Ebrima assumed his till reconciliation was a formality. His auditor spent more time on it than anything else in the review.
Cash is the easiest asset to lose track of, and the easiest to misuse without leaving an obvious trace. That’s exactly why auditors give it disproportionate attention compared to other parts of the business.
What Auditors Typically Check
None of these individually prove a problem exists. Together, they build the picture an auditor needs to trust the rest of your numbers.
- Whether cash counts match recorded sales, daily, not just monthly
- Who has access to cash, and whether that access is limited or shared
- Whether the person handling cash is different from the person recording it
- Gaps between when cash is received and when it’s deposited or logged
- Any recurring “small” discrepancies that get written off without investigation
Why This Gets More Scrutiny Than Other Areas
Bank transfers and invoices leave a digital trail almost automatically. Cash doesn’t, unless someone builds a process that captures it properly. Auditors know this, so they test cash handling harder than areas that already have built-in documentation.
That’s not a knock on cash-based businesses. It’s just a reason to build the paper trail yourself, before someone else goes looking for one that isn’t there.
What to Do Next
If one person both handles and records your cash, that’s the first thing to fix, even in a small business. A simple daily reconciliation, checked by someone other than the person handling the till, closes most of the gap auditors look for.
Ebrima added a second person to check his till totals against the register each evening. His next audit took half the time, and the cash section barely got a second look.
It cost him nothing but a few extra minutes each day. It saved him hours of back-and-forth during the audit itself.
Want your cash handling to hold up under real audit scrutiny? Small gaps here are often the easiest thing to fix, and the most expensive thing to leave unaddressed. JS Morlu helps you tighten cash controls before an auditor finds the gap for you. Talk to our team.