Illinois § 13.3

§ 13.3.

Petty cash funds; purchasing cards. (a) Any State agency may establish and maintain petty cash funds for the purpose of making change, purchasing items of small cost, payment of postage due, and for other nominal expenditures which cannot be administered economically and efficiently through customary procurement practices. Petty cash funds may be established and maintained from moneys which are appropriated to the agency for Contractual Services. In the case of an agency which receives a single appropriation for its ordinary and contingent expenses, the agency may establish a petty cash fund from the appropriated funds. Before the establishment of any petty cash fund, the agency shall submit to the State Comptroller a survey of the need for the fund. The survey shall also establish that sufficient internal accounting controls exist. The Comptroller shall investigate such need and if he determines that it exists and that adequate accounting controls exist, shall approve the establishment of the fund. The Comptroller shall have the power to revoke any approval previously made under this Section. Petty cash funds established under this Section shall be operated and maintained on the imprest system and no fund shall exceed $1,000, except that the Department of Revenue may maintain a fund not exceeding $2,000 for each Department of Revenue facility and the Secretary of State may maintain a fund in excess of $1,000, solely for the purpose of making change, at any Secretary of State Motor Vehicle Facility. Except for purchases made by procurement card as provided in subsection (b) of this Section, single transactions shall be limited to amounts less than $100, and all transactions occurring in the fund shall be reported and accounted for as may be provided in the uniform accounting system developed by the State Comptroller and the rules and regulations implementing that accounting system. All amounts in any such fund of less than $1,000 but over $100 shall be kept in a checking account in a bank, or savings and loan association or trust company which is insured by the United States government or any agency of the United States government, except that all such funds maintained in a Department of Revenue Facility or in a Secretary of State Motor Vehicle Facility may be retained on the premises of the facility. No bank or savings and loan association shall receive public funds as permitted by this Section, unless it has complied with the requirements established pursuant to Section 6 of "An Act relating to certain investments of public funds by public agencies", approved July 23, 1943, as now or hereafter amended. An internal audit shall be performed of any petty cash fund which receives reimbursements of more than $5,000 in a fiscal year. Upon succession in the custodianship of any petty cash fund, both the former and successor custodians shall sign a statement, in triplicate, showing the exact status of the fund at the time of the transfer. The original copy shall be kept on file in the office wherein the fund exists, and each signer shall be entitled to retain one copy. (b) The Comptroller may provide by rule for the use of purchasing cards by State agencies to pay for purchases that otherwise may be paid out of the agency's petty cash fund. Any rule adopted hereunder shall impose a single transaction limit, which shall not be greater than $1,000. The rules of the Comptroller may include but shall not be limited to: (1) standards for the issuance of purchasing cards to State agencies based upon the best interests of the State; (2) procedures for recording purchasing card transactions within the State accounting system, which may provide for summary reporting; (3) procedures for auditing purchasing card transactions on a post-payment basis; (4) standards for awarding contracts with a purchasing card vendor to acquire purchasing cards for use by State agencies; and (5) procedures for the Comptroller to charge against State agency appropriations for payment of purchasing card expenditures without the use of the voucher and warrant system. (c) As used in this Section, "State agency" means any department, officer, authority, public corporation, quasi-public corporation, commission, board, institution, State college or university, or other public agency created by the State, other than units of local government and school districts. (Source: P.A. 103-266, eff. 1-1-24; 104-388, eff. 8-15-25.)