Many events need a cash box with change in it before the first sale: a concession stand, a book fair, a carnival. That starting cash still belongs to your group while it sits in the box, so it isn’t an expense. This article shows how to track it in BeeKeeper so it comes back out cleanly when you deposit the event’s money.

How It Works

Step 1: Set Up a Cash on Hand Account

You only need to do this once. In your Chart of Accounts, add an Asset account for the cash, such as “Cash on Hand” or “Petty Cash”. See Chart of Accounts for how to add an account.

Step 2: Record the Starting Cash

When you write a check or take cash out for the cash box, record it from your bank account:

1. Go to Bookkeeping > Banking and click your checking account.
2. Click New Transaction.
3. Choose Money Out, then enter the date, payee and Amount.
4. In Category, choose your Cash on Hand account.
5. If you wrote a check, click More details and enter its number in Check No.
6. Click Save.

Make sure the Amount is filled in before you save. A transaction saved without an amount is recorded as $0.00, and nothing reaches your Cash on Hand account. If that happens, open the transaction from the ⋮ menu on its row, click Edit, enter the amount, choose Cash on Hand again, and click Save.

Why not Write Check? Write Check only lists expense and liability accounts, so your Cash on Hand account won’t appear there. Use New Transaction instead.

You can also use Transfer Funds from the account’s Actions menu, but it has no place for a check number.

When the Check Clears

If your bank account is connected, the check shows up in Needs Review a few days later. Don’t add it as a new transaction, or the money will be recorded twice. Use the Match tab on its row to link it to the transaction you entered. See Matching to Existing Entries.

Step 3: Deposit the Cash Box

After the event, the deposit you take to the bank holds both the starting cash and the sales. Your bank records it as one deposit, so record it as one transaction split two ways.

If your bank account is connected, wait for the deposit to show up in Needs Review. Then:

1. Click Split across categories on its row. The transaction opens with the bank’s date and amount already filled in.
2. Add a line for your Cash on Hand account, for the amount of starting cash.
3. Add a line for the event’s income account for the rest. That part is your sales.
4. Wait for the Adds up badge, then click Save.

To record the deposit before it reaches your bank feed, go to your checking account, click New Transaction, choose Money In, and click Split across categories. Add the same two lines and click Save. When the bank line arrives in Needs Review, use Match to link it.

For example, a cash box that started with $200.00 and came back with $1,000.00 splits like this:

Cash on Hand is back to $0.00, and only the $800.00 in sales counts as income. For more on splitting, see Splitting a Transaction Across Categories.

If You Log the Deposit in Received Funds

Received Funds only sends money to income accounts, so it can’t put the starting cash back into Cash on Hand by itself. If you want its Cash Verification Form, record the whole cash box there as usual and create the deposit. Then move the starting cash back:

1. Go to Bookkeeping > Banking and click your Cash on Hand account.
2. Click New Transaction and choose Money Out.
3. Enter the date and the amount of starting cash. In Category, choose the income account you used on the received fund.
4. Click Save.

This takes the starting cash back out of income and brings Cash on Hand to $0.00.

Common Questions

Is the starting cash an expense? No. The money is still yours while it’s in the cash box. Recording it in an asset account keeps it out of your expenses and your income.

What if the cash box comes back short or over? Split the deposit the same way, with the full starting cash going back to Cash on Hand. The sales line will then be a little lower or higher, which shows the difference in your income.

Can I keep the same cash box from one event to the next? Yes. If the starting cash stays in the box between events, leave it in Cash on Hand and only deposit the sales. Cash on Hand will keep showing what’s in the box.