As noted in a recent announcement from the University Bursar, the availability of pennies is severely limited and this shortage is expected to continue. Below is guidance on how to account for penny shortages from a financial reporting perspective:
- Account code 186800 (Cash Over and Short) should be used whenever a transaction must be rounded down due to the penny shortage.
- Consider the following example: a cash handling unit makes a sale totaling $25.27, and the customer pays $30.00 in cash. If a unit is short on pennies and unable to provide the exact change, then they should follow the steps below:
- Round Down (Cash Short): If the cash handling unit is unable to give proper change to the customer due to the penny shortage, the transaction must be rounded down. If the unit returned $4.75 in change to the customer in this example, they would need to record the $0.02 difference as a debit to account code 186800 (i.e., a cash short). The gross sales revenue of $25.27 combined with the cash short of $0.02 would net to $25.25, which is the amount ultimately paid by the customer.
Contact
For further details on how to account for these penny shortages, reach out to UAFR at (217) 333-4568 or uas@uillinois.edu.
For operational questions related to cash handling, contact University Bursar Cashier Operations at BursarCashiersUIC@uillinois.edu or (312) 996‑7094 for Chicago, or at BursarCashiersUIUC@uillinois.edu or (217) 333‑4870 for Urbana‑Champaign and Springfield.
