Petty cash book format

The standard format

1. Receipts column (the imprest and reimbursements)
2. Total payments column
3. Analysis columns (postage, travel, stationery, sundries)
4. Ledger column for occasional postings
5. Balance and restored imprest at period end

Filled example

Notes

• Each payment is supported by a numbered petty cash voucher.
• Analysis column totals are posted to the relevant nominal accounts.
• The reimbursement equals the total spent, restoring the imprest amount.

Building and reading this format

A petty cash book has two jobs. It records small cash payments in enough detail to be useful, and it proves that the money paid out agrees with the money received. The receipts column is narrow and sits on the left, because money comes in only a few ways, mainly the opening float and the reimbursement.

Several analysis columns sit on the right, because payments are many and varied. Money comes in on one side and is split into labelled streams on the other. The streams must add up to the total spent.

Start with the float, the fixed amount of cash the business decides to hold, say RM200. Enter it in the receipts column with the date. Each small payment is written twice: once in the total payments column and once in the right analysis column.

A RM18 payment for stamps appears as RM18 under total payments and RM18 under postage.

Choose analysis columns to suit the business, such as postage, stationery, travel, cleaning and sundries. Add a ledger column for any payment that will be posted to a named ledger account.

Writing each payment twice gives control. The total column shows how much cash has left the tin, and the analysis columns show what it was spent on.

At the period end, total the payments column and each analysis column. The analysis totals must add up to the total payments figure. Examiners look for this cross-check first.

Then find the balance: receipts minus total payments is the cash that should be in the tin. If the float was RM200 and RM146 was spent, RM54 should remain. Write it as the balance carried down, then brought down for the next period.

Under the imprest system, the float is restored to the same amount at the start of each period. So the reimbursement always equals the total spent.

If RM146 was spent, RM146 is received to bring the float back to RM200. If the reimbursement does not equal the payments, something is wrong.

Marks are mostly lost on placement, not arithmetic. A payment entered in the total column but not in an analysis column breaks the cross-check, and so does the reverse. The reimbursement belongs in the receipts column, not a payments column.

The book must be balanced at the end, with the balance carried down and brought down. Give each analysis column a clear heading. Write the date and narrative so that someone who was not there can see what happened.

If your petty cash books never quite cross-check, one of our teachers can go through your column totals with you and find the slip. Book a trial class

Related how-to

• How to prepare a petty cash book
• How to record contra entries

These formats are standard accounting practice with our own figures. Check your board's exact requirements on the exam boards page.