CORAA
Resources - Cash and Bank Audit

Cash and bank internal audit checklist.

Cash and bank audit tests the daily money controls: who can receive, pay, reconcile, adjust, deposit, transfer and access bank systems. The file should connect bank statements, GL, BRS, receipts, payments, mandates and portal logs.

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RCM map

Ten cash and bank areas to test areas

Bank account master and mandates

Risk: Bank accounts, authorised signatories, portal users or transaction limits are incomplete, unauthorised or not updated for leavers.

Controls
  • Bank master approval
  • Mandate review
  • Portal user review
  • Dormant account monitoring
Tests
  • Agree bank list to confirmations and GL
  • Match mandates to approvals
  • Review leavers and portal users
  • Inspect dormant accounts
Evidence

Bank confirmations, bank master, board resolutions, mandate letters, portal user list and leaver report.

Receipts and customer collections

Risk: Receipts, UPI/card settlements, cash collections or customer remittances are not deposited, matched or recorded correctly.

Controls
  • Daily receipt matching
  • Settlement reconciliation
  • Cash deposit review
  • Unidentified receipt ageing
Tests
  • Match receipts to bank and customer ledger
  • Reconcile gateway/card settlements
  • Review cash deposit delays
  • Age unidentified receipts
Evidence

Receipt register, customer ledger, bank statement, settlement file, cash deposit slip and unidentified receipt tracker.

Payments and bank transfers

Risk: Vendor payments, refunds, payroll payments or inter-bank transfers are duplicated, unauthorised or released outside maker-checker workflow.

Controls
  • Payment run approval
  • Beneficiary validation
  • Maker-checker release
  • Duplicate payment check
Tests
  • Sample payments to invoice/support
  • Check beneficiary changes
  • Review approval trail
  • Scan duplicate UTR/reference numbers
Evidence

Payment file, bank statement, UTR, invoice/support, approval trail, beneficiary master and exception log.

Bank reconciliation statements

Risk: BRS items are stale, unsupported, repeated, manually adjusted or not independently reviewed.

Controls
  • Periodic BRS preparation
  • Independent review
  • Stale item ageing
  • Manual adjustment approval
Tests
  • Reperform selected BRS
  • Age open items
  • Trace reconciling items to clearance
  • Review manual entries and reviewer sign-off
Evidence

BRS, bank statement, cash/bank GL, stale item tracker, journal support and reviewer evidence.

Petty cash and imprest

Risk: Petty cash is used without limits, approvals, vouchers, physical count or timely replenishment review.

Controls
  • Imprest limit
  • Voucher approval
  • Surprise cash count
  • Replenishment review
Tests
  • Perform cash count
  • Sample vouchers
  • Check splitting/round sums
  • Review replenishment frequency
Evidence

Cash book, vouchers, approval slips, cash count sheet, replenishment statement and exception log.

Deposits, FD maturity and interest

Risk: Fixed deposits, margin money or interest income are omitted, pledged without tracking or not reconciled to bank confirmations.

Controls
  • Deposit register
  • Maturity tracker
  • Interest recomputation
  • Lien/pledge review
Tests
  • Agree deposits to confirmations
  • Recompute interest
  • Review matured/unrenewed items
  • Check lien and margin classification
Evidence

FD receipts, bank confirmations, deposit register, interest working, lien letters and GL.

Bank charges, interest and fees

Risk: Bank charges, cash-credit interest, gateway charges or loan-related fees are not reviewed against bank terms.

Controls
  • Bank charge review
  • Interest recomputation
  • Fee approval
  • Exception reporting
Tests
  • Sample charges to bank advices
  • Recompute interest where applicable
  • Review unusual charges
  • Check accounting classification
Evidence

Bank advices, statements, sanction terms, interest working, GL and approval notes.

Cheque, DD and instrument controls

Risk: Cheque books, demand drafts, cancelled cheques or physical instruments are not safeguarded or tracked.

Controls
  • Instrument custody
  • Cheque sequence control
  • Cancelled cheque review
  • Stop-payment tracking
Tests
  • Inspect unused cheque custody
  • Review sequence gaps
  • Test cancelled instruments
  • Check stale/stop-payment items
Evidence

Cheque register, instrument inventory, cancelled cheques, stop-payment letters and bank statement.

Cut-off and period-end cash bank

Risk: Receipts, payments, transfers or bank entries around period end are recorded in the wrong period.

Controls
  • Cut-off review
  • Period-end bank confirmation
  • Post-period clearance review
  • Journal approval
Tests
  • Test pre/post period entries
  • Trace outstanding cheques/deposits
  • Review post-period clearances
  • Inspect manual journals
Evidence

Bank statements, BRS, GL, receipt/payment register, post-period bank statement and journal support.

ERP and bank portal access

Risk: Users can create beneficiaries, post bank journals, approve payments, change limits or release funds without segregation or audit-log review.

Controls
  • Role-based access
  • SoD review
  • Beneficiary-change approval
  • Audit-log monitoring
Tests
  • Review users and roles
  • Test SoD conflicts
  • Inspect beneficiary changes
  • Check leavers/shared IDs and privileged actions
Evidence

ERP users, bank portal users, role matrix, audit logs, beneficiary change log, leaver list and access review.

Monitoring

Turn cash testing into recurring checks rules

Stale BRS item

Reconciling item remains open beyond threshold or repeats across periods.

Duplicate payment signal

Same vendor, amount, date window, invoice number or UTR pattern appears more than once.

Beneficiary change before payment

Vendor/customer bank details changed shortly before a payment release.

Unidentified receipt ageing

Receipt remains unmatched to customer, invoice, employee or other source beyond threshold.

Cash deposit delay

Cash collected is deposited after approved delay or with unexplained shortage.

Leaver bank access

Exited employee remains active on ERP cash/bank role or bank portal user list.

Authority

Use with current entity criteria sources

Use ICAI Standards on Internal Audit for evidence, documentation, supervision, communication and reporting. Verify bank mandates, board approvals, client policy, banking arrangements, payment rails, KYC requirements and sector-specific controls for the entity and period.

ICAI IASB - Compendium of Standards on Internal Audit ->ICAI IASB - Publications and generic internal audit guides ->India Code - Companies Act, 2013 ->RBI - Master Direction on KYC ->
FAQ

Cash and bank audit FAQs questions

What is cash and bank internal audit?

Cash and bank internal audit reviews whether bank accounts, mandates, receipts, payments, petty cash, bank reconciliations, deposits, bank charges, cut-off and ERP/bank portal access are authorised, complete, reconciled, safeguarded and independently reviewed.

How is cash and bank different from treasury audit?

Cash and bank audit focuses on routine receipts, payments, BRS, petty cash, deposits and access controls. Treasury audit goes deeper into borrowings, covenants, investments, guarantees, letters of credit, forex and liquidity strategy.

Which cash and bank checks are best for continuous monitoring?

High-value monitoring rules include stale BRS items, duplicate payment signals, beneficiary changes before payment, unidentified receipt ageing, cash deposit delays, high-value manual bank journals and leaver bank access.

Is this checklist a substitute for bank confirmation?

No. Bank confirmation remains a key evidence source. This checklist helps auditors test the process around cash and bank controls, but confirmations, statements, GL, BRS and portal logs must be obtained and reconciled.