Cash inventory: rules, stages and accounting

Cash inventory: how to conduct it correctly and without risks for business

A cash inventory is a mandatory check of the actual cash balance and cash documents, which is necessary to confirm the correctness of accounting, identify shortages or surpluses, and reduce the risks of claims during inspections. For enterprises, the main rules are established by the Law on Accounting, the Regulation on the Inventory of Assets and Liabilities No. 879, and the NBU Regulation No. 148 on Cash Operations. These acts impose a direct obligation to conduct a cash inventory specifically on enterprises and institutions; for individual entrepreneurs (FOP), there is no such separate direct norm in these acts, but if an entrepreneur works with cash and an RRO/PRRO, regular internal reconciliation of the cash register is necessary for control and for safely passing inspections. (Legislation of Ukraine)

A proper cash inventory consists of several mandatory stages: a manager's order, a receipt from the financially responsible person, a bill-by-bill recount of cash, reconciliation with cash documents or RRO/PRRO data, drafting an act, and reflecting the results in accounting. Cash that is in the cash register but not confirmed by cash documents is considered a surplus. If the discrepancy is related not simply to an accounting error, but to a violation of the rules for conducting settlements or working with an RRO/PRRO, administrative fines under Art. 163-15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and financial sanctions under Art. 17 of the Law on RRO are possible. (Legislation of Ukraine)

Who is obliged to conduct a cash inventory

For legal entities, a cash inventory is part of the general obligation to conduct an inventory of assets and liabilities to ensure the reliability of accounting and financial reporting. That is why the cash register is checked not "for order's sake", but as an official accounting procedure involving the preparation of primary documents. (Legislation of Ukraine)

For individual entrepreneurs (FOP), there is no separate direct obligation to conduct a cash inventory under Regulation No. 879 and paragraph 46 of Regulation No. 148, since these norms are addressed to enterprises and institutions. But if an individual entrepreneur accepts cash, uses an RRO/PRRO, has hired personnel or several retail outlets, without regular internal reconciliation of the cash balance, it is difficult to control cash discipline and prove the correctness of settlements. (Legislation of Ukraine)

When a cash inventory is mandatory

A cash inventory is mandatory conducted, in particular, in the following cases:

The law does not establish a separate universal rule "cash inventory is conducted once a quarter". The manager determines the additional frequency of scheduled or sudden inspections in the internal documents of the enterprise. This is beneficial for business: the more often the cash register is checked, the lower the risk of accumulating errors, shortages, and claims against the cashier or seller. (Legislation of Ukraine)

Who conducts the cash inventory

The inventory is organized by the head of the enterprise. He issues an order on conducting the inventory and approves the composition of the inventory commission. The financially responsible person is not included in the commission but must be present during the check and provide a receipt before the start of the inventory. (Legislation of Ukraine)

In practice, the commission usually includes the manager or their deputy, an accountant, and employees who know the procedure for cash operations. For small businesses, the composition may be minimal, but the order and proper documentary formalization are still required. (Legislation of Ukraine)

What documents are needed

Before the inventory, it is necessary to prepare and collect the following documents:

Primary documents can be either paper or electronic if they contain the mandatory details provided by law. This means that the fact of the inventory itself must be confirmed by a document that can be shown to an accountant, auditor, or tax authority. (Legislation of Ukraine)

How to conduct a cash inventory: step-by-step procedure

1. Issue an order

The order should specify the date, time of the check, composition of the commission, the cash register or place of settlements, the list of documents submitted for the check, and the responsible persons. Without an order, an inventory looks like an internal reconciliation, but not a fully formalized accounting procedure. (Legislation of Ukraine)

2. Obtain all documents and a receipt from the cashier

Before starting the recount, the cashier or other financially responsible person must transfer all incoming and outgoing documents and provide a receipt stating that all receipts have been capitalized and all expenses have been recorded. The format of such a receipt is provided by Annex 7 to Regulation No. 148. (Legislation of Ukraine)

3. Conduct an actual bill-by-bill recount

The commission recounts the cash bill-by-bill, and also checks the monetary documents and other valuables present in the cash register, if they are stored there. It is prohibited to store cash in the cash register that does not belong to the enterprise. If there is money in the cash register that is not confirmed by cash documents, it is considered a surplus. (Legislation of Ukraine)

4. Reconcile the actual balance with accounting

After the recount, the actual balance is reconciled with the data of the cash book, cash report, incoming and outgoing cash orders, and if cash is accepted via an RRO/PRRO — also with settlement documents and RRO/PRRO reports. It is at this stage that shortages, surpluses, or errors in the formalization of cash operations are identified. (Legislation of Ukraine)

5. Draw up an act and minutes

Based on the results of the check, an act on the results of the inventory of available funds is drawn up. Next, the inventory commission draws up minutes with conclusions and proposals, and the manager approves a decision regarding reflecting the results in accounting and further actions. (Legislation of Ukraine)

6. Reflect the results in accounting

The results of the inventory must be reflected in the reporting period in which it was completed. You cannot postpone formalization for "later": if there is an act, but nothing has been processed in accounting, this is already a risk for accounting and for a tax audit. (Legislation of Ukraine)

What exactly to reconcile the cash against

Below is a practical scheme of exactly what to compare during the inventory.

