QuickBooks 2005: The Missing Manual

Tracking Petty Cash

Dashing out to buy an extension cord so you can present a pitch to a potential client? Chances are you'll get money from the petty cash drawer at your office. Petty cash is the familiar term for money spent on small purchases, typically less than $20.

Many companies keep a cash drawer at the office and dole out dollars for small company-related purchases that employees make. But for the small business owner with a bank card, obtaining petty cash is as easy as withdrawing some money from an ATM. Either way, petty cash is still company money. And that means you have to keep track of it and how it's spent.

Recording ATM Withdrawals and Deposits to Petty Cash

In QuickBooks, adding money to your petty cash account mirrors the real world transaction. You either write a check made out to Cash (or the trustworthy employee who's cashing the check), or you withdraw money from an ATM. To write a check for your petty cash account, you can simply open the Write Checks dialog box (choose Banking→Write Checks or, in the QuickBooks icon bar, click Check). Withdrawing cash from an ATM requires the Transfer Funds dialog box (choose Banking→Transfer Funds).

If creating transactions in the account register window (page 329) is OK with you, you can use the same steps whether you replenish your petty cash with a check or ATM withdrawal:

1. In the Chart of Accounts window (press Ctrl+A to open), double-click your checking account to open the register window.

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