As the book discusses, Cash has high risk because it is involved in nearly every business transaction and it is highly susceptible to theft. For that reason, many businesses focus extensively on internal controls over cash.

Many of you have had had jobs at some point in your life in which you had to handle cash in some form (remember, in accounting, the term "cash" includes anything that represents cash, such as checks, credit card payments, bank accounts, etc.) Perhaps you have worked at a restaurant or a retail store. For example, when I was in high school, I worked at a bagel shop where I had to handle cash. Even though it was just a high school job, that experience actually taught me a lot about cash controls that I remembered when I became an accountant!

For this discussion, think about a job you have or had in which you had to handle cash and share one internal control policy that your employer had to control cash. If you have never had a job handling cash, ask a family member or friend about their experience, or think about a time you have interacted with a company that handled your cash - what internal controls did you notice they had implemented? 

If you still can't think of any examples, watch these movies (or another movie) about stealing cash and discuss a control that you see (or didn't see):

 

https://youtu.be/xas1UyTiVUw

 

https://youtu.be/imm6OR605UI

 

https://youtu.be/WiKbSM1FGUg

 

1. Briefly describe the source you are using for your example (i.e. personal experience, friend's experience, movie, etc.) and the type of job/company
2. Describe the control
3. Explain how it meets one of the 4 objectives of internal control