Such a reconciliation stems from the rules for conducting cash operations and formalizing settlements via an RRO/PRRO. (Legislation of Ukraine)

What to do if a surplus or shortage is found

Surplus

If money actually exists but is missing from the cash documents, this is a surplus. It must be recorded in the act, the reason for its occurrence found out, and reflected in accounting. You cannot leave "extra" money in the cash register without formalization. (Legislation of Ukraine)

Shortage

A shortage is also recorded in the act. After that, the commission establishes the reason, takes an explanation from the responsible person, and hands over the materials to the manager for a decision. The inventory act itself only records the fact of the discrepancy; separately, its reflection in accounting and further managerial actions must be formalized. (Legislation of Ukraine)

Cash inventory and RRO/PRRO

A cash inventory does not replace the rules of working with an RRO/PRRO. It helps to identify a problem, but if a check shows that settlements were made without an RRO/PRRO, not for the full amount, or without issuing a settlement document, financial sanctions are applied under Art. 17 of Law No. 265/95-VR. For settlement operations, this is one of the most dangerous risks, because the fine is tied to the value of the goods, works, or services sold in violation. (Legislation of Ukraine)

Fines and liability

For violating the procedure for conducting cash settlements and settlements using electronic payment methods, Art. 163-15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses provides an administrative fine for individual entrepreneurs and officials of legal entities — from 100 to 200 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens, and for a repeated violation within a year — from 500 to 1000 non-taxable minimums. (Legislation of Ukraine)

If, during an inspection, a violation of the Law on RRO is found, in particular, conducting settlement operations without an RRO/PRRO or without issuing a check, financial sanctions under Art. 17 of this Law apply: for the first violation — 100% of the value of the goods, works, or services sold with the violation, for each subsequent one — 150%. (Legislation of Ukraine)

Accounting and tax accounting of results

The results of a cash inventory must be formalized by primary documents and reflected in accounting in the period when the inventory was completed. This is a basic requirement for both accounting and tax accounting: reporting data must be confirmed by documents. (Legislation of Ukraine)

Tax consequences arise not from the very fact of drawing up the act, but from the business operation with which the result is formalized: capitalization of a surplus, compensation for a shortage, writing off losses, etc. Therefore, an inventory act cannot be kept only "for internal use" — its results must be processed through accounting and properly documented. (Legislation of Ukraine)

Most common business mistakes

The most common problems during a cash inventory are as follows:

Practical checklist for an entrepreneur

For a cash inventory to be legally correct and useful for a business, proceed as follows:

How to conduct a bill-by-bill check and reconcile money in the cash register in the Torgsoft program?

The Torgsoft program provides a special functionality for conducting a cash inventory. This process is implemented through the "Bill-by-bill cash check" mechanism, which allows you to accurately recount cash, reconcile it with accounting data, and record discrepancies. In addition, the program allows you to strictly control fiscal balances through integration with PRRO/RRO, which eliminates the risks of fines you mentioned.

Here is a detailed algorithm on how to properly set up and conduct a cash inventory in Torgsoft:

Stage 1: setting up the program (Preparation)

For the cash inventory to be accurate and transparent, the program must be set up beforehand:

Stage 2: conducting the inventory (Bill-by-bill check)

The check itself is most conveniently done at the end of the work shift or during a surprise audit:

Stage 3: reflecting results and settling discrepancies

The owner or administrator can view the history of all cash inventories in the menu Payment - Cash register totals in the "Bill-by-bill check" and "List of bill-by-bill checks" tables. It stores the time of the check, the amount, details by bills, and the full name of the employee who conducted it.

What to do if a surplus or shortage is found?
The accounting and actual balances must be leveled out with financial documents:

Stage 4: security during checks and working with PRRO

Since you mentioned the Legislation regarding working with cash and PRRO, it is very important that the amount in the cash drawer corresponds not only to the Torgsoft management program, but also to the fiscal data transmitted to the State Tax Service.

Thus, the combination of a bill-by-bill check in Torgsoft and the strict use of service deposits/withdrawals via PRRO fully insures your business against cash gaps and claims from regulatory authorities.

Official sources

Програма обліку товару для інтернет-магазинів, крамниць, торгових точок, складів та виробництва