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Cartoon holding up petty cash voucher

We’re all about proper documentation here at Pleo. 

From the moment someone makes a purchase with their Pleo card, to snapping the receipt with their smartphone, adding the necessary categories and tags in the app to exporting to your business’ accounting tool of choice. Nothing is amiss. 

But not all companies are using an automated spending solution (yet) to help them track and stay on top of business expenses – we get it. Sometimes petty cash is still the answer. 

Maybe your business has a petty cash jar? All that cash makes documentation tricky …

But petty cash vouchers can help alleviate some of the stress that comes with having a cash system for business expenses.

Proper documentation, in the form of petty cash vouchers can provide that all-important clarity on what’s actually going on. And in some cases, petty cash vouchers can prove to be pretty life-changing in cutting your accountants some slack, especially in the rollercoaster of economic change in 2024. 

What is a petty cash voucher? 

A petty cash voucher is a document containing the information required to justify taking and spending any money from the petty cash jar.  These documents make up part of the records inside a petty cash book, and are most often used in small businesses.  

A petty cash voucher is usually filled out before purchase, so an employee can be credited with the exact cash amount to go and buy what they need.

What information should a petty cash voucher include? 

The information found on petty cash slips usually includes the:

  • Date
  • Amount requested
  • Name of the receiver
  • Reason for the cash request
  • Name of the petty cashier (the person who controls the petty cash fund)

These vouchers are not standalone; they fit into a wider ecosystem of procedure around the petty cash. Since it can be easy to ‘leak’ money through petty cash, most companies set rules around access and acceptable spending reasons. This also helps in optimising your business’ expense management overall.

Is a petty cash voucher the same as a petty cash receipt?

As mentioned earlier, the term petty cash receipt is interchangeable with voucher. They can both be used to document spending from the petty cash fund, no matter whether they are issued before or after the purchase. 

This means that companies don’t need to have a petty cash voucher book and separate receipt book since the document is the same and only the title is different.  

How do petty cash vouchers work? 

The purpose of a petty cash voucher is to create a paper trail with an asset that is traditionally hard to track: cash. Alongside the petty cash log book, there is a clear system for issuing petty cash vouchers:

  1. A member of your team requests petty cash
  2. They’ll fill out the voucher with information including its purpose and how much they required
  3. The petty cash custodian approves or denies the request
  4. Upon approval, the team member is granted the cash from the petty cash fund and spends the money
  5. They bring back the receipt which is then attached to the voucher in the log book

Looking for a petty cash voucher template? We got you

Fortunately, it doesn’t take an Excel master to create a good petty cash receipt. There are plenty of printable or PDF downloadable documents online to nab. 

However, developing your own petty cash voucher template is recommended for every company. This way, your finance department can ensure that the information they need is instantly accessible, and the document isn’t filled with confusing parts or data that you just don’t need. 

With tons of petty cash voucher examples online, you can make them as simple or complex as you need. For example, some petty cash vouchers involve bank account details (such as an account number) when petty cash is not in a physical cash state.

This way you can still operate a petty cash fund even when your team is remote or you work with an automated spend management system. 

Link to petty cash voucher PDF

How petty cash vouchers fit into the wider accounting system

In the general accounting practice, petty cash vouchers are used to verify whether the amount of money in the petty cash tin is correct. 

By subtracting the original amount by the total of all petty cash receipts, you should have the same amount of cash as what is left in your fund. No rocket science there. This should work whether your business operates with an open, fixed or imprest system for petty cash

When there’s a discrepancy between the amount inside the petty cash fund and the total amount listed on petty cash slips, it’s clear that there has been an error somewhere along the way.  

Petty cash software makes it easy

Most businesses aren’t quite ready to completely give up cash, and that’s OK. But you might be surprised that there are still ways to save the finance department some hassle when working with cash.

Take Reimbursements, our petty cash app that facilitates lightning fast cash reconciliation. Instead of forcing your people to get rid of cash completely,  Pocket allows you to record all cash spending – not just petty cash.

1 in 10 people claim to have left their job due to manual expense systems – so why not replace manual data entry with automated petty cash software and allow your accountants some time to breathe this month-end?

Smarter spending for your business

Save time on tedious admin and make smarter business decisions for the future. Join Pleo today.

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