Administrator. Scenario 4 of 13. Honesty with money

The petty cash is short

You look after the office petty cash tin. At the end of the month you count it, and it is £20 short of what the records say. You are fairly sure you forgot to write down a taxi fare you paid out two weeks ago, but you have no receipt.

Nobody checks the tin except you.

What is the best call?

Put £20 of your own money in the tin so the numbers match.

Could be better

It comes from a good place, and nobody loses money. But the records are still wrong, and you have covered a gap instead of reporting it. If it happens again you will be hiding a pattern, and paying for it.

Change the records so that they show £20 less.

Not the best call

Altering financial records to hide a difference is the serious part, far more than the missing £20. Even with an innocent reason, it looks like covering something up, and it can be treated as dishonesty.

Tell your manager that the tin is £20 short, what you think happened, and suggest a way to stop it recurring.

Good call

A small shortfall, reported straight away with an explanation, is routine. It shows you can be trusted with money because you say when something is wrong. Suggesting a fix, such as a receipt for every payment, makes it better still.

Leave it. It is only £20 and it will probably even out next month.

Not the best call

It will not even out, and next month you will have a bigger gap that is harder to explain. Small differences left alone are how people who did nothing wrong end up looking as if they did.

The principle

With money, the amount matters less than the honesty. Report a difference as soon as you find it, say what you think happened, and never adjust records to make them fit.