Online cashbook in Estonia: how to manage cash receipts and payments

What an online cashbook is

An online cashbook is a browser-based tool for recording a company’s cash transactions: money received, money paid out, opening balance and the current cash balance.

It is useful for businesses that accept cash, pay certain expenses from cash, handle staff advances or simply want their cash records next to invoices and payment information.

What matters for cash records in Estonia

Cash movements are business transactions just like bank movements. They should be documented and recorded in a way that makes the transaction understandable later: what happened, when it happened, for how much and on what basis.

• record the date and amount;
• describe the business purpose, such as an invoice payment, refund, advance or office expense;
• where relevant, identify the customer, supplier or other counterparty;
• keep the source document and the cash record in a form that can be retrieved later.

A digital cashbook is useful because every receipt and payment remains a separate record, with an explanation and a PDF document available when needed.

Which documents are linked to a cashbook

In practice, companies may use a cash receipt voucher, a cash payment voucher and a cashbook. These describe cash movements; they do not replace the sales document itself.

How the cashbook works in Arveteha

Open Maksed → Kassa. The dashboard shows cash receipts, cash payments, transaction count and the current balance of the selected cashbox.

The Toimingud menu contains the main actions: add a receipt, add a payment, add an opening balance and create another cashbox.

How to record a cash receipt

Choose Lisa laekumine. The form records the transaction type, date, amount, cashbox, counterparty, reference number when relevant and an explanation.

1. Open the actions menu and choose the receipt option.
2. Check the transaction date and the selected cashbox.
3. Enter the amount received.
4. Select a customer from the database or enter the counterparty manually.
5. Add a clear description, for example “Cash payment for invoice 125”.
6. Save the transaction.

How to record a cash payment

For money leaving the cashbox, choose Lisa väljamakse. Enter the date, amount, selected cashbox, payee and a meaningful reason for the payment.

1. Choose the cash payment action.
2. Enter the date and amount.
3. Check the selected cashbox.
4. Add the payee or supplier.
5. Describe the basis, such as office supplies, a staff advance or a customer refund.
6. Save the transaction and generate a document if needed.

How the cash balance is calculated

The cash balance is the amount that should be in the cashbox according to the recorded transactions.

If the opening balance is €0, the business receives €1,000 in cash and later pays out €100, the cash balance becomes €900.

It is good practice to reconcile the system balance with the actual cash on hand. A difference usually points to a missing or incorrectly entered transaction.

How long to keep cash documents

Estonian accounting source documents are generally retained for seven years from the end of the financial year in which the transaction was recorded. The Accounting Act also allows machine-processable storage, provided the documents remain readable, reproducible in writing and evidentially reliable throughout the retention period.

When you need an invoice and when you need a cash voucher

An invoice and a cash document serve different purposes. The invoice documents the sale; the cash voucher or cashbook entry documents the movement of cash.

The Estonian Tax and Customs Board specifically notes that an ordinary receipt from a shop cash register is not automatically a simplified invoice for VAT purposes.