The imprest system

A business will use one of two systems to run petty cash, either the imprest system or the non-imprest system.

If a business is using the imprest system a set float is kept. At the end of each period all the petty cash is counted and the float is topped back up to the agreed amount.

The alternative system is non-imprest where a business tops up the float by random amounts depending on whatever the business is expecting to spend.