Cash Held Outside of the Treasury

Cash held outside of the U.S. Treasury, also referred to as Funds held outside of the U.S. Treasury, are funds under the custodial responsibility of federal government agencies and/or their employees, officers, or agents that are deposited in accounts at local depository institutions or held in an imprest fund. An agency must have legal authority to hold funds outside of U.S. Treasury because an imprest fund is a fixed cash or petty cash fund in the form of currency or coin that has been advanced to a cashier as “Funds Held Outside of U.S. Treasury.” Imprest funds are an exception to the general rule that federal agencies receiving public money from any source are statutorily required to deposit these funds into the U.S. Treasury. See 31 U.S.C. § 3302.