Cash Advances

Cash advances are granted to the UP Manila Cashier and to designated special disbursing officers (SDO) in UP Manila units/colleges to take care of disbursements which are very difficult, impractical or impossible to pay in check.

The following general guidelines in the granting and utilization of cash advances shall be governed by the existing COA rules and regulations and other pertinent issuances.

F.1   Every Officer, agent, and employee of the Government of the Philippines or of the companies or corporations of which the majority of the stock is held by the National Government (NG), regardless of the status of their appointment shall, whenever the nature of the duties perfomed by such officer, agent or employee permits or requires the possession, custody or control of funds or properties for which he/she is accountable, be deemed a bondable officer and shall be bonded or bondable and his/her fidelity insured (Section 314 & 318, PBL)15;

F.2   Only duly appointed or designated disbursing officers may perform disbursing functions.

F.3   Only one disbursing officer shall be assigned/designated for a specific legal purpose. Additional disbursing officers may be assigned/designated for the same purpose only when fully justified by the agency head;

F.4   Transfer of cash advance from one accountable officer to another shall not be allowed. An approved fidelity bond shall be non-transferable and personal to the accountable public officer;

F.5   The cash advance shall be used only for the specific legal purpose for which it was granted. Under no circumstances shall it be used for encashment of checks or for liquidation of a previous cash advance;

F.6   No additional cash advance shall be allowed to any official or employee unless the previous cash advance given to him/her is first settled or a proper accounting thereof is made (Sec. 8, PD 1445);

F.7   All cash advances shall be obligated. Cash advances for a particular year shall not be used to pay expenses of other years.

F.8   No cash advance shall be granted for infrastructure and/or other undertaking on a project basis;

F.9   Whenever a cash advance is subjected to cash examination by auditors, any money taken from the accountable officer supported merely by chits and forms of IOUs shall not be considered as valid disbursement even if it was actually given to the official or employee who signed them.

F.10   Cash advance shall be liquidated in accordance with the following guidelines pertaining to the officials concerned:

The accountable officer shall liquidate his/her cash advance within the prescribed period as follows:

F.10.1   For the salaries, wages, etc. - within five (5) days after each 5th day/end of the month pay period

F.10.2   For petty operating expenses and field operating expenses – within twenty (20) days after the end of the year; subject to government guidelines.

F.10.3   For official travel - within 60 days after return to the Philippines in the case of foreign travel or within 30 days after return to his permanent official station in the case of local travel.

Failure of the accountable officer to liquidate his/her cash advance within the prescribed period shall constitute a valid cause for the withholding of his/her salary or appropriate administrative action.

F.11   Cash advance for petty operating expenses shall be sufficient for the recurring expenses of the unit/college for one month. The accountable officer may request replenishment of the cash advance when the disbursements reach at least 75% or as the need requires. The cash advance shall not be used for payment of regular expenses such as rentals, subscriptions, utilities and the like.

F.12   When a cash advance is no longer needed or has not been used for a period of two (2) months, it must be returned to or deposited immediately with the collecting officer. Under no circumstance, shall a cash advance be allowed to remain unliquidated at the end of the fiscal year.

F.13   The fidelity bond shall be subject to renewal yearly before the expiration of the present bond coverage while the accountable public officer is holding such position for which he/she was bonded. Failure to renew shall consider such as automatically cancelled and shall have no legal effect (Treasury Circular No. 02-2009, Gen. Provisions 4.10 dated 6 August 2009)16;

The specific rules and regulations on the granting, utilization, and liquidation of cash advances are provided for under COA circular # 97-002 dated February 10, 199717.