Which practice helps detect cash fraud by providing independent oversight?

• A. Assign the same person to vacation shifts
• B. Mandatory vacations
• C. Rely on automated systems only
• D. Frequent overtime for the same employee

Answer: (B)

Mandatory vacations enforce independent oversight in cash handling by ensuring someone else performs key tasks while the regular cashier is away. When the primary person is on leave, a different employee takes over—counting cash, reconciling records, and reviewing transactions. This separation creates a fresh set of eyes on the process, making it easier to spot discrepancies, unusual timing, or nonstandard procedures that the regular operator might conceal. The new reviewer acts as an independent check, which is a powerful defense against misappropriation and errors because it breaks the routine and exposes anything out of the ordinary.

The other practices don’t provide that independent verification. Keeping the same person on vacation shifts reduces true oversight; relying solely on automated systems misses human judgment and investigatory scrutiny; and repeatedly overworking the same employee increases fatigue and opportunity without adding an external check.