Tighten Cash Handling Procedures With a Proper Daily Close

Plastic surgery practices have a great deal of cash, personal checks, and credit cards flowing through them. Yet we are continually amazed at the number of practices that don't have protocols in place to keep the lid on sticky fingers.

Initiate an effective daily close process that requires staff to:

• Generate encounter forms for every transaction, including skin care visits and sales.

• Post all charges and payments by the end of the day.

• Sum all over-the-counter, pre-op, and mailed-in collections at the end of the day.

• Compare the amount of money collected with the "daily close" report from the computer system. The amounts should match to the penny.

• Verify that the amount of money collected and the computer report match the totals on source documents such as encounter forms and EOBs.

• Assign someone to verify that work was completed accurately. Be sure the person who matches the amounts collected with those posted is different than the individual who "checks work" and takes the deposit to the bank. Doing so improves the practice's audit control.

Download and customize KZA's sample Daily Close Form and use it to initiate good cash handling protocols in your practice.

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