Petty cash register India
Monthly petty cash register for Indian restaurants. Add receipts and payments with date, voucher number, description, and category — running balance updates automatically after each entry. Category expense summary shows where petty cash is going. Month-end closing balance for physical reconciliation. Print A4 register with signature columns or export CSV. No signup.
| Voucher | Date | Description | Category | Receipt (₹) | Payment (₹) | Balance (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening balance | 5,000 | 5,000 | ||||
| TOTAL / CLOSING BALANCE | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | |||
What is petty cash and how restaurants use it
Petty cash is a small, fixed amount of cash kept on hand for minor, day-to-day operational expenses that are too small to warrant formal payment via bank transfer or cheque. In Indian restaurants, petty cash typically covers: market purchases (vegetables, herbs, last-minute ingredients), cleaning supplies, minor repairs, staff tea and snacks, transport expenses (auto fare for the storekeeper), and small stationery purchases.
A typical restaurant petty cash fund ranges from ₹3,000 to ₹15,000 per month, depending on outlet size, number of daily market purchases, and how efficiently the main accounts handles vendor payments. Cloud kitchens and QSR outlets with centralised procurement tend to have lower petty cash usage; full-service restaurants with daily market procurement and more ad-hoc maintenance spend tend to be higher.
The imprest system: how petty cash should work
The imprest system is the standard petty cash management method:
- Set a fixed petty cash limit (e.g. ₹8,000)
- Disburse this amount to the petty cash custodian (manager or head cashier) at the start of each month
- Each expense is recorded in the register with a pre-numbered voucher and attached receipt
- At month-end, total the expenses and replenish the box back to ₹8,000 from the main account
- The replenishment entry in the main cash book matches the total of petty cash vouchers
The key discipline is the voucher: every payment from petty cash must have a numbered voucher (physical slip or this register's PCH-001 format) signed by the person receiving the money, with a bill or receipt attached. Without vouchers, petty cash becomes an untracked drain — “I don't know where the money went” is the most common symptom of a missing imprest system.
Petty cash controls: what gets stolen and how to prevent it
Petty cash is one of the highest-fraud-risk areas in restaurant operations because:
- Small amounts, infrequent audit: ₹200 here, ₹500 there is easy to misappropriate and hard to notice without a running register.
- Fake bills: Market purchases often involve cash-and-carry with no formal receipt — easy to submit inflated or duplicate bills.
- Personal expenses: Petrol for personal errands submitted as delivery transport; personal purchases submitted as staff welfare.
Controls that work:
- Random spot audit: Once a week, count the physical cash and verify it matches the register's running balance. Unannounced audits catch small drains before they become large ones.
- Per-transaction limit: Any single expense above ₹500 requires the manager's prior approval. Expensive repairs or bulk purchases come through the main accounts, not petty cash.
- Category caps: Set a monthly budget per category (e.g. transport: ₹1,500/month, cleaning supplies: ₹2,000/month). Flag when a category exceeds its cap.
- Custodian rotation: Rotate who holds the petty cash box monthly. Accountability is higher when the custodian knows they will be audited at handover.
Where this fits
- Petty cash voucher pad — generate pre-numbered petty cash vouchers for each transaction; the voucher number flows into this register
- Cash book — at month-end, the total petty cash replenishment appears as a single outflow in the main cash book; reconcile the two records
- Daily sales report — petty cash expenses paid from DSR cash collections should be recorded here before the remaining cash is deposited
- Purchase order — larger vendor payments should go through a formal PO + payment cycle, not petty cash; petty cash is for expenses that cannot reasonably wait for a formal payment cycle
- P2 — Petty cash pillar — complete guide to petty cash management for Indian restaurants: imprest system, controls, fraud prevention, and reconciliation