Petty Cash Funds, Vouchers, Approvals and Top-ups
Petty cash funds have a custodian, opening float and optional per-voucher limit; each payment is a voucher that is approved or rejected before the expense posts.
For School administrators, Accountants, Directors and proprietors. Updated 2026-10-09.
Overview
Open Procurement > Petty cash (also in the sidebar). New fund asks for Fund name, Custodian (a staff member; students and parents are not allowed), Opening float, Most per voucher (optional limit) and, when a float is entered, Float drawn from (a cash or bank account, which is credited while petty cash account 1020 is debited).
Fund cards show the balance, custodian, limit and waiting vouchers. Select a card to filter vouchers and show Top up; top-ups need an account to take the money from, which cannot be the petty cash account itself. New voucher asks for Fund, Paid to, Amount, What it was for, Expense account (expense accounts only), Receipt number and Date.
A voucher cannot exceed the fund limit or the current balance ("Only X is left in <fund>. Top it up first."). It is saved as PCV-0001 and so on with status Waiting (Submitted). Users with the “approve pettycash” permission see Approve and Reject; approving posts an expense journal and the cash leaves the fund immediately, so status becomes Paid.
Rejecting requires a reason and returns the voucher unpaid. The person who requested a voucher cannot approve it unless they are an Administrator. Accountants and Administrators hold the “approve pettycash” permission; Directors can only view.
Before you start
- The “add pettycash” permission to create funds and vouchers, the “edit pettycash” permission to top up, the “approve pettycash” permission to decide
- A staff member to act as custodian
- A bank or cash account to draw the float from
Steps
- Open Procurement > Petty cash
- Select New fund, enter the name, custodian, float, limit and source account
- Select New voucher for each small payment and pick the expense account
- An approver selects Approve and pay or Reject (with a reason)
- Select a fund card and use Top up when the balance runs low
Common problems
Only X is left in the fund
The voucher is more than the available balance. Use Top up first, drawing from a bank or cash account.
This fund pays at most X on one voucher
The fund has a Most per voucher limit. Split the payment or use a purchase order and supplier bill.
Someone other than the person who raised it must approve this voucher
Ask another approver; Administrators are the only users who may approve their own vouchers.
Choose a staff member as custodian
Custodians must be staff users of the school (not students or parents).