Setting up the cash box
Petty cash works when one person is responsible for it and every movement of money leaves a line on the log. Decide on a fixed float, the amount the box holds when it is full, such as 200 in your currency, and write it as the starting balance. Put the log, a pen and an envelope for receipts in the box itself, so nobody has to go looking for them. On the printed page, fill in the three fields at the top: which fund or location the box belongs to, the period the sheet covers, and who keeps it.
Keep the float small enough that a loss would not hurt and large enough that you do not top it up every week. If the box runs dry every few days, either raise the float or move some of the regular purchases to a card.
Writing a line for every movement
Each time cash leaves the box, write the date, what it was for or who was paid, the receipt number and the amount under Money out, then work out the new balance from the row above. Do this at the moment the money is handed over, not at the end of the day; a log written from memory is where the gaps come from. If someone takes money for a purchase and brings back change, write the amount taken under Money out and the change under Money in on its own line, each with the same receipt number.
Number the receipts yourself with a pen as they come in, in the order of the rows, and keep them in the envelope. A receipt that does not exist, because a vending machine or a parking meter did not give one, gets a short note in the Description column and a signature from the person who spent the money. The receipt generator makes a simple receipt to print when you hand cash to someone who should sign for it.
Topping up the box
The usual way to refill petty cash is to bring the balance back up to the float: add up the Money out column since the last top-up, draw exactly that amount from the bank, and write it under Money in. The balance is then the float again, and the receipts in the envelope add up to the withdrawal. Staple the receipts to the page they belong to, or to a copy of the spreadsheet rows, and that bundle is the record for your bookkeeper.
In the spreadsheet, the summary at the top shows money in, money out and the cash that should be on hand, so the top-up amount is simply the Money out figure since you last reset.
Counting the cash
Once a week, or whenever the box is refilled, count the notes and coins and compare the result with the balance in the last filled row. The two should match. If they do not, go back through the rows since the last count, look for a receipt without a line or a line without a receipt, and check the subtraction on the printed page. A difference that cannot be explained gets its own line, marked as "difference on count" with the date and your initials, so the log stays honest and the next count starts from the real amount.
The average calculator is handy when you want to know what a typical week of petty cash spending looks like before you set the float, and the sales tax calculator splits a receipt total into the net amount and the tax when your bookkeeping needs them apart.
Closing a page and starting the next
When a page is full, add up Money in and Money out for that page into the two boxes of the totals row, and copy the last balance into the Balance carried forward box. The next page starts with a Balance brought forward row where that number goes. On the last page the box is labeled Closing balance; that figure, the counted cash and the summary of the spreadsheet should all agree. For a box used in a foreign currency, the currency converter gives the amount in your main currency for the accounts.
Related templates
The expense tracker suits spending that goes on a card rather than through the cash box, and the receipt template prints a receipt you can hand out when someone pays you in cash.
Frequently asked questions
Is the petty cash log free?
Yes. Download the spreadsheet or the PDF as often as you need, for an office, a shop, a club or a classroom fund. No account, no email address, no watermark. One small line with our web address sits at the bottom of each sheet and page.
How does the running balance work?
In the spreadsheet, every row's Balance is the starting balance plus all money in and minus all money out from the first row down to that row. It stays blank until the row has an amount, so empty rows stay clean. Change the starting balance cell at the top and every balance follows. On the PDF, you add and subtract by hand from the balance in the row above.
What goes under Money in?
Any cash that comes into the box: the opening float, a top-up from the bank, change returned by someone who took money for a purchase. Money out is every amount taken, usually one line per receipt. Write the receipt number in its column and keep the receipts in the same order in an envelope.
Do I have to type a starting balance?
No. Leave it empty and the first Balance cell of the PDF stays blank for you to write in, and the spreadsheet starts from zero until you type a number into the starting balance cell. If you do type one, it prints in the first row as the opening balance and pre-fills the spreadsheet.
How do the pages connect?
Each printed page ends with the totals of that page and a box for the balance carried forward. The next page begins with a Balance brought forward row where you copy that number, and the last page ends with the closing balance. Pick two or three pages when you want a whole month on a clipboard.
Which currencies can I use?
Any of the 20 currencies in the list. The spreadsheet formats every amount in the one you pick, and the PDF names it under the title and uses its symbol for the starting balance. A symbol the PDF font cannot print, such as the rupee sign, is replaced by the currency code.