Handling Cash at Booster Club Events: Count Sheets and Deposits

The Two-Person Rule

At least two members, one of them an officer or the event chair, count all money received, and the counters are not related by blood, marriage, or cohabitation. Both counters verify the total and sign the count sheet (also called a cash verification form), and each counter keeps a copy.

The rule applies to every cash event, including small ones, and at every handoff: when the change fund goes out, when the cash box closes, when money comes out of a safe, and when it reaches the bank.

Before the Event

1. Approve the change fund. The board sets the amount (for example, $200 in small bills for a concession stand) in advance.
2. Get the change fund by check. Two signers write a check payable to the event chair, never to “cash.” The chair cashes it and records the exact amount.
3. Count the change fund out. Two people count it at the start of the event and enter it on the count sheet as starting cash.
4. Prepare controls for sales. Use pre-numbered tickets or wristbands for gates; post a price list and record starting inventory for concessions.
5. Assign two cash volunteers per station and a runner who collects excess cash in a sealed bag during busy periods, with a two-person count when it is pulled.

Gates and Ticket Sales

Pre-numbered tickets turn cash into something that can be checked. At the end of the event:

• Starting ticket number minus ending ticket number equals tickets sold.
• Tickets sold times the price equals expected cash.
• Expected cash plus the change fund should equal the cash in the box.

Record complimentary admissions (students, staff, passes) on a log so they do not appear as missing cash. If tickets are not used, have a second person count attendance with a clicker.

Concessions

Concessions cash is a common target. In a Tennessee case, the Comptroller’s Office found that a middle school athletic booster club treasurer kept at least $4,087 in cash from concession sales at basketball games, and noted that the club had failed to separate financial duties, review bank statements, or require two signatures. See Preventing Embezzlement.

Reconcile concessions by inventory:

1. Record starting inventory of each item before the event.
2. Record ending inventory after the event.
3. Units sold times the posted price equals expected sales.
4. Compare expected sales with the counted cash (minus the change fund) plus card sales.

Small differences happen from spoilage and free items to workers. A free-item log keeps them visible. Large or repeated shortages at the same stand need investigation.

Count Procedure at the End of the Event

1. Close sales and move the cash box to a private area with both counters present.
2. Separate the change fund first and count it back to the starting amount.
3. Count the remaining cash by denomination, then count again. Both counters agree on the total.
4. Endorse every check immediately with a “For deposit only” stamp that shows the club’s name and account.
5. List checks individually on the count sheet.
6. Record card and mobile payment totals from the device or processor report.
7. Both counters sign the count sheet. Each keeps a copy, and the original goes with the deposit.
8. Seal the cash and checks in a deposit bag with the deposit slip, and record the bag number on the count sheet.

Count Sheet Template

After the Event: Deposits

Money is counted and deposited immediately after the activity, and daily during multi-day fundraisers. A practical booster club standard is deposit the same day, or the next business day, and never later than two business days. In a 2024 Tennessee investigation of a dance team booster club, the Comptroller’s Office listed failing to deposit funds within three days among the club’s deficiencies; tighter is better.

Rules for the time between the count and the bank:

• Never take money home. Money is never left unattended, in someone’s home, or in the trunk of a car.
• Use the bank’s night deposit or a locked school safe if the bank is closed. Arrange safe access with the school in advance.
• Recount when money leaves the safe. Two people, at least one an officer or chair, recount it before it goes to the bank.
• The change fund goes back to the bank with the deposit. Do not hold a standing cash fund or petty cash between events.

The treasurer matches each deposit on the bank statement to its count sheet. A deposit lower than the count sheet total means cash went missing between the count and the bank.

Card and Mobile Payments at Events

Card readers reduce cash but add their own reconciliation. Run the device’s end-of-day report, record the total on the count sheet, and later match the processor’s payout to it. Use only payment accounts in the club’s name. In a 2026 Tennessee case, investigators found that $2,543.50 collected through a booster club’s payment app was never deposited in the club’s bank account, and that a car wash that raised at least $1,300 produced a $15 deposit. See Accepting Online Payments as a Booster Club.

Overages and Shortages

Record every difference on the count sheet with an explanation. Do not make up a shortage from a volunteer’s pocket or pocket an overage; both hide what happened. The treasurer tracks over and short amounts by event and stand. A pattern tied to one person or one station is a reason to change assignments and look closer.