Understanding Petty Cash Vouchers: Benefits, Challenges, and Solutions

A petty cash voucher is a document that records small expenses paid from a petty cash fund, detailing the amount, purpose, and person who received the cash. For companies managing petty cash manually (like through Excel sheets or manual logs), petty cash vouchers document and track every cash disbursement.

For example, an employee uses petty cash to buy office supplies and receives a receipt. Instead of just storing the receipt and entering the amount in Excel, the employee fills out a petty cash voucher, which records the transaction details and includes the employee's signature. Later, these vouchers, with attached receipts, are entered into the Excel sheet/ manual log to create a consolidated expense summary.

This process creates a clear, traceable record for each petty cash transaction, making it more standardized and auditable.

In this blog, we’ll explore how you can adopt petty cash vouchers to make your petty cash management system more reliable and organized.

What is a Petty Cash Voucher?

A petty cash voucher is a document used to record small business expenses paid from a petty cash fund. It includes details like the date, amount, purpose, and person receiving the funds and requires a signature for accountability. Receipts are typically attached to vouchers to provide proof of each expense. 

This voucher system helps track and organize minor expenses, especially in companies using manual cash management methods like spreadsheets, by providing a clear, auditable record of every petty cash transaction.

Why Use a Voucher System With the Petty Cash Fund?

Managing petty cash without a structured system creates confusion and inefficiency. 

Typically, employees take cash from the petty cash fund for small purchases, such as office supplies or snacks. Thereafter, tracking these expenses becomes challenging, especially as receipts are prone to getting lost. This lack of accountability results in rogue spending and makes it difficult for managers to understand where the money is going.

With a voucher system, employees fill out a petty cash voucher with each purchase, which offers the following key benefits:

1. Documentation: Each expense is recorded with a voucher and a receipt, creating a complete, traceable record of all transactions. This helps during audits and reconciliations, reducing the chances of errors.
2. Accountability: Employees must justify their expenses on the voucher, which reduces the risk of misuse.
3. Insights: Documenting transactions with vouchers allows managers to analyze spending patterns easily, enabling better budgeting and financial planning.

So, adopting a voucher system streamlines petty cash management with enhanced accountability and financial oversight.

Petty Cash Voucher Template

https://www.jotform.com/pdf-templates/petty-cash-voucher 

https://vyaparapp.in/voucher-format/cash/excel 

How to Fill out a Petty Cash Voucher?

Here’s a step-by-step process to fill out a petty cash voucher:

1. Get the voucher: Get a petty cash voucher form from your finance department or download it from your company’s intranet.
2. Enter the date: Write the transaction date at the top of the voucher.
3. Fill in your name: Write your name and department to identify who is submitting the voucher.
4. Specify the purpose: Clearly describe the reason for the cash withdrawal (e.g., “office supplies,” “team lunch”).
5. Detail the amount: Enter the exact amount of cash spent.
6. Attach receipts: Staple expense receipts to the voucher for proof of purchase.
7. Sign the voucher: Sign the voucher to confirm that the information is accurate and that you acknowledge the expense.

Finally, submit the petty cash voucher to your manager or the finance department for record-keeping.

What Should Be Stapled to Every Petty Cash Voucher Before It Is Filed (Checklist)

Here’s a checklist for what should be stapled to every petty cash voucher, ensuring complete documentation:

• Receipts: Attach all relevant receipts corresponding to the expenses incurred.

• Invoices (if applicable): Include copies of invoices for purchases made.

• Approval signatures: Ensure all necessary approval signatures are on the voucher.

• Additional documentation: Attach other supporting documents (e.g., meeting agendas for meal expenses).

Is a Petty Cash Voucher System Right for Your Business?

Using petty cash vouchers brings order and accountability to managing small expenses. However, they also introduce additional administrative steps.

The table below outlines the advantages and trade-offs of using petty cash vouchers, helping you assess if this system aligns with your business's needs.

How to Adopt a Voucher System Seamlessly

While petty cash vouchers are valuable for tracking and accountability, they come with increased paperwork and potential errors. These hiccups make the petty cash management cumbersome. 

So, if you want a reliable petty cash system that simplifies expense recording, approvals, and reconciliation — a digital solution like Pluto offers both — convenience and efficiency. 

Here’s how Pluto enhances your petty cash management system:

Real-Time Expense Filing

Employees record expenses anytime and anywhere, with receipts easily uploaded through the Pluto app, web app, or WhatsApp. Optical character recognition (OCR) scans and logs receipts, eliminating the need for manual entry and reducing errors.

Approvals and Compliance

Managers are notified of expenses based on configurable approval workflows, allowing faster approvals without repetitive back-and-forth communication. Also, Pluto records each comment/ change made to an expense record —complete audit trail— ensuring transparency and adherence to petty cash policies.

Centralized Overview

The dashboard provides visibility over expenses in real time, allowing custodians to monitor available funds and manage petty cash reconciliations easily. It also allows tracking by branch, department, or location, making it easier for businesses with multiple locations to oversee cash flow accurately.

Is Going Paperless the Future of Petty Cash Management?

Petty cash vouchers work well for businesses that manage occasional, low-value expenses and require a physical transaction record. For smaller teams, they track cash flow and offer a simple, low-cost solution. 

However, as the volume of transactions grows or teams become more distributed, the limitations of manual voucher systems become clear. Paper vouchers become time-consuming, prone to errors, and slow down approvals as receipts pile up.

Across the world, businesses and governments are moving toward cashless and digital payment solutions. For example, Dubai’s Cashless Strategy aims to make 90% of all transactions cashless by 2026, boosting the economy by over $2.17 billion each year. This shift shows how digital tools make financial processes easier, more efficient, and more transparent.

Digital solutions like Pluto fit into this shift perfectly.

Pluto act as a virtual cash register, digitizing the entire process and letting employees log expenses and upload receipts instantly via a mobile app or even WhatsApp. With automated receipt capture, real-time approvals, and a centralized dashboard for tracking cash flow, Pluto simplifies reconciliation and boosts accountability. 

This digital approach reduces the risk of misplaced receipts, minimizes time spent on administrative tasks, and ensures that all records are securely stored and easy to access, making it ideal for businesses looking to modernize their petty cash management.

For a deeper dive into how digital systems transform your expense management, check out our petty cash management guide to read more on best practices, tips for maximizing efficiency, and a complete overview of how Pluto can support your team’s needs.