Handling Cash Receipts

Set up a plan to keep records quickly and easily every day

By Holly Ocasio Rizzo, Writer and editor, Holly Ocasio Rizzo

Good cash-receipt handling contributes to good cash-flow management. Over time, it allows you to see patterns in your business income, so you can more accurately predict when your cash-flow needs will occur. Your handling of cash receipts also supports information you report on tax returns. To handle receipts effectively, you'll need to take three steps:

Establish a cash-management system.
Track cash receipts daily.
Keep accurate records.

Set up a system

Follow a specific procedure for handling cash receipts and keeping records of what came in and how it was deposited.
Try: A checklist from the Small Business Administration can keep your cash-receipt operations on track.

Count it daily

Use a daily summary sheet to account for coins, bills and checks in the cash drawer.
Try: Get daily summary forms at AllBusiness.

Keep accurate records

Keep track daily of cash receipts; your main tools will be duplicate deposit slips and a cash receipts journal.
Try: Staples and Office Depot sell accounting books in which to keep a cash receipts journal. AmSouth Bank shows how to make journal entries.

Put Intuit's QuickBooks to work

Business-accounting software and online solutions keep the records, do the math and formulate reports. Their purchase is usually tax deductible.
Try: Compare products at QuickBooks.

The task becomes most manageable when you post cash receipt promptly in your accounting journal or software.
Keeping records helps you to separate the business income from other income.
Accurate accounting of receipts becomes crucial when answering questions from the Internal Revenue Service.