We ask that you stay focused on the story topic, respect other people's opinions, and avoid profanity, offensive statements, illegal contents and advertisement posts. Comments are not reviewed before they are posted. Bankrate reserves the right (but is not obligated) to edit or delete your comments.
cash on hand. Definition. Funds that are immediately available to a business, and can be spent as needed, as opposed to assets that must be sold to generate cash. The amount of cash on hand determines what projects a company can undertake, or what financial hardships can be absorbed, without going into debt or arranging other financing.
How to Calculate Cash on Hand at the End of a Period in Accounting. Small businesses need to keep tight controls over their cash on hand. Cash on hand is the amount of cash you have either in your possession, in a bank or that can be converted to cash in three months or less, such as a CD. The easiest way to make this calculation is to count the cash you have on the last day of the accounting period. In order to keep proper track of your books and records, use your general ledger's journal entries to calculate the amount of your cash on hand. 1  1. Sort out any transactions to your Cash account in your general ledger. 2  2. Add together the amount debited to Cash for each transaction with a debit to the Cash account. Debit entries are not indented on the general ledger. For example, assume one journal entry is a debit for $50 to Cash and a credit of $50 to Sales. The rest of your debits to Cash in the period are $75, $25 and $100. The total is $250.