How do I give an employee a custody, pay from it, and get back what is left?

Last verified: October 20, 2026اقرأه بالعربيّة

What you will do

You hand an employee an amount from the treasury, as a custody they spend from on site. Then you pay payment vouchers from their custody, top it up when it runs low, transfer part of it to another employee, and return what is left to the treasury. You follow its balance from its page.

Before you start

A custody is for an employee. The list shows employee accounts only, not admins or partners. If you can't find them, choose "+ Add New Employee" at the end of the list.
The money leaves the treasury on the day you hand it over. The treasury balance goes down by the amount once. When the employee spends from it later, the treasury balance doesn't go down again.
Each employee has one open custody. If you hand them an amount while they have an open custody, the amount is added to it, and no second custody is opened.

Steps

Open Custodies in the sidebar, then click Add Custody. A side drawer opens with the title Add Custody.
Choose the employee in Select Employee.
Type the Amount, and choose the Payment method.
If you have more than one treasury, choose the treasury the amount comes from. Otherwise, the field doesn't appear.
Leave the Delivery date empty for today. If you handed them the money on an earlier day, choose that day.
Click Save Data. The message "Custody added successfully" appears.

What changes after you save

The treasury balance goes down by the amount, and a "Custody Funding" line with the employee's name appears in it.
The custody appears in All Custodies, with its balance under Remaining Amount.
If the employee already has an open custody, the message "The amount was added to the employee's open custody; the breakdown is in its movements. Custody:" appears, followed by their custody number.

Pay from the custody

You can pay these from a custody: a contractor payment voucher, a supplier payment voucher, an employee payment voucher, and a petty project expense.

In the voucher, choose From an employee custody in Funding source.
Choose the custody in Choose a custody. Its Remaining Amount appears under it.
Complete the voucher and save it as usual.

Then:

The custody balance goes down when the voucher becomes paid. That happens the moment you save it, or after it's approved and its payment is confirmed, if your payment vouchers need approval. The treasury balance doesn't change, because the money left it on the day you handed over the custody.
The voucher appears on the custody page with the type "Payment Voucher", and its note has the voucher number.
The system doesn't stop you from paying more than the custody balance. If you do, the Remaining Amount becomes negative.
A general expense is paid from the treasury only, so the Funding source field doesn't appear in it.

Top up the custody, transfer from it, or return what is left

Open the custody from All Custodies: click Show in its row. At the top of its page there are three buttons:

Add Custody: adds a new amount to the custody from the treasury. Type the Amount, and choose the Payment method. The treasury balance goes down by the amount.
Transfer from custody: moves an amount from this custody to another employee you choose in To. If they have an open custody, it's added to it; otherwise, one is opened for them. The treasury balance doesn't change.
Restitution Custody: returns what the employee still holds to the treasury. Type the Amount, and choose the Payment method. The custody goes down, and the treasury balance goes up by the amount.

After each of them, the message "Operation done successfully" appears, and the movement is added to the custody page.

A custody isn't closed. If you return everything in it, its balance becomes zero, and it stays open for the next handover.

The custody page and its statement

At the top of the page:
- Custody Total: everything handed to the employee and transferred to them, minus what they returned and transferred out.
- Paid Amount: what they spent from it.
- Remaining Amount: the difference between them, which is what they should be holding now.
Its movements: each movement with its type: "Add Custody", "Payment Voucher", "Restitution Custody", "Transfer out" and "Transfer in".
Statement for a period: choose From Date and To Date, then click Show. Or leave both dates empty for a statement from the start of the custody. It shows the Opening balance, Total in, Total out and Closing balance.
All custodies together: from Reports → Custodies report. One row per custody with its balances, and you download it with Download PDF. Custody balances are money in employees' hands that has already left the treasury, so don't add them to the treasury balance.

Permission you need

You're the account owner, so you have every permission. If you want an employee to work with custodies for you, give their level what it needs from the Custodies group:

View Custodies to see All Custodies, and to choose a custody in vouchers.
Add Custody to hand over a custody.
View Custody Details to open the custody page.
View Custody Operations to see its movements and the Statement for a period.
Add Custody Operation for the buttons on the custody page.

For the Custodies report, they need both View Custodies and View Custody Operations.

If you can't find the button or saving is refused

You don't see Custodies in the sidebar: your account doesn't have custody permissions.
The employee doesn't appear in Select Employee: their account isn't an employee account, or it isn't active.
You don't see the buttons on the custody page: your account doesn't have Add Custody Operation.
"No open custody has a remaining balance." in the voucher: no employee has an open custody, or your account doesn't have View Custodies.
You don't see Funding source in a general expense: a general expense is paid from the treasury only.
The treasury balance went down and nothing was spent yet: that's expected. The money left on the day of the handover, and the employee now holds it, under Remaining Amount.