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Petty cash log template

A petty cash log is the running record that proves every note in the float went somewhere. Without it the float is just a tin of money that never balances. This guide gives you a template that survives an audit and shows you how to keep it updated from chat.

The columns that make a log audit-proof

Keep these on every row, and the log tells the whole story of the cash:

Date - the day the cash left or came in
Voucher # - a sequential number per receipt or request
Recipient / person - who took the cash
Purpose / expense category - what it was for
Amount out - money leaving the float
Amount in - top-ups and change
Running balance - what should be in the tin

The voucher number is the column people skip, and it is the one that makes the float auditable. Every expense row ties to a physical or digital voucher with the same number, so a reviewer can trace cash to paper in one step.

A simple table to start

Date       Voucher  Recipient     Purpose        Out    In     Balance
----------- -------- ------------- -------------- ------ ------ ---------
2026-09-01  --      float top-up  opening cash     --   100.00   100.00
2026-09-03  001     office       stationery       12.40   --      87.60
2026-09-05  002     courier      client delivery  18.00   --      69.60
2026-09-12  --      petty cash   reimbursement    --    40.00   109.60

Add a category column if you split costs across projects or clients, and a "project" column if you reimburse or rebill petty cash later. Those two columns are what turn a simple log into something you can recover VAT or rebill on.

Reconcile the tin to the log

At month end, count the physical cash and compare it to the running balance. They should match. If they do not:

Check for a missing voucher (a spent note nobody logged).
Check for cash that never got a top-up row.
If a small difference cannot be traced, record it as a cash over/short row and note it - a real log is honest about a £2 shortfall, not silent about it.

Keep the log from chat

You do not need to hand-type the ledger into a spreadsheet. Point the cash-book and petty-cash servers at your float and describe each transaction:

# once - mint a free token and paste the printed URL into your client
# https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/connect

claude mcp add --transport http cash-book \
  https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/cash-book/t/<token>
claude mcp add --transport http petty-cash \
  https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/petty-cash/t/<token>

Then: "Log voucher 002, £18 to the courier for the client delivery, out of the float." The server keeps the running balance, numbers the vouchers for you, and at month end prints the log as a sheet ready to reconcile. See the petty-cash server workflow.

Keep the float simple

A float of £50-£100 in a locked tin, reconciled monthly and logged with voucher numbers, is all a small business needs. Resist the urge to make petty cash a second bank account - if a cost is recurring and regular, pay it properly and keep the float for genuine incidentals. When you do use the float, log it the same day, while the voucher is still in your hand.

Monthly close checklist

Count the physical cash and compare to the running balance.
Confirm every voucher number is present in the log.
Top the float back up to its target and log the top-up.
File vouchers in voucher order.

A petty cash log is twenty minutes a month of discipline that saves hours of "where did the cash go" at tax time.

Questions

What columns should a petty cash log have?

Date, voucher number, recipient, purpose, amount in, amount out, and running balance. That is enough to reconcile the tin against the ledger in minutes and to answer any tax-time question about a cash expense.

How often should petty cash be reconciled?

Monthly is the sweet spot for a small business: count the cash, compare it to the log, top the float back up, and file the vouchers in voucher order. Reconcile more often only if the float moves fast.

Can I keep a petty cash log from chat instead of a spreadsheet?

Yes. Log each voucher in one line of chat and the petty-cash MCP server keeps the running balance and prints the month-end sheet: https://mcp.zovo.one/mcp/petty-cash. Pair it with the cash-book server for the ledger side.

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