Free petty cash log template for Excel (with cash count and top-up)
Petty cash is the small box of bills and coins an office keeps for postage, parking, coffee and the other purchases too small for a card or a check. A petty cash log is how you keep it honest: every voucher paid out, every top-up put in, a running balance, and a count that proves the box holds what the log says. This free Excel template does that with a fixed float (the imprest system): a log with categories and a Receipt? column, a cash count by denomination, an over/short line, a replenishment summary that tells you how much to top up and where it went, and a printable voucher. Below: what's in the file, how the float works, a worked month that counts out to the cent, topping up, and recording it in QuickBooks or Xero.
Short answer: download the petty cash log template (.xlsx). Enter the float (say 300.00) as the opening cash, then log each voucher in Cash out with a category; the Balance shows what should be in the box. Count the cash in the Cash count panel: Over / (short) should be 0.00. To top up, put the last top-up date in Vouchers from: the summary lists spending by category and Top-up needed is the float minus the cash counted. The Example sheet runs a 300.00 float through October: 15 vouchers totalling 347.44, one top-up of 240.08, 192.64 counted, and a top-up of 107.36 due.
Download the free petty cash log template (.xlsx)
Four sheets: a blank Petty cash log with 250 rows, a filled-in Example month, a printable Voucher (two per page) and How to use. It uses only SUM, SUMIF, SUMIFS, COUNT, COUNTIFS, ROUND, IF, AND, ABS and TEXT, so it works in Excel, Google Sheets (File, Import), LibreOffice and Numbers. No sign-up, no email, no macros. The log prints in landscape with the headings repeated on every page.
1. What's in the template
- Header: the cash box, the custodian (the one person who looks after it), the float (the fixed amount the box is topped up to), the opening cash and the date.
- The log: Date, Voucher #, Paid to / received from, Description, Category, Cash in, Cash out, a running Balance and Receipt? (Y or N). Yellow cells are inputs; the headings stay in view as you scroll and Balance stays blank on empty rows.
- Reconciliation box: cash in, cash out, the expected cash (opening + in − out), the cash counted, over / (short), a status line, the top-up needed to restore the float, and a count of vouchers without a receipt.
- Cash count: $100 to $1 bills and $1 to 1¢ coins; type how many of each and it does the multiplying.
- Replenishment summary: an editable list of 11 starter categories (Postage & shipping, Office supplies, Office kitchen, Travel & parking and so on) with spending totalled since the last top-up and for the whole sheet. Anything typed that isn't in the list lands on a Not in the list above line, so nothing goes missing. A float check confirms the cash counted plus those vouchers equals the float.
- Voucher sheet: a petty cash voucher to print, two per page: number, date, paid to, amount in figures and words, purpose, category, receipt attached, and signatures for whoever asked, approved and received the cash.
2. The columns
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Date | The day the cash left (or came into) the box. |
| Voucher # | The number on the paper voucher, in sequence (PC-101, PC-102…). For a top-up, the check number or "ATM". |
| Paid to / received from | The shop or person paid, or where a top-up came from. |
| Description | What it was for, specific enough that someone else could tell it was a business cost. |
| Category | Pick from the drop-down. Leave it blank on top-up lines; they aren't spending. |
| Cash in | Top-ups, and change or unspent cash handed back. Positive number. |
| Cash out | Each voucher paid. Positive number. |
| Balance | Calculated: opening cash + all cash in − all cash out up to that row. It's what should be in the box after that line. |
| Receipt? | Y if a till receipt is stapled to the voucher, N if not (a parking meter, a tip). The box counts the Ns. |
3. How a petty cash float works
Most offices run petty cash on the imprest system: you decide a fixed float, put that much cash in the box, and whenever it runs low you top it back up to exactly that amount. The point is a simple rule that's true at every moment:
cash in the box + vouchers since the last top-up = the float
So the custodian never needs to know the books to check the box: count the cash, add up the vouchers, and the two together should make 300.00 (or whatever the float is). When you top up, the amount you put back is the total of those vouchers, and the vouchers tell you which expenses it covers. In the books, the Petty Cash account stays at the float; the spending shows up as expenses when it's recorded.
The template keeps both halves of the rule. The log's Balance is the cash that should be in the box; the cash count is what is. The replenishment summary adds up the vouchers since the date you give it, and the float check at the bottom puts the two together.
