In almost all businesses, it is found necessary to keep small sums of ready money with the cashier or petty cashier for the purpose of meeting small expenses such as postage, telegrams, stationary and office sundries etc. The sum of money so kept in hand generally termed as petty cash and book in which the petty cash expenditures are recorded is termed as petty cash book.
In large business houses , the cashier has to handle every day a large number of receipts and payments and if in addition to this he is further saddled with petty cash payments, his position becomes embarrassing. Besides, it is most common to find with large commercial establishments that all receipts and payments are made through bank. Since expenses like postage, telegrams, traveling etc, cannot be made by means of cheques, the maintenance of a small cash balance to meet these petty payments becomes all the more necessary.
A petty cash book is generally maintained on a columnar basis - a separate column being allotted for each type of expenditure. The is only one money column on the debit side and all sum received from time to time by the petty cashier from the chief cashier are entered in it. The credit side consists of several analysis columns. Every payment made by the petty cashier is entered on this side twice - Firstly it is recorded in the total column and then to the appropriate column to which the expense is concerned. The total of the "total column" will naturally agree with the total of all subsidiary columns. The difference between the total of the debit items and that of the "total column" on the credit side at any time will represent the balance of the petty cash in hand and this should tally with the petty cashier's actual holding of cash.
The posting from the petty cash book to the respective accounts in the ledger are made directly in total at the end of every month or any other fixed period
