Best petty cash management software in 2024
Effective management of petty cash holds paramount importance in the realm of business finance. It serves as the operational fuel that keeps daily expenses running smoothly. Small and large businesses rely on petty cash to handle minor expenses promptly. However, maintaining and tracking these small transactions can be tedious without robust management systems.
In the market today, there are many expense management software tools available for businesses that let them handle and make the most out of their petty cash requirements.
What is petty cash?
Petty cash refers to a small sum of money reserved by a company for day-to-day minor expenses such as office supplies, travel expenses, or miscellaneous purchases.
The petty cash is disbursed to employees as and when they require it through prior request and approval processes.
What is petty cash management?
Petty cash management involves systematically controlling, tracking, and administrating these small funds. It includes maintaining records, disbursements, reimbursements, and reconciliations to ensure accountability and transparency in the use of petty cash.
The use of petty cash is defined by the company itself and employees must follow these guidelines. Each organization can have varying rules and regulations regarding how an employee can use petty cash.
Best petty cash management software
1. Volopay
Overview
Volopay is a comprehensive expense management platform that simplifies petty cash management for businesses through the use of physical and virtual corporate cards. It offers a user-friendly interface and integrates various features to streamline expense tracking.
Set-up process and requirements
The setup process involves creating an account, linking bank details, and customizing expense categories. Volopay typically requires basic business information for verification.
Key features of the card
Some of its notable features include real-time expense tracking, virtual and physical cards for easy spending, receipt capturing, automated categorization of expenses, and customizable spending limits.
Volopay can also integrate with any accounting software thanks to its Universal CSV feature; this helps ensure that all the transactions recorded on Volopay can be easily synced.
Limitations
While it caters well to small and medium-sized enterprises, larger corporations might find its scalability could be improved.
2. Zoho
Overview
Zoho, known for its suite of business tools, offers a simplified expense management system. Its petty cash management feature is integrated into its broader finance suite.
Set-up process and requirements
Setting up petty cash management in Zoho involves creating an account, configuring petty cash settings, and defining approval workflows. It may require integration with Zoho Books or other Zoho applications.
Key features of the card
Zoho provides easy expense tracking, receipt uploads, multi-currency support, real-time analytics, and seamless integration with other Zoho products.
If you want to withdraw cash from your bank account and not use the cards, you can also create an account under the account type "Other Current Asset" to record the withdrawal from your bank account.
Limitations
While Zoho's petty cash management is robust, its functionality might be more suitable for businesses already using the Zoho ecosystem. It might lack certain advanced features compared to standalone expense management platforms.
3. Happay
Overview
Happay is an expense management platform that caters to businesses of varying sizes, offering an intuitive interface and robust features for petty cash management.
Set-up process and requirements
To start using Happay for petty cash management, businesses need to sign up, configure expense policies, and set spending limits.
Happay generally requires company verification and user authentication.
Key features of the card
Happay provides features like mobile expense tracking, automated expense reports, customizable spending limits, receipt scanning, and real-time visibility into expenses.
Limitations
Happay's integration capabilities might not be as extensive as some other platforms. Additionally, while it's efficient for managing petty cash, some advanced analytics features may be limited.
4. Finly
Overview
Finly is an expense management software designed to streamline expense tracking and control, including efficient management of petty cash.
Set-up process and requirements
Setting up petty cash management in Finly involves creating an account, defining expense policies, adding users, and linking bank accounts or cards.
Key features of the card
Finly offers real-time expense tracking, receipt management, automated approvals, customizable spending limits, and insightful reporting and analytics.
Limitations
Integration options with other accounting software might be limited. Additionally, the learning curve for Finly's interface and functionalities might be steeper compared to other platforms.
Key features to look for in petty cash management software
A user-friendly interface is paramount, allowing easy navigation and swift access to features.
It should facilitate intuitive navigation for all users, ensuring quick adoption and minimal training requirements.
A good UI is easily understood by almost anyone who falls under the target user base.
The software must enable effortless recording and automated tracking of expenses and receipts. This feature should include options for uploading receipts, categorizing expenses, and attaching relevant details for comprehensive tracking.
Apart from the automated tracking of card expenses, you should also have the ability to make manual entries in case of payments made through cash.
Look for software that seamlessly integrates with popular accounting systems like QuickBooks, Xero, or SAP.
This integration streamlines the reconciliation process and ensures consistency and accuracy in financial records by helping you export and automatically sync all the transactions to your accounting ledger.
An efficient system automates reconciliation processes, matching expenses with bank statements, minimizing manual efforts, and reducing the chances of errors or discrepancies.
Having this process automated can help an organization’s finance team save a lot of time that they can now invest in more strategic activities such as budgeting for upcoming quarters and so on.
Robust reporting functionalities are essential for gaining insights into spending patterns, expense trends, and overall financial health.
Being able to look at all your expenses at a glance and drill into specifics when necessary is an important part of petty cash management software.
The software should offer customizable reports and analytics to aid in strategic decision-making.
The software should be accessible via mobile devices, allowing users to manage petty cash on the go.
Accessibility through a petty cash management app on mobile devices ensures convenience and flexibility.
This enables users to track, approve, or manage expenses from anywhere at any time with the click of a button.
How does petty cash management software improve efficiency?
Efficiency in managing petty cash is a critical aspect of modern business operations. Petty cash management software significantly enhances operational efficiency, streamlining processes and offering numerous advantages that positively impact a company's financial management.
