Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template for Google Sheets & Excel
An opening balance at the top, then sixteen rows of movement with deposits and withdrawals in columns of their own. The Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet template carries a running balance down the sheet, so the last filled row is what should be in the tin, and takes a free-text category on every entry. Replenishments go in like any other money in. One working sheet and a How to Use tab. Google Sheets or Excel. No macros, no VBA, no sign-up.
The FinancialAha Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template is a one-sheet workbook for Google Sheets and Excel, with a How to Use guide on a second tab. It works as a Free Petty Cash Log Excel template and a Free Petty Cash Log Google Sheets template from the same download. This Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet template records movements in and out of a cash float, with the balance recalculating down the column as you go. No macros, no VBA, no sign-up.
Inside the workbook
What's inside the FinancialAha Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet template
The FinancialAha Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template runs on a single working sheet, with the instructions on a tab of their own. It works in both Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets and here is what the Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet holds.
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Petty Cash
An opening balance at the top, then a row for each movement in and out - each with a date, a description, a category, and the amount in whichever direction it moved. The balance column is the one that matters and it is a genuine running figure: every row takes the balance above it, adds anything paid in, and subtracts anything taken out. That means the last filled row always shows what should be in the tin, which is the whole reason a cash log exists - the number on screen is what you count against.
A strip above the table already carries the current balance alongside total paid in and total taken out across the log. What it does not carry is a net change for the period or a count of entries - both, along with a dashboard and two charts, are on the Essentials build.
Petty Cash
Included guide
How to Use
A step-by-step guide on its own tab, covering how to replace the sample values and how to change the currency. Because it ships inside the file, the instructions travel with the template wherever it is opened.
Works in both Google Sheets and Excel
Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet template for Google Sheets
Upload the Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template to Drive, right-click it, and choose "Open with Google Sheets". This Free Petty Cash Log Google Sheets template needs no conversion step and nothing gets rewritten on the way in - the running balance recalculates exactly as it does in Excel. The currency dropdown beside the title relabels the money columns, and the whole Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet is small enough to open on a phone.
Free Petty Cash Log Google Sheets template setup
A shared copy of the Free Petty Cash Log Google Sheets template suits a float that more than one person draws on, since whoever takes cash can add the line themselves rather than leaving a note. Sheets version history covers an entry typed over, which matters on a log that has to reconcile against physical cash.
Sharing the Free Petty Cash Log Google Sheet
The Free Petty Cash Log Google Sheet is meant to be filled in as money moves rather than reconstructed later - a cash float is the one place where a forgotten entry cannot be recovered from a statement. The balance updates on every row, so counting the tin against the sheet takes a moment.
Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet template for Excel
The Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet Excel download is a plain .xlsx. Excel opens this Free Petty Cash Log Excel template directly, with no import step and no compatibility prompt, and the running balance updates the moment an amount changes. There are no macros and no VBA in the file, so it opens without a security warning.
Free Petty Cash Log Excel template setup
The same Free Petty Cash Log Excel template opens in Excel on Windows, Excel on Mac, and Excel for the web. It is also the identical file you would upload to Drive, so there is no separate Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet download to choose between.
Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet Excel notes
The Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet Excel file carries no macros and no VBA, so Excel opens it without a trust prompt - which matters when a log is handed to a bookkeeper or an auditor.
Opening the Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet Excel file
Nothing in the Free Petty Cash Log Excel template is version-specific, so this Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet Excel workbook behaves identically in Excel on Windows, Excel on Mac, and older builds.
The FinancialAha Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template records movements with a running balance and a category on each line, and a strip above already totals what has moved in and out - though it reports no net change and no entry count. The Essentials Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template for Google Sheets and Excel puts the opening balance in a labelled setting of its own rather than a row in the log, and adds a reference column for receipt or voucher numbers. Its dashboard reports the current balance, what has been paid in and out, the net change and the entry count, across two charts. Worth knowing before you upgrade: it carries the reference column instead of a category one.
Notes on working in the Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet template
The balance carries down the sheet: deposits push it up, withdrawals bring it down, and the strip reads the last filled row rather than holding its own figure.
Total in and total out sum their own columns across the log.
Replenishments go in the deposit column like any other money in, which keeps the balance honest across a top-up.
The balance follows the order of the rows rather than the dates in them.
The dropdown beside the title relabels the money columns. It changes the label and nothing else.
