Ahsan opens to mosques on Sunday, November 15.Ahsan opens November 15.

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Counting a Friday collection

A simple routine that protects the money and the people who count it: two counters, one count sheet by fund, two signatures, and a count that can’t quietly change afterwards.

For treasurers, board members and the volunteers who count on Fridays.

Why two people, every time

For many mosques, the Friday collection is the week’s largest amount of cash, and it’s counted by volunteers in a back room after the prayer. One person counting alone has no way to show the count was right, and no protection if a question comes up later. Two people who each count and each sign answer both problems. It isn’t about suspicion: it makes the count something nobody has to take on trust, including the volunteers.

Before Friday

  • A schedule of counters. Name at least four people the board has approved, and pair them differently from week to week. Two members of one family shouldn’t count together, and the treasurer shouldn’t count alone.
  • The kit in one place. A printed count sheet, a calculator, a pen, envelopes or bags that seal, and somewhere locked to keep the money until it reaches the bank.
  • Funds decided in advance. The count sheet lists every fund the mosque collects for, such as the general fund, a building fund and a zakat fund, so nothing is decided at the table. Envelopes marked for a fund go to that fund. Write down where unmarked cash goes, and follow that every week.

The count, step by step

  1. Open the boxes together. The boxes or bags stay closed until both counters are in the room. Count somewhere with a door that closes, away from the prayer hall.
  2. Sort, then count. Separate the envelopes by fund, then sort loose cash by note and coin. Write each check on its own line: the check number, the name on it, the amount and the fund.
  3. The first counter counts and signs. One person counts each pile, writes the totals by fund on the sheet, adds them up, and signs with the time.
  4. The second counter counts again. The second person counts every pile again without looking at the first figures, then compares. If the totals match, they sign too. If they don’t, both count the pile that differs together until they agree, and only then does anyone sign.
  5. The count locks. Once both have signed, the count is closed. A mistake found later is fixed with a correction that gives the reason and keeps both the old and the new amount, and the treasurer is told. Nobody rubs out a figure or rewrites a sheet.
  6. Seal it and bank it. The money goes into a sealed bag with the total written on it, into the safe, and to the bank on the next banking day. The deposit slip should match the locked count exactly, and the bank’s receipt is kept with the count sheet.

A worked example

Say the boxes hold 2,345.00 in cash and six checks worth 780.00 between them: 3,125.00 in all. The envelopes, and the mosque’s rule for loose cash, split it into 2,100.00 for the general fund, 905.00 for the building fund and 120.00 for the zakat fund. The fund totals come to the same 3,125.00 as the cash and checks. If they didn’t, something was missed or counted twice, and the counters would find it before signing.

After Friday

Each month, the treasurer sets the bank statement against the month’s locked counts: every deposit should match a count, and every count should have a deposit. The person who checks the statement shouldn’t be one of that month’s counters, so that no one person handles the money all the way from the box to the books.

When the board looks at the month’s giving, the figures come straight from the locked counts, not from anyone’s memory of Friday. Keep each count sheet, with its two signatures and the bank’s receipt, for as long as your accountant or your country’s charity rules ask.

Common questions

Why not let one trusted volunteer count the Friday collection?

Because one person can’t show the count was right, and has no protection if a question comes up later. Two counters who each sign make the count something nobody has to take on trust, including the volunteer.

What if the two counts don’t match?

Neither counter signs. Both count the pile that differs together until they agree, then both sign. A difference found after signing is fixed with a correction that gives the reason and keeps the old and new amounts.

Can a count be changed after both counters have signed?

Only by a correction that records the reason, the old amount and the new one, and the treasurer is told. The original figures are never rubbed out.

How soon should the money go to the bank?

On the next banking day, in a sealed bag with the total written on it. The deposit slip should match the locked count exactly, and the bank’s receipt is kept with the count sheet.

The live demo has a sample mosque’s Friday collections, each counted by two people and locked by the second signature, if you’d like to see the routine in software. More about giving in Ahsan.