Automation of petty cash processes
Advanced software automates many petty cash-related tasks such as expense tracking, receipt capturing, and approval workflows.
This automation minimizes human error, accelerates transaction processing, and ensures better accuracy in financial records. This makes the entire petty cash management process more efficient.
Reduction of manual processes
By digitizing and automating petty cash workflows, the software reduces the need for manual interventions.
This reduction in manual handling of cash transactions mitigates the risks associated with human errors such as incorrect data entry or fraud and ensures smoother operations.
For a better understanding of the intricacies of petty cash management, you can read: Petty cash reconciliation - Importance, best practices, and procedure
Time and cost savings
The software's automation and streamlining of processes save significant time for employees involved in petty cash management.
Both, the employee who needs petty cash as well as the approvers such as the administrators and the finance team end up saving a lot of time.
Moreover, it minimizes operational costs by reducing paper-based transactions and associated administrative expenses.
Improved reporting and decision-making
Through detailed reporting and analytics features, the software provides comprehensive insights into spending patterns and expense trends. You can filter out based on date, the amount of spending, teams, employees, and so on to view expenses at a granular level.
This empowers decision-makers with data-driven insights, aiding in strategic planning and budget allocation for upcoming quarters.
Enhanced accountability
Petty cash management software improves accountability by creating an auditable trail for every expense. It assigns responsibilities to specific users, tracks their actions, and ensures transparency in the utilization of petty cash.
This ensures that there is no ambiguity when it comes to transitions and each person is accountable for their actions.
Increased compliance
The software often comes with built-in compliance features that align with industry regulations and company policies. It helps in adhering to financial guidelines, minimizing the risk of non-compliance or discrepancies be it legal or internal company policies.
Suggested read: Petty cash accounting: Definition, how to set up, and the importance
Enjoy effortless petty cash management
How to introduce petty cash management software?
Introducing petty cash management software requires a systematic approach to ensure a smooth transition and maximum utilization of its benefits within the organization.
You want to make sure that your employees and management are not thrown into deep waters without any prior notice about the implementation of a new software system.
Conduct a need assessment
Begin by assessing the current petty cash management process and identifying pain points or inefficiencies that the software can address. Understand the specific requirements and challenges before implementing the solution.
Having these pain points listed is a crucial step that will help your team decide on the right petty cash management software.
Research and select the right software
Thoroughly research available software options, considering factors like features, scalability, user-friendliness, and integration capabilities.
While it is always important to find an option that fits your budget, it is even more important to choose a software solution that aligns with the organization's needs and future growth plans.
Develop an implementation plan
Create a comprehensive implementation plan outlining timelines, responsibilities, and milestones. Define clear objectives and strategies to ensure a structured and smooth deployment of the software.
Ensure that the onboarding process for all the employees goes as seamlessly as possible. More often than not, the software provider will have a customer success representative who will help you and your team throughout the onboarding steps.
Train and educate employees
Conduct live or pre-recorded training sessions to help your employees familiarize themselves with the software's functionalities after they have completed their onboarding process. Cover essential aspects such as entering transactions, attaching receipts, and following established policies.
Offer educational resources and ongoing support to instill confidence and promote user adoption, reducing the likelihood of errors and ensuring a comfortable transition and efficient utilization of the software.
Address employee concerns
Acknowledge and address any apprehensions or resistance among employees regarding the new software.
Encourage open communication and address concerns to gain employee buy-in and support. It might be tough for some employees to accept & adapt to the new system and processes.
It is important to support and help these employees understand the new platform and its benefits.
Run parallel systems initially
The implementation of a new software system may not always go as smoothly as expected and there might be a few hiccups in between.
To mitigate these risks, during the initial stages of implementation, run the new software alongside existing systems to ensure a seamless transition without disrupting ongoing operations.
This allows for a gradual shift and provides a safety net to identify any discrepancies that may arise during the initial implementation.
Monitor and evaluate
Continuously monitor the software's performance and gather feedback from users. Evaluate the software's effectiveness in meeting set objectives and make necessary adjustments as required.
Refer back to the very first step when you had to assess your company’s exact needs for petty cash management software. See if the implementation of the software has helped you fulfill these requirements.
Regular Auditing
Conduct regular audits to verify the accuracy of petty cash transactions and ensure compliance with established policies and procedures. This activity is probably best done manually to identify any issues and resolve them.
It can be done monthly, quarterly, or as per the organization's needs. These audits include thoroughly examining receipts, expense categorization, and monitoring adherence to spending limits.
Continuously assess and improve
Regularly reassess the software's effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. Stay informed of updates or new features offered by the software provider, and incorporate improvements to address evolving needs.
Take feedbacks from staff involved in the process and be prepared to make modifications, implement updates, or provide additional training to optimize the software's utilization and efficiency continually.
How can Volopay help you with petty cash management?
Volopay is a financial solution provider that offers corporate cards, automated expense management, and accounting integrations that streamline financial operations, helping businesses save time and money while elevating the role of their finance teams.
Rather than using hard cash for your company’s daily expenses, you can use physical and virtual Volopay corporate cards to manage your petty cash expenses. This gives the benefits of automated tracking, approval workflows, and efficient management of budgets without any chance of overspending thanks to the custom spending limits that you can set on each card.
Replacing your petty cash management from manual processes to an automated system like Volopay will help your finance team be much more efficient and also help the rest of your departments be more productive as they now have access to budgets quicker and can complete their operations faster.