How the Petty Cash Log template works
The Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template starts with an opening balance and then takes a row for each movement in or out of a cash float - date, description, category, and the amount in whichever direction it went. The balance column is a genuine running figure: every row takes the balance above it, adds anything paid in and subtracts anything taken out, so the last filled row is what should physically be in the tin. A strip above the log already totals what has been paid in and taken out; what it does not carry is a net change for the period or a count of entries.
When this template helps
01
A small office keeps a cash float and needs a record of where it goes.
02
More than one person draws on the tin and you want each withdrawal written down.
03
You need something a bookkeeper or auditor can follow at period end.
04
You want to count the cash against a number rather than a memory.
Tips to get the most out of it
A cash float is the one record that cannot be rebuilt from a bank statement, which is why entries are worth making as the money moves.
The last filled balance is what should physically be in the tin, which makes the sheet checkable in a way most logs are not.
Categories are free text and nothing groups them, so they serve as a note rather than a total.
Common mistakes to avoid
Filling it in at the end of the week. Cash has no statement behind it, and a forgotten withdrawal is gone for good.
Resetting the balance after a top-up instead of logging the deposit. The running figure stops matching the tin.
Leaving the description vague. "Supplies" tells an auditor nothing six months later.
Treating the sheet as the control. Counting the physical cash against it is what actually catches a discrepancy.
How to Use the Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template
1
Set the opening balance
What is in the float before anything moves.
2
Log each movement
Date it, describe it, and give it a category.
3
Pick a direction
Money in goes in the deposit column, money out in the withdrawal column.
4
Count against the balance
The last filled row is what should physically be in the tin.
We use Claude AI to draft each template, after a deep research. Then our team steps in. We refine the layout, stress-test every formula, fix edge cases, and polish the design until it feels like something we would actually use ourselves. The AI gets us 80% there. The last 20% is all human judgment.
Excel
Sheets
No signup
Download instantly, no email required
Formula-driven
All calculations update automatically
Dual compatible
Works in Excel and Google Sheets
Sample data included
See the template in action right away
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the free and Essentials Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet template?
Free is a single-sheet starter template with sample data and a How to Use guide. Essentials ($19) is the fuller build - more capacity, more detail, and more worked out for you rather than typed. This template has no Ultimate build. What each tier holds differs by template - the comparison table on every template page lists it exactly.
Which Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet template should I download?
Upgrade to Essentials if you want a dashboard with charts, more categories, larger capacity, and a more polished spreadsheet for ongoing use. The Free version is a good fit for one-off planning or trying out the layout.
Can I upgrade the Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet template later?
Essentials is a one-time $19 purchase with no subscription. It typically adds a full dashboard, 30-50% more categories or rows than the Free version, and richer formulas. Most buyers upgrade after using the Free version for a few weeks and hitting its limits.
Is the FinancialAha Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template a Google Sheets template?
Yes. Upload the file to Drive and choose "Open with Google Sheets". Nothing needs rewriting in the Free Petty Cash Log Google Sheets template, and it opens on a phone so cash can be logged where it is actually spent.
Is the FinancialAha Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template an Excel template?
Yes. The download is a plain .xlsx, so the Free Petty Cash Log Excel template opens directly in Excel with no import step. There are no macros and no VBA, which matters when a log is handed to a bookkeeper or an auditor.
Will the Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet Excel file open in older versions of Excel?
Yes. The Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet Excel workbook ships as a plain .xlsx, so it opens identically in current Excel and in builds that predate dynamic arrays.
Is the balance in the FinancialAha Free Petty Cash Log Spreadsheet Template calculated?
Yes. It is a genuine running figure - each row takes the balance above it, adds anything paid in and subtracts anything taken out. The last filled row is what should be in the tin.
Does the Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet total what went in and out?
Yes. The strip above the log adds up total deposits and total withdrawals alongside the running balance. What it does not report is a net change for the period or a count of entries - those, plus a dashboard and two charts, are on the Essentials build.
How do I record a top-up of the float in the Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet?
In the deposit column, like any other money in. That keeps the running balance correct across the replenishment rather than resetting it.
Is the Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet template safe to download?
Yes. No macros, no sign-up, no tracking. The file is a plain .xlsx that opens directly in Excel or Google Sheets.
How do I open the Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet template in Google Sheets?
Upload the .xlsx file to Google Drive, then open it with Google Sheets. All formulas and formatting will be preserved.
Can I use the Free Petty Cash Log spreadsheet template for commercial work?
All free templates are released under CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution). You can use, modify, and share them freely - including for commercial purposes - as long as you credit FinancialAha.com. They are provided as-is and do not constitute financial advice.
