What is Petty Cash and How to Manage and Record It

The entry to increase the fund would be identical to the first entry illustrated; that is, the amount added to the base amount of the fund would be debited to Petty Cash and credited to Cash. Otherwise, take note that the only entry to the Petty Cash account occurred when the fund was established. For example, a retailer will compare daily cash sales to the actual cash found in the cash register drawers. If a surplus or shortage is discovered, the difference will be recorded in Cash Short ; a debit balance indicates a shortage , while a credit represents an overage .

• When it’s time to record expenses, such as the end of the month, go back to the Petty Cash Register and click Add Expense.
• Petty cash refers specifically to money—literally, coins and bills—that a company keeps on hand for small outlays, usually because using cash is easier than using a check or credit card.
• To protect the company’s cash, petty cash is usually a low amount – just enough to cover unanticipated incidental expenses.
• Often referred to as cash in hand, this cash is highly susceptible to fraud or mismanagement.
• However, it also allows companies to give every department more control over their expenses.
• To mitigate financial statement risk and increase operational effectiveness, consumer goods organizations are turning to modern accounting and leading best practices.

Nonetheless, the accounting for both items is similar since they involve spending or receiving https://quickbooks-payroll.org/ money. There are also two ways money can be “deposited” or put into petty cash.

What is the accounting treatment for Petty Cash?

The transaction that replenishes the petty cash fund is recorded with a compound entry that debits all relevant asset or expense accounts and credits cash. Consider the journal entry below, which is made after the custodian requests $130 to replenish the petty cash fund and submits vouchers that fall into one of three categories.

• Tracking all of your petty cash expenses as part of your bookkeeping system ensures that all tax-deductible expenses are captured.
• To set up a petty cash fund, the cashier creates a check in the amount of the funding assigned to a particular petty cash fund .
• Usually, they top up this account regularly through various sources.
• Consider recording petty cash transactions in your books at least once per month.

In this case, the surplus petty cash should be taken from the fund and deposited in the company bank account. General LedgeA general ledger is an accounting record that compiles every financial transaction of a firm to provide accurate entries for financial statements. The double-entry bookkeeping requires the balance sheet to ensure that the sum of its debit side is equal to the credit side total. A general ledger helps to achieve this goal by compiling journal entries and allowing accounting calculations. A petty cashier might be assigned to issue the check to fund the petty cash drawer and make the appropriate accounting entries.

How To Do Petty Cash Accounting Using QuickBooks Online

This voucher indicates the purpose of the expenditure, the date, and the name of the person receiving the cash. These expenditures include items such as postage, delivery expense, and minor office supplies (e.g., coffee). Though the petty fund is available in cash and can be considered cash on hand, the cash on hand is not always petty cash. Other ExpenseOther expenses comprise all the non-operating costs incurred for the supporting business operations. Such payments like rent, insurance and taxes have no direct connection with the mainstream business activities. Or coins gets deposited with the custodian, who issues receipts and apetty cash voucherfor the required cash.

Accounting for petty cash can be done either manually, since it only deals with small expenses, or made easier with bookkeeping software and employee expense cards. To create journal entries that show petty fund purchases, you must debit the corresponding accounts (e.g., Office Supplies account if you purchase supplies) and credit your Petty Cash account. You must also create journal entries showing what petty cash funds go toward. Usually, they top up this account regularly through various sources. At the end of every accounting period, the company must reconcile those balances.

Reassess the petty cash fund periodically

He is the sole author of all the materials on AccountingCoach.com. The custodian would use the $176 to restore the amount of cash to $200. FREE INVESTMENT BANKING COURSELearn the foundation of Investment banking, financial modeling, valuations and more. The security aspect is often important to small companies, who have long feared that keeping cash around is an invitation to crime. Sign up to receive more well-researched small business articles and topics in your inbox, personalized for you.

Even then, a petty cash fund is only appropriate if there is someone to monitor it and track the use of the money. Many businesses have a petty cash account for everyday purchases or costs, such as office supplies, parking charges and petrol. Petty cash is the money a business keeps on hand to pay petty cash for miscellaneous purchases. Most purchases made with petty cash are unexpected expenses that can pop up, such as morning coffee for a meeting or dinner for an employee working overtime. Simply put, petty cash expenses lack the immediate record generated by a credit card purchase, for example.

Master the Basics of Petty Cash Accounting

Since petty cash and the cash account are assets, they are debited when their balance increases and credited when the funds decrease. Policies should be established regarding appropriate expenditures that can be paid from petty cash. When a disbursement is made from the fund, a receipt should be placed in the petty cash box. The receipt should set forth the amount and nature of expenditure. At any point in time, the receipts plus the remaining cash should equal the balance of the petty cash fund (i.e., the amount of cash originally placed in the fund).

Replenishing petty cash requires a journal entry just like the original journal entry that established the petty cash account. After the supply and entertainment expenses, we need to put $450 more in petty cash. Just like when we set up the account, we are increasing the balance of petty cash – requiring a debit to the petty cash account, and a credit to the cash account. When you put money into the fund, you must create a journal entry debiting your Petty Cash account and crediting your Cash account. You must record petty cash transactions, even if you think they’re too low to matter. Without a petty cash system, using small cash amounts periodically can add up to a major discrepancy in your books.

With a petty cash fund in place, you can pay for small expenses like postage stamps, office supplies, office food and drinks, fuel expenses, parking tickets, and other unpredictable expenses. Any expense that’s too small to write a check for can be paid with cash from the petty cash fund. Note that it’s a good idea to set a maximum dollar amount for allowable expenses. We also discussed the journal entries that need to be processed when petty cash is set up, spent, and replenished.