursar's Office.

To close the fund, a Petty Cash Voucher should be submitted to the Bursar's Office for any final cash payments distributed to participants. A Petty Cash Fund Request form must be submitted to the Bursar's Office along with any remaining cash on hand.

The final Petty Cash Voucher amount and any cash returned should match the total amount of the requested Petty Cash Fund. The Bursar's Office will close out the Petty Cash Fund and provide a final receipt to the Fund Custodian.