Who should hold, approve and count petty cash

How to split petty cash duties between a custodian, an approver, a recorder and a surprise counter, and what to do when the team is too small.

By Achekam · 11 October 2026 · 5 min read · For Running a business businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya

Petty cash is the smallest pot of money in most businesses and, for that reason, the least watched. A tin in a drawer pays for milk, a courier, a taxi fare and a box of light bulbs. Nobody minds much if it is a little short at month-end, which is exactly why it is a favourite place for small, steady losses, and why a short tin is often written off as "someone forgot a slip".

The fix is not a bigger lock. It is making sure that no single person can take money out, approve the payment, record it and count what is left. Split those jobs, add a count nobody expects, and petty cash stops being a blind spot.

Four jobs, four people

AccountingTools advises dividing petty cash duties so that:

Job	Who does it	What they must not also do
Custodian	Keeps the cash safe and makes the payments	Approve their own spending or record the top-ups
Approver	Approves each expenditure before it is paid	Hold the cash
Recorder	An accounting person who records top-ups and reconciles the fund	Hold the cash or approve spending
Independent counter	Someone outside the routine who carries out surprise counts	Any of the above

Investopedia describes the custodian's role the same way: a person appointed to enforce the fund's rules, request top-ups and hand out money, with usually only a few people allowed to approve payments.

The point of the split is simple. A custodian who also approves can pay themselves. A custodian who also records can hide the gap. An approver who also counts will never find a problem they caused.

What the custodian may and may not do

AccountingTools states that petty cash should be paid out only for minor business expenses, and that the fund should be locked at all times when not in use. Turn that into rules the custodian can follow:

The custodian may:

keep the tin locked, with the key on their person or in a locked place only they and a named deputy can reach;
pay approved claims against a voucher and the supplier's slip;
ask for a top-up when the fund runs low, with the vouchers attached.

The custodian may not:

lend money from the fund, cash personal cheques, or give change for staff;
pay anything without an approved voucher;
fill in a voucher on someone else's behalf.

AccountingTools advises that the person receiving the money should count it and sign the voucher, as proof that the custodian did not write the voucher and pocket the cash. That one signature closes the most common gap.

Running a surprise count

AccountingTools describes the routine reconciliation: before each top-up, the custodian completes a form listing the cash on hand, the vouchers issued and any overage or shortage, and an accounting staff member reviews and approves it. The surprise count is the same check done by someone else, at a time the custodian does not choose.

How to run one:

Arrive unannounced and ask the custodian to open the tin in your presence.
Count the notes and coins together, and write down the total.
Add up the vouchers since the last top-up, checking each is signed by the recipient and approved.
Cash plus vouchers should equal the fixed float. Write down any difference.
Both of you sign and date the count sheet.
Hand the sheet to the owner or the recorder, not back to the custodian.

Note anything unusual: vouchers without slips, IOUs, the custodian's own claims, or a float that is right only because of a voucher dated that day.

When there are too few staff to split every duty

A five-person business may not have four separate people. Keep the most important separations and replace the rest with review:

The custodian never approves their own claims; the owner approves them.
The owner, not the custodian, signs off every top-up after looking at the vouchers.
The owner, or the outside accountant on a visit, does the surprise count.
Keep the float small, so the most that can go missing is small too.

Setting up and recording petty cash in Achekam

Achekam has no separate petty cash screen, so petty cash runs through ordinary tools.

The account. Each business has its own chart of accounts, and accounts can be added, so open a petty cash account under current assets. The first float is a journal from the bank account to petty cash.

Top-ups. Under the fixed-float method, each top-up replaces what was spent. Post a manual journal that charges the vouchers to their expense accounts and credits the bank. Achekam refuses an unbalanced journal or one dated in a closed month, and a posted journal is corrected only by a reversal, so each top-up stays on record as posted. Once a month is closed, it refuses postings from every source, so record top-ups before the month-end close.

The slips. Upload the vouchers and slips to Financial Intake, where supplier invoices and receipts become suggested postings; AI can suggest, but only a person approves and posts. Or file them in Document Centre, a folder-based store where you can tag and search them later.

Retail tills. A shop with the Point of Sale add-on may pay small expenses from the till instead. Cash paid out at the till is recorded on the server and posts its own journal, with input VAT only when a tax invoice number is given, and it needs a supervisor or manager.

Staff who paid themselves. Where staff pay from their own pockets, a staff member whose login is linked to their payroll record can submit an expense claim for payroll to decide, which keeps those costs out of the tin entirely.

A one-page rule sheet for staff

Pin this beside the tin:

Petty cash is for small business costs only. No loans, no change, no personal use.
Every payment needs an approved voucher and the supplier's slip.
Count the money you receive and sign the voucher yourself.
The custodian keeps the tin locked and the key secure.
Top-ups happen only with vouchers attached and the owner's sign-off.
Anyone may be asked to count the tin, at any time.

For related industry examples, see petty cash on a non-profit project and the top-up journal.