> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hitaji360.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Petty Cash

> You'll find this at: /accounting/petty-cash

**Petty cash** is a small float of physical cash held by a custodian for minor, immediate payments — taxi fares, tea, small supplies — where raising a [bill](/accounting/user/transactions/purchase-bills) or [expense claim](/accounting/user/transactions/expenses) would be overkill. In Hitaji 360 you set up one or more **petty cash funds**, **disburse** cash from them as it's spent, and **replenish** them from a bank or cash account to top the float back up.

You'll find this at: `/accounting/petty-cash`

In the navigation this is labelled **Petty Cash** under Finance → Books.

> 📷 *Screenshot: Petty cash funds list showing fund name, custodian, limit, current balance and status — to be added.*

***

## How petty cash works

Each fund tracks four running numbers:

* **Fund limit** — the maximum the float can hold (its "imprest" ceiling).
* **Current balance** — cash on hand right now.
* **Total disbursed** — lifetime cash paid out.
* **Total replenished** — lifetime cash topped up.

You **disburse** to pay for small things (balance goes down) and **replenish** to top the fund back up toward its limit (balance goes up). A fund is **ACTIVE** until you **close** it.

***

## Step 1 — Create a petty cash fund

1. Go to **Petty Cash** (`/accounting/petty-cash`) and choose **New Fund**.
2. Fill in:
   * **Fund name** — required (e.g. "Front Desk Float").
   * **Custodian** — required: the person responsible (a user) and their **custodian name**.
   * **Fund limit** — required, minimum 0.01. The ceiling the float can be replenished to.
   * **Cash account** — required: the GL account that represents this float's cash on hand.
3. Save. The fund starts **ACTIVE** with a current balance of 0 — you'll bring cash in via the first replenishment.

You can **edit** a fund (name, custodian, limit, account) at any time while it's active, and **close** it when it's no longer used. A **closed** fund can't be updated, disbursed from, or replenished.

> 📷 *Screenshot: Create petty cash fund form — to be added.*

***

## Step 2 — Disburse cash

When the custodian pays out cash, record a **disbursement**:

1. Open the fund and choose **Disburse**.
2. Enter:
   * **Amount** — required, minimum 0.01. Cannot exceed the fund's **current balance** (you can't pay out more cash than the float holds).
   * **Recipient name** — required.
   * **Contact** *(optional)* — link to a Contact receiving the cash (preferred over free-text name; must belong to this book).
   * **Purpose** — required: what the cash was for.
   * **Category** *(optional)* — for expense analysis.
   * **Receipt attachment** *(optional)* — URL/path to a receipt.
   * **Date** — required.
3. Save.

The fund's **current balance** drops by the amount and **total disbursed** rises.

**Behind the scenes** — each disbursement posts a balanced entry:

* **Debit** an operating-expense account for the amount (the cost is recognised), tagged with the contact if one was given.
* **Credit** the fund's cash account (or the book's default cash account if the fund has none) — the cash leaving the float.

***

## Step 3 — Replenish the fund

When the float runs low, top it back up:

1. Open the fund and choose **Replenish**.
2. Enter:
   * **Amount** — required, minimum 0.01. The new balance (current + amount) **cannot exceed the fund limit** — you can't over-fund the float.
   * **Payment account** — required: the bank/cash account the top-up comes from. It must be a real, postable **cash or bank** account in this book (not a group account, must allow direct posting, and be active).
   * **Reference** *(optional)* — cheque number, transfer reference, etc.
   * **Date** — required.
3. Save.

The fund's **current balance** and **total replenished** both rise by the amount.

**Behind the scenes** — each replenishment posts:

* **Debit** the fund's cash account (cash coming into the float).
* **Credit** the payment account (the bank/cash the money came from).

So replenishment simply moves money from your bank into the petty cash float — no expense is recognised here (the expense was already booked at disbursement).

***

## Viewing fund history

From a fund you can review:

* **Disbursements** — every cash payout recorded against the fund.
* **Replenishments** — every top-up, including the linked journal entry reference.

These give the custodian and finance a full audit trail of the float's movements.

***

## Closing a fund

Choose **Close** to retire a fund. A closed fund is read-only: no further disbursements, replenishments or edits. Closing doesn't post any accounting entry on its own — settle or reconcile the remaining cash separately if needed.

***

## A note on the difference between disburse and replenish

It's easy to mix these up:

* **Disburse** = cash *leaves the float* to pay for something → an **expense** is recognised, the float balance **falls**.
* **Replenish** = cash *enters the float* from your bank → just a **cash transfer**, the float balance **rises** (up to its limit).

A typical cycle: replenish the float to its limit → make many small disbursements → when low, replenish again to cover what was spent.

***

## Multi-business note

Petty cash funds and their disbursements/replenishments live inside a single **accounting book** (`workspaceId`) and never cross businesses. Contacts and accounts referenced on a disbursement or replenishment must belong to the same book. Switch to the correct business before recording petty cash activity.

***

## Permissions reference

Petty cash endpoints are protected by tenant authentication and the accounting workspace guard. Unlike bills and expenses, the petty cash handlers don't carry their own fine-grained `@RequirePermissions` slugs — access is governed by your general accounting access to the active book. (Confirm with your administrator how petty cash is scoped for your roles.)

***

## Related

* [Expenses & Expense Claims](/accounting/user/transactions/expenses) — reviewed/approved reimbursements
* [Purchase Bills (Accounts Payable)](/accounting/user/transactions/purchase-bills) — supplier invoices on terms
* [Debit Notes](/accounting/user/transactions/debit-notes) — vendor returns