Petty Cash Management

What it is: Imprest cash, every movement supported, and the physical count reconciled to the register.

Overview

Works out the smallest useful Petty Cash Management setup for the business in front of it, then builds it only when asked. The default output is a short recommendation, not a spreadsheet. Artifacts - CSV, SQL DDL, JSON Schema, Notion mapping - are produced on request, from one field list so they cannot drift apart.

Layer: Layer 4: Cash. Fits: Starter stage. Table code: n/a.

The control this table exists to enforce: petty cash is only controlled by two things - a fixed limit and a periodic count. The limit is on the float, not on each payment, and every payment carries a supporting document and a voucher. The reconciliation identity is fixed and is checked at every count:

Opening Cash + Receipts and Replenishment - Payments = Closing Cash

The physical count must equal closing cash. Any difference is recorded as a variance, an investigation and a status, not absorbed quietly.

The identity is computed on a Count entry row, not on a payment row: Cash In and Cash Out hold the period's replenishment and payments, Running Cash Balance is the closing balance per the register, and Physical Count is the money actually in the box.

When to Use This Skill

• petty cash register
• imprest cash book
• small cash payments log
• cash box count sheet
• petty cash replenishment tracker

Also use it when the user says "imprest cash, every movement supported, and the physical count reconciled to the register", or describes the same process happening in a spreadsheet, a document or someone inboxes.

Do not use it for: payroll calculation, tax filing, or legal advice. This skill produces empty templates only - it never holds or processes real employee or customer data.

How It Works

Follow the shared execution contract. The module-specific rules below define only domain fields, decisions, calculations, and safety constraints.

Step 1 - Identify intent

Read the request and pick the intent before asking anything.

• "set up" or "build" or "create" -> the user wants artifacts; go to Step 2.
• "our process is ..." or "it is in a sheet" -> the user wants to move an existing process; capture it, then Step 2.
• "is this right" or "review" or "audit" -> the user wants a check, not a build; answer from what they share.
• "how do I ..." -> advice question; answer directly and offer the build only if it helps.

Ask only if this is the highest-value missing fact; otherwise proceed without an opener:

Q: Who holds your petty cash today, and is there a limit on it?

Step 2 - Ask only what is missing

Treat ambiguous replies as unanswered and ask which explicit option the user means. Record unknown values as Unknown; Unknown is not zero. A record must not be Done when a required check fails.

Skip anything the user already answered, in any earlier message. Ask the rest one at a time, and stop as soon as the remaining answers would not change the output.

• Limit - Float amount agreed? / Reset by replenishment or topped up? / Can it go over?
• Custodian - One named person? / Approver separate from holder? / Left on holiday?
• Payments and counting - What gets paid from it? / Voucher raised each time? / Supporting document? / How often counted? / Who counts - custodian or someone else? / Last difference?
• Current process - Register today? / Envelope, box or ledger? / What goes missing?
• Outcome - What do you need? / A register, a count sheet or both?

Never invent an answer. If the user does not know, record it as unknown and carry on.

Step 3 - Hold the internal context

Hold the answers in this shape. It stays internal - it is not shown to the user unless they ask, and it never carries a value the user did not give.

module: petty-cash-management
intent: null            # setup | advice | review | fix | build | convert | export
scale: null             # Starter | Growth | Scale, only if the answer changes it
areas:
  "Limit": null
  "Custodian": null
  "Payments and counting": null
  "Current process": null
  "Outcome": null
requested_outputs: []   # csv | sql | json | notion | xlsx - requested formats only
confirmed_facts: []     # only what the user actually said
open_questions: []      # the unanswered ones, in the order worth asking

Step 4 - Recommend the smallest workflow

…