Petty Cash Agent
Capture cash receipts, maintain cash book, reconcile daily cash balance.
Captures cash receipts via AI extraction, checks small-amount invoices per Paragraph 33 UStDV, maintains the cash book GoBD-compliantly with daily recording obligation and detects cash shortfalls.
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What This Agent Does
Petty cash and imprest accounts are still everyday reality in many companies - despite digitalisation. Cash receipts are often unstructured (thermal paper, handwritten), the daily recording obligation per GoBD is time-consuming, and cash shortfalls require timely clarification.
The Decision Layer breaks petty cash processing into seven decision steps. The AI Agent captures unstructured cash receipts. The rule engine checks whether a small-amount invoice per Paragraph 33 UStDV applies (up to EUR 250 gross), validates the simplified mandatory fields, creates the account coding, makes the daily cash book entry and reconciles the cash balance. For cash shortfalls, the human decides.
The result: the daily recording obligation is automatically met. Cash receipts are processed immediately, not accumulated. Shortfalls are detected before they add up. And the cash book is always GoBD-compliant and current.
Micro-Decision Table
Capture cash receipt What data does the receipt contain? AI Agent Employee
LLM extraction from unstructured receipts (thermal paper, handwritten)
Decision Record
Challengeable: Yes - fully documented, reviewable by humans, objection via formal process.
Challengeable by: Employee
Check small-amount invoice Is the amount below EUR 250 gross? Rules Engine
Threshold per Paragraph 33 UStDV
Decision Record
Challengeable: Yes - rule application verifiable. Objection possible for incorrect data or wrong rule version.
Check simplified mandatory fields Are the simplified mandatory fields present? Rules Engine
Paragraph 33 UStDV - reduced requirements for small amounts
Decision Record
Challengeable: Yes - rule application verifiable. Objection possible for incorrect data or wrong rule version.
Account coding Which journal entry is created? Rules Engine Auditor
Posting logic by expense type
Decision Record
Challengeable: Yes - rule application verifiable. Objection possible for incorrect data or wrong rule version.
Challengeable by: Auditor
Cash book entry Is the transaction recorded same-day in the cash book? Rules Engine Auditor
Daily recording obligation per GoBD
Decision Record
Challengeable: Yes - rule application verifiable. Objection possible for incorrect data or wrong rule version.
Challengeable by: Auditor
Cash balance reconciliation Does the book balance match the actual balance? Rules Engine
Numerical comparison of book balance against count balance
Decision Record
Challengeable: Yes - rule application verifiable. Objection possible for incorrect data or wrong rule version.
Clarify cash shortfall How is a cash shortfall explained? Human Auditor
Human investigation and documentation of the cause
Decision Record
Challengeable: Yes - via manager, works council, or formal objection process.
Challengeable by: Auditor
Decision Record and Right to Challenge
Every decision this agent makes or prepares is documented in a complete decision record. Affected parties (employees, suppliers, auditors) can review, understand, and challenge every individual decision.
Prerequisites
- Petty cash policy with maximum amounts
- Digitisation capability for cash receipts (scanner, smartphone)
- ERP system with cash book module
- Daily physical cash count process
Governance Notes
GoBD relevance: high - the cash book is a central audit point during tax audits. The daily recording obligation for cash transactions is an explicit GoBD requirement. Paragraph 33 UStDV defines the simplified requirements for small-amount invoices (up to EUR 250 gross). Cash shortfalls must be clarified and documented promptly. During a tax audit, the cash book is checked first.
§203 StGB-relevant data is encrypted end-to-end and never passed to AI models in plain text.
Process Documentation Contribution
Infrastructure Contribution
The Petty Cash Agent uses the receipt extraction of the Invoice Capture Agent and the posting logic of the Account Coding Agent. The daily recording obligation logic (timely capture of cash transactions) becomes the pattern for all agents with real-time requirements. The cash balance reconciliation is reused as a reconciliation pattern in other areas (bank reconciliation, inventory).
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does the petty cash still need to be physically counted?
Yes. The agent automates receipt capture, account coding and cash book maintenance. But the physical cash balance must be counted and entered. The agent then compares book against actual and documents the result. The physical count is legally required and cannot be replaced by software.
What is a small-amount invoice?
Invoices up to EUR 250 gross (Paragraph 33 UStDV) have simplified mandatory fields. Only the following are required: name and address of the vendor, quantity and type, gross amount and tax rate. Invoice number and recipient are not required. The agent recognises small-amount invoices automatically and checks the reduced requirements.
How often must the cash book be maintained?
Daily. GoBD requires that cash transactions are recorded on the same day. The agent ensures this requirement is met and warns of missing entries. During a tax audit, same-day maintenance is a first audit criterion.
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