Free Petty Cash Template Download: Excel, Word, PDF, Google Sheets & Docs

What Is Petty Cash?

Every office has one. A metal box in a locked drawer, a few banknotes, some coins, and a stack of crumpled receipts held together by a paper clip.

That box is petty cash: a small, fixed amount of cash kept on hand for payments too small for a purchase order or a bank transfer. Parking. Stamps. A padlock for the tool shed.

You may know it as the petty cash book, the cash float or the imprest fund. The idea never changes. One custodian looks after a fixed amount, every payout gets a voucher, and at the end of the period the box is counted and topped back up to the same amount. That is the imprest system.

Here is what petty cash is not. It is not the till, which belongs to sales. It is not a cash advance, which is money handed to one employee for one trip. And it is not an expense reimbursement, where an employee pays with their own money and claims it back later.

What to Include in a Petty Cash Template

A date, a description and an amount is not a petty cash record. It is a shopping list.

The moment an auditor asks "who approved this?", a three column sheet has nothing to say. Here is every field a complete record needs:

If I had to keep only two fields, I would keep the voucher number and the approver. Amounts can be counted again. Dates can be rebuilt from a bank statement. But a payout with no voucher and no approver is a payout nobody can defend.

What the Enerpize Petty Cash Template Includes

I built this petty cash template around the questions an auditor asks at month end, so the file answers them before anyone asks.

A Voucher for Every Coin

The file includes a printable petty cash voucher template, three slips to a page. Type a voucher number and the slip fills itself from the log: date, payee, purpose, category, amount and account code. Leave it blank and you get an empty petty cash voucher to fill by hand.

Red Flags Before They Become Losses

Every row checks itself. A payout above your limit says "Over limit." A row with no receipt says "No receipt." A balance below your alert level says "Low balance." The top of the sheet counts both, so problems show up before the approver signs.

Why bother? The ACFE's 2024 Report to the Nations puts the median fraud loss at organizations with fewer than 100 employees at $141,000. Small leaks start in small boxes.

Count It Like a Bank Teller

Enter how many twenties, fives and quarters are in the box, and the template totals them, compares them with the log and tells you if the fund is balanced, short or over.

The Journal Entry Writes Itself

This is the part I like most. When the period closes, the template drafts the replenishment journal entry: one debit per category, net of refunds, the shortage on its own cash over and short line, and the credit to your bank. It even checks that debits equal credits.

One Fund, One Custodian, One Limit

A Settings tab holds the fund amount, approver, per payout limit, low balance alert, currency and account codes. Fill it once and every sheet reads from it.

The petty cash template excel file does all the math. The Word and PDF versions give you the same petty cash log, vouchers and cash count on paper as a printable petty cash form, and the petty cash template Google Sheets copy works exactly like the Excel template. Prefer to see it filled in first? The download includes a full petty cash example.

Petty Cash Template Types: Log vs Voucher vs Report vs Reconciliation

Four documents, one fund. People mix them up all the time.

The rule is simple. The voucher proves one payout, the log tracks the fund, the count tests the log, and the report asks for the money back.

What Is a Petty Cash Report?

A petty cash report is the period end summary a custodian submits to request replenishment. It shows the fund amount, total payouts by category, cash counted, any cash over or short, and the amount needed to restore the fund, signed by the custodian and an approver with the vouchers and receipts attached.

In this template, the Cash Count and Journal Entry sheets together are your petty cash report. For the counting step on its own, use our petty cash reconciliation form, which covers it in a single page.

How to Use the Petty Cash Template

Here is the whole cycle, using the petty cash example in the download: Ridgeline Builders, a construction company running a $500 site fund with a $75 per payout limit.

Step 1: Set the Fund and the Limit

Pick a fund that covers two to four weeks of small payments, then set a per payout limit. Anything above it goes through a purchase order instead.

Step 2: Name One Custodian

One person holds the key. Not "whoever is in the office." When the custodian changes, count the box together and both sign.

Step 3: Issue a Voucher for Every Payout

Number it, write the purpose, get it signed by the person taking the cash and the approver, and staple the receipt to it. No voucher, no cash.

Step 4: Log It the Same Day

Enter the date, voucher number, payee, description, category, approver and amount in the petty cash sheet. The running balance updates on its own. If a supplier refunds something, enter it in Cash In with the original category.

