The purser hands you an envelope with 2,000 euros and says "interior float, see you in two weeks". By the end of the fortnight you have bought flowers twice, replaced a broken lamp, tipped a laundry driver and paid a taxi. You have 340 euros left and a pocket full of paper. Reconciling that envelope is now your job, and it needs to balance to the cent.
What a float is
A float (or imprest) is a fixed sum of cash advanced to you for small operational spending. The key word is fixed. The float does not grow because you spent more; it is topped back up to its original value when you submit receipts.
The rule at any moment is simple:
Cash in hand + receipts held = the original float value.
If that equation does not balance, something is missing — a receipt, a note, or an explanation.
The petty cash log
Every disbursement gets a line, written when it happens, not at the end of the trip:
| Field | Why |
|---|---|
| Date | Ties the spend to the trip and the currency rate |
| Supplier / payee | Who got the money |
| Description | What it was for, in plain words |
| Category / budget line | Where it lands in the interior budget |
| Amount and currency | Exactly as spent |
| Receipt reference | The number you also wrote on the receipt itself |
| Initials | Who spent it |
Number your receipts and write the same number on the log line. This turns a shoebox into a document.
Receipts
- Get one for everything. No receipt means you are personally explaining it.
- If a vendor genuinely cannot issue one — a market stall, a driver — write a cash voucher: date, amount, what for, who received it, your signature, and get a countersignature if you can.
- Receipts fade. Photograph or scan each one the day you get it, and keep the paper as well.
- Foreign currency: record the amount in the currency spent and the conversion used. Do not silently convert.
Reconciliation
At the end of the period, or at any point the purser asks:
- Count the cash.
- Total the receipts and vouchers.
- Add the two. It should equal the float.
- Present the log, the receipts and the cash together.
- The float is topped back up to its original amount against the receipts submitted.
Onboard Notes
- Never mix boat cash with personal cash. Not in the same pocket, not in the same wallet, not "I will sort it later". This is the single fastest way for an honest person to look dishonest.
- Never lend from the float, to anyone, including yourself.
- Keep the float in a locked place with controlled access, and record any handover of it between crew — counted, signed by both.
- A shortfall reported immediately is an error. A shortfall discovered later by someone else is a problem. Report it the day you find it.
- Follow the boat's policy on spending limits. If a purchase exceeds your authority, get approval from the purser or captain before you buy, not after.