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How to record Cash on hand (aka petty cash & cash box)

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Use this method instead of using a Cash on Hand Category in the Budget – this method will not inflate income and expenses for the year.


Click the Banking icon in the sidebar.


Click the Add Account dropdown.


Choose Bank Register (Manual Entry) from the dropdown.


Name the account Cash on Hand and give it a starting balance of $0.

This bank account would be used for petty cash or when cash is needed for an event.


Click Save.


When cash is needed for an event, record it as a Transfer between accounts:

Click the Banking icon in the sidebar.


Click the Actions dropdown to the right of the bank account.


Choose New Transfer from the dropdown.


Using the drop-down menus, select the bank account the funds will be transferred FROM and TO.

The From Bank Account will be the bank account that money is being transferred from (i.e. Checking Account). The To Bank Account will be Cash on Hand.


Enter the date the money is coming out of the bank in the Date field. If you have written a check, record the check # in the Reference field. Enter the $ amount in the Amount field. Use the Memo field to note the reason/event you took cash out.


Click Save.


The Checking Account balance has decreased by the amount of the transfer, the Cash on Hand account balance has increased by amount of the transfer. This reflects reality.


When re-depositing the money back into the bank, it is best to deposit the cash on hand in a separate bank deposit. (The deposit slip can be uploaded as an attachment in the Transfer) This makes it very clear that the money was re-deposited. When the cash gets re-deposited in the bank, it will be recorded as a Transfer between accounts again.

Click the Banking icon in the sidebar.


Click the Actions dropdown to the right of the Cash on Hand bank account.


Choose New Transfer from the dropdown.


This time the From Bank Account will be the Cash on Hand account. The To Bank Account will be the bank account that the money is being deposited into (i.e. Checking Account).


Enter the date that the money is being returned to the bank in the Date field. Use the Reference field to note the deposit into checking. Enter the $ amount in the Amount field. Use the Memo field to note the reason/event you are putting cash in.


Click Save.


The Checking Account balance has increased by the amount of the transfer, the Cash on Hand account balance is now $0.


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4 Comments

  1. Kate Vega

    thank you for the information. I have a few questions regarding this:
    Will I be able to pull in these transactions from the online banking option I have been using for other transactions or do i have to do it manually as the example shows? Also, can I apply this to previous transactions to get the hang of it since we definitely won’t be having any events for a while?
    Thank you in advance, Kate Vega

    1. Julie Rice

      Hi Kate,

      Yes, all your banking will pull over as always. Sure, you would need to delete the previous withdrawals and deposits associated with the cash box and re-do them as transfers. The account is not reconciled, so you would not have to worry about un-reconciling and re-reconciling. Please let us know if we can help further.

      Warm regards,
      Julie

  2. Tara

    Hi – How would you do a check withdrawal for the starting cash? Would you do the withdrawal from your checking to process the check and then delete the record of it from your checking register? Of course, then process the transfer from checking to cash on hand?

    1. Traci Hahn

      Hi Tara,

      In MoneyMinder, it would be recorded as a New Transfer from your bank account to the Cash on Hand account. When you record the transfer, it will show as a withdrawal from your bank account (you can note the check number in the transfer) and a deposit into Cash on Hand. So you don’t need to do anything other than record it as a transfer. That will take care of the whole transaction and allow you to reconcile the withdrawal.

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