Petty Cash on Location

On the road petty cash can be a burden. Large expenses can be approved and processed in a traditional fashion, whether it involves reimbursement, purchase order, or other means. Small incidental expenses are the ones that are difficult to predict, manage, and accurately record. While a petty cash box may work for a small company office, when your employees are on location, petty cash is arguably more necessary and definitely more difficult to keep track of. How can your business manage petty cash on location?

If you do want to have the standard petty cash box, be sure that it is a lock box and have a specific place where it will be. It helps if there are a few specific people that help keep track of the petty cash and help employees access it. The most important part is to require specific documentation each time money is used.

Alternatively, you can have access to funds without petty cash. This can be done by issuing corporate cards. The benefit of such a system is that everyone who needs access can have their own card, the purchases are automatically documented, and money is safe yet available. Visa cards are accepted just about everywhere you would need to buy from—no matter where your location—and can be used for the small purchases that usually fall under petty cash without having to deal with cash.

However you decide to deal with on location purchases, there needs to be a way to make funds available for both large and small purchases. While on the road, anything can happen and your operations must continue to run smoothly in order to achieve your goals.