4. Worked example
The Example sheet is a fictional front office cash box in October 2026. The float is 300.00 and the box starts full on October 1.
| Date | Voucher | Paid to | Category | In | Out | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | PC-101 | USPS, postage | Postage & shipping | 18.40 | 281.60 | |
| Oct 2 | PC-102 | Corner Market, coffee and milk | Office kitchen | 23.85 | 257.75 | |
| Oct 5 | PC-103 | City Center Garage, parking | Travel & parking | 14.00 | 243.75 | |
| Oct 6 | PC-104 | FedEx Office, printing | Office supplies | 36.72 | 207.03 | |
| Oct 8 | PC-105 | Ace Hardware, light bulbs | Repairs & maintenance | 12.97 | 194.06 | |
| Oct 9 | PC-106 | Metro Courier | Postage & shipping | 25.00 | 169.06 | |
| Oct 12 | PC-107 | Staples, envelopes and pens | Office supplies | 19.64 | 149.42 | |
| Oct 13 | PC-108 | Tony's Pizza, team meeting | Meals & entertainment | 48.50 | 100.92 | |
| Oct 14 | PC-109 | Yellow Cab, airport | Travel & parking | 41.00 | 59.92 | |
| Oct 15 | CHK 2046 | Top-up from business checking | 240.08 | 300.00 | ||
| Oct 19 | PC-110 | USPS, certified mail | Postage & shipping | 9.85 | 290.15 | |
| Oct 21 | PC-111 | Corner Market, filters and tea | Office kitchen | 16.29 | 273.86 | |
| Oct 22 | PC-112 | Target, paper towels and cleaner | Cleaning supplies | 27.48 | 246.38 | |
| Oct 26 | PC-113 | Parking meter (no receipt) | Travel & parking | 6.75 | 239.63 | |
| Oct 28 | PC-114 | Bloom Florist, client thank-you | Gifts & flowers | 35.00 | 204.63 | |
| Oct 30 | PC-115 | Office Depot, batteries | Office supplies | 11.99 | 192.64 | |
| Total | 240.08 | 347.44 | 192.64 | |||
By October 14 the box was down to 59.92, so on the 15th the office wrote check 2046 for 240.08: 300.00 − 59.92, which is also exactly the nine vouchers so far. That brought the box back to the float. By the end of the month six more vouchers had gone out, and the log says 192.64 should be left: 300.00 + 240.08 − 347.44.
5. Counting the box: over and short
On October 30 the custodian counts the box into the Cash count panel: five $20 bills, six $10s, four $5s, twelve $1s, two quarters, a dime and four pennies, which is 192.64. That matches the expected cash, so Over / (short) is 0.00 and the status reads Agrees. The box also shows one voucher without a receipt: the 6.75 parking meter, which has a signed voucher instead.
If the count had come to 191.64, the status would read Short by 1.00. Before writing it off:
- Count again, with a second person if you can.
- Look for a voucher that wasn't logged, or one logged twice, or an amount typed differently from the receipt (a difference that divides by 9 suggests swapped digits).
- Ask who used the box. Change from a purchase not put back is the most common cause.
If it still doesn't come out, enter the difference as a voucher (short) or a Cash in line (over) with the category Cash over/short, so the log agrees with the box again, and tell whoever approves petty cash. Small, rare differences happen; regular shortages are a reason to change who holds the key or to lower the float.
6. Topping up: the petty cash report
A top-up is where the log turns into a petty cash report (also called a replenishment request): how much to put back and what it was spent on. In the template, enter the date of the last top-up in Vouchers from (the opening date for the first one). For the example that's October 15:
| Category | Since Oct 15 | Whole month |
|---|---|---|
| Gifts & flowers | 35.00 | 35.00 |
| Cleaning supplies | 27.48 | 27.48 |
| Office kitchen | 16.29 | 40.14 |
| Office supplies | 11.99 | 68.35 |
| Postage & shipping | 9.85 | 53.25 |
| Travel & parking | 6.75 | 61.75 |
| Meals & entertainment | 0.00 | 48.50 |
| Repairs & maintenance | 0.00 | 12.97 |
| Total vouchers | 107.36 | 347.44 |
Top-up needed is 300.00 − 192.64 = 107.36, the same as the vouchers since October 15, and the float check reads Equals the float (192.64 + 107.36 = 300.00). Staple the six vouchers to a printout of the summary, get it approved, write the check or withdraw the cash, and log it as a Cash in line. If there was a shortage, the Cash over/short voucher is in the summary too, so the top-up still restores the float exactly.
If your books don't track a Petty Cash account day to day, the top-up is where the expenses get recorded: the check for 107.36 is coded by the summary, 35.00 to gifts, 27.48 to cleaning supplies and so on, and the whole-month column gives you the month's petty cash spending by category. The chart of accounts template has a Petty cash asset account (1050) and expense accounts the categories map to.
7. Petty cash in QuickBooks and Xero
- QuickBooks Online: create a Petty Cash account with account type Bank and detail type Cash on hand. Fund it with a check made out to petty cash or a transfer from checking, then record each voucher as an Expense with Petty Cash as the payment account and the category from the voucher. Intuit's note is the imprest rule: the slips plus the cash left should always add up to what you put in the box. See Intuit's Set up and use petty cash in QuickBooks Online (checked November 2, 2026).
- Xero: add petty cash as its own account in the bank accounts list, record each voucher as a Spend Money transaction from it with the expense account, and each top-up as a Transfer Money from the business bank account. Xero's own petty cash guide covers the same cycle (fund, voucher, reconcile, replenish) and suggests $100 to $500 for most small businesses (checked November 2, 2026).
- Either way, the Petty Cash account balance in the software should equal the cash in the box after every top-up. Reconcile it against your count the way you reconcile a bank account against its statement.
