threatened with the sack if don't pay back money

[fedup0f]

My friend has worked for a small company for about 15 years or so- she is part of the accounts dept. She has responsibility for petty cash reconciliation but this has not been done for many years - the receipts have been entered etc but the tin hasn't been reconciled for many years. Her line manager was aware that the tin hadn't been reconciled and was 'out' several years ago when they changed accounting software.

The short of it is that there is money missing from the petty cash account - she was called into a disciplinary meeting about this and as she felt responsible for not reconciling the tin properly offered to pay back the money otherwise she was threatened with being sacked, she'd have to resign or the police would be called. - however it has come to light that the tin was kept locked in an unlocked drawer with the key next to it. As I said it's a small company though has recently gone through a major readjustment - but has quite a high staff turnover.

My question is if any legal bods out there know if they can make her pay back money which she has not taken - what can she do from here? The money could possibly have been taken over the years by any number of people, plus receipts could have been missed which in my opinion doesn't make her liable -but as I have no knowledge of this I thought I'd ask for help on her behalf.

How much money is missing? Did your friend inherit this situation or did she start with a reconciled system and let it slip over the years?

The tin was reconciled seven years ago when the new software was introduced, and your friend has been responsible for it since then?

who is actually responsible for the reconciliation (or lack of it) of cash to receipts? surely the person responsible for this is in the firing line?

Also leaving the cash box with the key right next to it - seriously, this is beyond incompetence.

I think she started with it reconciled and has let it slip - from what I understand though that she has had a lot of additional work given to her so as she was putting the receipts 'on' (I guess an accounting system) she didn't reconcile the actual cash and so it was put on the back burner? I think it was she who was responsible for the reconciliation but hadn't. Her line manager was aware of the situation. All the managers/line managers knew the tin was in a drawer with the key as they all had access to it. I guess because it is a small company they trusted people? My question is what can she do from here? If anything.

Sorry unexpected - she didn't say but I am guessing a lot - otherwise would it be so serious?

I am responsible for petty cash, we use the imprest system topping back up To 300 each time. The top up amount should be equal to the receipts total.
Therefore receipts + left over cash in tin = 300 always. Ther have been shorfalls in ours but only pennies as it is checked every month or so and I am the only one with a key)

She is responsible for reconciling the balance, and hasn't done so for 7 years? And, despite having sole charge of the £300 float; left the box in an unlocked drawer with the key next to it! . It's not looking good...
Yes, I'd imagine they can force her to make good the money she's responsible for. Where else would the buck stop? She's lucky not to be sacked for sheer incompetence, tbh.

From what you say, it appears that your friend has been responsible for the petty cash for years and has known for years that there is a shortfall and has, for whatever reason, not taken charge of the situation. As she is responsible for the petty cash, it was very remiss of her to leave the key next to the tin, even if she inherited that practice from someone else. Obviously, if several people have access to the cash, money will go missing because people will lose receipts or forget to put back left-over cash, even without the possibility of deliberate theft. To me, it doesn't matter if the entire office knew that the money wasn't reconciled and the key was next to it - it was part of her job, not anyone else's, to take charge of this.

Who was responsible for providing the actual cash? Was she both topping up the tin and also handing out money to people?

I don't know about the legalities of making her pay back the cash but I suspect she will get at least a written warning about this.

What is her reason for not reconciling the cash for seven years? Surely that in itself could be a diciplinary offence if it's part of her job to do it

I think she's very lucky only to be asked to pay back the missing money, some places I think would class that as gross misconduct I'm afraid

My friends DH worked in a bank and was investigated for something similar, he couldn't prove his innocence but ended up leaving rather than being sacked and having that on his employment record

Posted too soon!

To add, it was her responsibility to ensure the petty cash was correct, so whether or not she took it, she's still responsible for it being missing, especially if she didn't keep if securely and everyone potentially had access to it - had she ever told he manager she wanted a more secure safe rather than a cash tin?

I'm staggered that auditors haven't wanted to check for 7 years.

thanks for your advice/opinions -I will pass it on.