Tracking Petty Cash

If your company keeps cash on the premises, be it a petty cash fund for incidental expenses or money for the cash register, you need to account for that money and for the way in which it is spent. By keeping track of the way in which this money is spent, you gain tighter control on how your company uses all its resources. Keep track of petty cash expenditures using a regular method of recording activities. One way to track petty cash is to keep a notebook or notepad with your petty cash fund and record all your expenditures. As the fund is depleted, reimburse it with cash transfers from an existing bank account, as described in the previous example.

Press Ctrl+A to open the Chart of Accounts.

TIMESAVER

Clicking the Chart of Accounts icon on the Home page will also take you directly to the Chart of Accounts window.

Double-click the Petty Cash account (or whatever the account name is that you use) to open the account register.

Enter the date of a transaction.

Enter the name of the person or company who was paid.

Enter the amount of the expense.

Enter the account that should be charged.

Enter optional descriptive information.

Click Record.

Repeat steps 38 for each transaction you need to record.

IMPORTANT

Be sure to have a procedure in place for authorizing petty cash expenditures. Cash is the easiest thing to lose track of in a business. You need to have controls in place to protect your cash. Don't allow employees to access cash with authorization.