Some numbers need reviewing on a daily basis, and one example of this is cash. When cash is coming in from a number of places, it’s great to have a daily summary of what was collected.
Daily Numbers
It’s recommended to make sure all the collections hit your bank account to feel confident that no errors were made. Furthermore, a daily cash reconciliation report will serve both needs very well.
A daily cash report will vary depending on the type of business you have, but it will look like a combination of a bank reconciliation and a sales report wrapped into one.
The below report is useful if you are managing your cash closely daily. You’ll need two very brief spreadsheets to get started. The first one below is your daily sales from all sources. Your accounting system may be able to generate this.
| Today’s Sales | |
| Cash | $300.00 |
| Checks | $600.00 |
| Total Bank Deposit | $900.00 |
| Mastercard Visa | $400.00 |
| American Express | $200.00 |
| Total Credit Card Due | $600.00 |
| PayPal | $100.00 |
If your accounting system is up to date, all you’ll need to do is pull the cash balance and adjust for today’s activity. The following day, you can double check your accuracy and adjust accordingly using the last two rows.
| Daily Cash Report | |
| Book Cash Balance | $5,000.00 |
| Deposit from Today’s Sales | $900.00 |
| Merchant Deposit | $600.00 |
| Less Checks Written Today | ($1,200.00) |
| $5,300.00 | |
| Expected Bank Balance Tomorrow | $8,300.00 |
| Actual Bank Balance | $8,300.00 |
| Explain any differences |
Reconciling the Bank and Book Balance
If your accounting system is not updated in real time, you’ll need to start with the bank balance and correct it for uncleared transactions as well as list today’s activity.
| Daily Cash Report | |
| Bank Balance | $5,000.00 |
| Deposit from Today’s Sales | $900.00 |
| Merchant Deposit | $600.00 |
| Less Checks Written Today | ($1,200.00) |
| $5,300.00 | |
| Checks Still Outstanding | ($3,000.00) |
| Deposit from A/R Paid | $5,000.00 |
| Expected Bank Balance Tomorrow | $8,300.00 |
Using these formats, you can easily extend them to cover the entire week. This way, you’ll know what your cash balance will be from day to day.
In conclusion, knowing your cash balance can avoid many issues such as bounced checks or fees due to lack of cash. In addition, simply being aware and in control of the flow of cash helps operations run smoother.
If you see the value of this report for your business and would like help creating it, please reach out.