The petty cash system of a business usually operates as follows:
An employee pays personally for a business expense, such as refreshments the office or a train fare to attend a meeting, and obtains a receipt for the payment.
The employee then reclaims the expense from the business through the petty cash system, by completing and signing a petty cash voucher and handing over the receipt for the money spent.
The expense is then recorded as a business expense in the general ledger. This process is explained later.