Part III: Business & Regulation · Banking, Chips & Financial Operations

23. Imprest Bank

Cash Handling

An imprest bank is a fixed amount of cash and chips assigned to a specific operational area (such as a cashier’s drawer, a table game’s chip tray, or a slot booth) that must be maintained at a consistent opening and closing balance each shift. The imprest system ensures accountability by requiring that any change in the imprest amount be fully documented with corresponding transaction records. For example, a cashier’s drawer imprest bank of $50,000 must contain exactly $50,000 at the start of each shift; any increase from chip sales must be offset by fill slips, and any decrease from chip redemptions must be offset by credit slips or payout documentation. The imprest system provides a built-in audit trail for cash and chip movement.

In practice

The imprest system is a fundamental internal control used throughout casino operations. It allows management to quickly identify discrepancies by comparing actual balances to expected imprest amounts.

One entry from the Casino Industry Glossary — 1,157 terms written for surveillance, compliance and operations professionals rather than for players. Definitions describe industry usage; where a term carries a regulatory meaning, verify against the instrument that governs your jurisdiction.