Review your cash control policies

Your practice size will dictate how complex you can make your cash control policies. The most common internal control calls for a "division of duties" to prevent any individual employee having control over a transaction from beginning to end. For example, assign balancing each day's office receipts to your checkout clerk, but require a supervisor or office manager to prepare the deposit.

Smaller practices with fewer staffers have a hard time following the division-of-duties principle, but you can still gain internal control by working closely with your accountant and being involved in certain transactions yourself. You might want to have an independent person, like your CPA, to come in specifically to look at the practice's current internal controls and make suggestions for revision. This might be money well spent.

Remember this: If you do ever become a victim of embezzlement, don't blame anyone but yourself if you haven't taken the steps to review your practice's internal controls and implement needed changes.