The top-up itself comes out of the business checking account, so it's a line on the bank statement too: check 2046 would appear among the account's cleared checks. The check register template tracks it until it clears, and the cash book template is the same idea as this log for a bank account rather than a cash box.
8. Log, register, book, journal, report, voucher
| Name | What it usually means | In this template |
|---|---|---|
| Petty cash log / register / record | The running list of vouchers and top-ups with a balance. Different names for the same thing. | The Petty cash log sheet |
| Petty cash book | The same list in the textbook ledger form, often with analysis columns, one per expense type. | The log plus the category summary (one column per category isn't needed when SUMIF does the analysis) |
| Petty cash journal | Either the log itself, or the journal entry that records a top-up: debit the expense accounts, credit the bank. | The summary gives the amounts for the entry |
| Petty cash report / replenishment request | The summary sent for approval when topping up: vouchers by category, cash counted, amount to put back. | Replenishment summary + Top-up needed |
| Petty cash reconciliation | Proving cash counted + vouchers = float, and explaining any difference. | Cash count, Over / (short), float check |
| Petty cash voucher / slip | The form filled in for each payment, with the receipt attached. | The Voucher sheet |
9. Rules that keep petty cash honest
- One custodian. One person holds the key and pays out. If several people can open the box, nobody can explain a shortage.
- A voucher for every payment, numbered in sequence, signed by whoever got the cash, with the receipt stapled to it. No receipt: a signed voucher saying why.
- A limit per voucher (say 50.00). Bigger purchases go on the company card or a check, where there's a statement behind them, and costs staff pay themselves go on an expense report.
- No IOUs and no change-making. Personal loans and breaking notes for the vending machine are how boxes come up short.
- Count at every top-up and by surprise now and then, by someone other than the custodian.
- Keep the vouchers with the month's records: they're the evidence behind each expense. The IRS explains how long to keep records.
The bank side of petty cash: get the statement as rows
Top-ups are checks or withdrawals on the business checking account, and the rest of that account needs the same care as the cash box. Utilly's converter reads a bank statement PDF, downloaded or scanned, into Excel, CSV, QuickBooks or Xero files and checks the rows against the statement's beginning and ending balance. The preview is free with no sign-up. Try it on the fictional sample bank statement first; every download of the sample is free.
At month end, the bank reconciliation template proves the checking account the way the cash count proves the box.
Method: the layout is the standard imprest petty cash log (fixed float, numbered vouchers, top-up to the float) in spreadsheet form, with a denomination count, an over/short line and a replenishment summary by date added. The example business, shops and amounts are fictional. Template built and checked November 2, 2026: the Example sheet recalculates in LibreOffice to cash out of 347.44, a top-up of 240.08, expected and counted cash of 192.64, a 0.00 difference, 107.36 of vouchers since October 15 and a top-up needed of 107.36.
FAQ
What is a petty cash log?
A running list of every amount paid out of, or put into, a small office cash box: date, voucher number, who was paid, what for, the amount and the balance left. With a fixed float, the cash in the box plus the vouchers since the last top-up always equals the float, which is how you check it.
Is the petty cash log template free?
Yes. Download the .xlsx with no sign-up or email address. It has a blank 250-row log with a cash count and replenishment summary, a filled-in example month, a printable voucher (two per page) and instructions. It works in Excel, Google Sheets (File, Import), LibreOffice and Numbers.
How much should the petty cash float be?
Enough for two to four weeks of small cash purchases, and no more than you'd be comfortable losing. Many small offices use 100 to 500 dollars. If you top up every few days, raise the float; if most of it sits unused for a month, lower it.
How do I replenish petty cash?
Count the cash, total the vouchers since the last top-up by category, and put back the difference between the float and the cash counted. In the template, set Vouchers from to the last top-up date: the summary lists the categories and Top-up needed gives the amount. Enter the top-up as a Cash in line.
What do I do if petty cash is short?
Count again, look for a voucher that wasn't logged or an amount typed differently, and ask whoever used the box. If you still can't explain it, record the shortage as a Cash over/short voucher so the log agrees with the box, and report it to whoever approves petty cash. Repeated shortages are a reason to change custodian or lower the float.
How do I record petty cash in QuickBooks or Xero?
Set up a Petty Cash account of the bank type (in QuickBooks Online, type Bank, detail type Cash on hand). Record each voucher as an expense paid from that account with its category, and each top-up as a transfer or check from checking. The Petty Cash balance in the software should then match the cash in the box.
Related guides
- Free expense report template for Excel (with mileage and receipt checks)
- Free cash book template for Excel (with categories and a balance check)
- Free check register template for Excel (with a cleared-balance check)
- Free chart of accounts template for Excel (with QuickBooks and Xero import files)
- Free bank reconciliation template for Excel (with a worked example)
- Free sample bank statement PDF (fictional, with known totals)
Related tools
- Bank reconciliation checker: compare a bank statement to your books and list missing, duplicate and mismatched transactions.
- Receipt to CSV: turn PDF or photo receipts and invoices into CSV, Excel, or QuickBooks and Xero bill imports.