Step 5: Watch the Flags

In the sample, the October 13 courier payout has no receipt, the $85.00 saw blade sharpening is over the $75 limit, and the October 27 lunch drops the balance to $54.26, below the $100 alert. Each one turns red the moment it is typed.

Step 6: Count the Box by Denomination

At the end of the period, count the notes and coins. Ridgeline's box holds $49.76. The log says it should hold $54.26. The fund is $4.50 short.

Step 7: Reconcile and Post the Journal Entry

The math is short. Expected cash is the fund plus cash in minus cash out. Over or short is cash counted minus expected cash. Replenishment is the fund minus cash counted. For Ridgeline, that is $500.00 minus $49.76, or $450.24. The journal entry debits each category for what it spent, debits cash over and short for the $4.50, and credits the bank for $450.24.

Step 8: Replenish and Keep the Records

Restore the box to $500, file the log with its vouchers and receipts, and start a fresh copy. Keep those records as long as your tax authority asks: generally three years in the US, five in the Philippines and seven in Malaysia.

Looking for a daily petty cash format in Excel with formula? Each row of this petty cash format adds every cash in and subtracts every cash out from the opening fund, so a deleted line never breaks the running total. Need a daily view of the till as well? Pair it with our daily cash report.

How Enerpize Connects Petty Cash to Your Books

What happens to a petty cash log after it is reconciled?

Someone retypes it into the accounting system, usually at month end, usually in a hurry. That is where a $4.50 shortage turns into a $45.00 posting error.

Enerpize is a cloud-based, all-in-one ERP platform for small and medium-sized businesses, combining accounting, inventory, HR, sales, and CRM in a single system. Here is how it closes that gap.

Expenses Logged the Moment They Happen

With Enerpize expenses management software, every payout becomes an expense record with its category, tax, treasury and receipt attached. The Quick Expense Scanner app lets a custodian capture the receipt on a phone at the hardware store, so the expense exists before anyone loses the slip.

One Treasury per Branch or Site

A shared tin stops working the day you open a second site. Enerpize lets you set up separate treasuries, so each site box keeps its own balance and history, and you see all of them in one place.

Straight Into Your Chart of Accounts and Cost Centers

Every expense posts to the right account in your chart of accounts, and cost centers let you charge it to the project or department that spent it. Reports show spending by category without a single pivot table.

The country rules below all come back to one question: can you show where each payout went? For the wider picture, our guide on how to track your business expenses walks through the rest.

Petty Cash Template for Businesses in the United States

In the US, the receipt in your petty cash box is not just a piece of paper. It is the evidence behind a tax deduction.

The IRS says to keep records that support income and deductions until the period of limitations runs out, which is generally three years from the date you filed the return. IRS Publication 463 does let you skip documentary evidence for certain travel, gift and transportation expenses under $75, but never for lodging, and you still need the record of what was spent.

What to add to a US petty cash log:

• A receipt for every payout, even when the amount is small
• A business purpose in the description column, not just "supplies"
• Expense categories that match the accounts your accountant uses

Practical note for US businesses: scan the receipts at month end. Thermal paper receipts can fade well before three years are up.

Petty Cash Template for Businesses in India

In India, the size of a single cash payment changes how it is taxed.

Under India's limit on cash payments, an expense paid in cash to one person in a day above ₹10,000 is not allowed as a deduction. The ceiling is ₹35,000 for cash paid to transporters to hire, lease or operate goods vehicles. Payments by account payee cheque, bank draft, UPI, IMPS, NEFT, RTGS or card are outside the rule.

What to add to an Indian petty cash format:

• A per payout limit below ₹10,000 in the Settings tab
• The payee's name on every voucher, since the limit is per person per day
• A note to move anything larger to a bank or UPI payment

Practical note for Indian businesses: two payouts to the same vendor on the same day count together, so splitting a payment does not get you under the limit.

Petty Cash Template for Businesses in the Philippines

The Philippines changed its invoicing and record keeping rules in 2024, and petty cash files feel it.

Under the Ease of Paying Taxes Act, the invoice is now the primary document for sales of goods and services, and books of accounts must be preserved for five years from the day after the deadline for filing the return.

What to add to a Philippine petty cash form:

• The supplier's invoice number on the voucher, not just the amount
• A note when a supplier could not issue an invoice
• Amounts in PHP, with the 12% VAT shown when the invoice shows it

Practical note for Philippine businesses: keep the supplier invoice stapled to the voucher. If you are VAT registered, that invoice is what supports your input VAT, not the log.

Petty Cash Template for Businesses in Malaysia

Malaysia asks you to keep records longer than most countries.

The Inland Revenue Board's public ruling on keeping sufficient records requires businesses to keep their records, including the receipts behind each expense, for seven years.

What to add to a Malaysian petty cash book:

• The shop receipt or e-invoice number on every voucher
• A seven year archive for logs, vouchers and receipts

Practical note for Malaysian businesses: a photo of the receipt taken on the day is worth more than the original found in a drawer in year six.

Petty Cash by Industry

The box looks the same everywhere. What goes through it does not.

Retail Stores and Restaurants

The biggest risk is mixing petty cash with the till. Keep them physically apart. Shops that run sales, stock and expenses together use Enerpize's retail store software.

Construction and Field Crews

One fund per site and the project name on every voucher, so costs land on the right job. That is how the Ridgeline sample is built. See how Enerpize works for construction companies.

Maintenance and Facility Services

Technicians buy small parts on the way to a job. Give each van a small float and put the work order number on the voucher. Enerpize's maintenance management software ties those costs back to the job.

Clinics and Pharmacies

Courier fees, small supplies and urgent repairs. Keep the limit low, because busy teams lose receipts fast.

Schools and Nonprofits

Every coin may end up in a donor report. Category totals from the journal entry sheet make that report easy.

Key Takeaways

1. Petty cash is a fixed company fund for small payments, restored to the same amount every period. That is the imprest system.
2. A complete petty cash template needs a voucher number, an approver and a receipt check on every row, not just a date and an amount.
3. Expected cash is the fund plus cash in minus cash out. Over or short is cash counted minus expected cash. Replenishment is the fund minus cash counted.
4. Shortages and overages belong in a cash over and short account, not buried in an expense category.
5. The petty cash report is the period end summary that requests replenishment, signed by the custodian and an approver.
6. In India, a cash expense above ₹10,000 to one person in a day is not deductible, so set your per payout limit below it.
7. Keep petty cash records generally three years in the US, five in the Philippines and seven in Malaysia.
8. Once petty cash spans more than one site, a treasury per location in accounting software beats a shared spreadsheet.

FAQs

How do you create a petty cash sheet in Excel?

Create columns for date, voucher number, payee, description, category, approver, receipt, cash in, cash out and balance. Make the balance the opening fund plus all cash in minus all cash out to that row. Or download our petty cash template excel file, which adds vouchers, a cash count and the journal entry.

What is the format of petty cash?

A standard petty cash format or petty cash form has a header with the fund, custodian and period, a log of every payout with a running balance, and a reconciliation that compares expected cash with cash counted and calculates the replenishment.

What is the journal entry for petty cash?

When you set up the fund, debit petty cash and credit the bank. When you replenish it, debit each expense category for what was spent, debit cash over and short for any shortage or credit it for any overage, and credit the bank for the replenishment.

How do you calculate petty cash?

Start with the fund amount, add any cash returned to the box and subtract every payout. That is the expected balance. Subtract it from the cash you count to find the amount over or short.

What are examples of petty cash expenses?

Postage, parking, office snacks, small supplies, minor repairs and cleaning supplies. Salaries, recurring bills and anything above your per payout limit should never come out of petty cash.

How much should a petty cash fund be?

Enough to cover two to four weeks of small payments. If you replenish every few days, the fund is too small. If most of it sits untouched, it is too large.

What happens if petty cash is short?

Check the vouchers against the log first, since most shortages are a missing entry. If the gap remains, record it in cash over and short and replenish the full amount.

How long should I keep petty cash records?

As long as your tax authority requires: generally three years in the US, five in the Philippines and seven in Malaysia. Keep the petty cash voucher, receipt and log together.

About the Author

Omar El Bahr is a Senior Digital Growth Specialist at Enerpize, where he leads SEO, content strategy, and organic growth across international markets. He is a Forbes Communications Council contributor and has written for Entrepreneur on business communication and digital strategy.

Disclaimer

This page and template are general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Record keeping periods and cash payment rules change and vary by country, so check the rules that apply to your business.