TOEIC Link Petty Cash and Cash Reimbursement Vocabulary: The Disburse-Log-Replenish Cluster for Part 4 and Part 7

In TOEIC Link, petty cash is never just coins in a drawer — it is a fixed float, a voucher, a receipt, a log, a reconciliation, and a top-up, and ETS can test every stage. A recorded staff briefing tells the team that small purchases under a set limit can be paid from petty cash against a signed voucher, but anything larger needs a purchase order (Part 4). A petty cash log runs beside a reimbursement request, and a question asks what was paid out, whether a receipt supports it, or how much must be replenished (Part 7 double passage). Because a petty cash fund always runs the same loop — establish the float, disburse against a voucher, log the expense, reconcile, replenish — ETS can set what was spent against what the box holds and leave exactly one answer standing. Miss a term like petty cash float, voucher, disburse, reconcile the box, or replenish the fund and a linked pair can slip in one move.

This article organizes the cluster by the petty cash lifecycle — establish, disburse, log, reconcile, replenish — because that lifecycle is exactly how ETS threads the pieces together. Because petty cash covers only the smallest out-of-pocket costs, pair this first with the expense report and reimbursement approval cluster — petty cash pays the small claim on the spot, the expense report routes the larger one for approval. And because travelers often carry a cash float of their own, contrast this with the travel authorization and per diem cluster whenever the question turns from an office drawer to a trip advance.

Why petty cash and cash reimbursement vocabulary is overweighted

Reason 1 — a disbursed amount plus a fixed float is a ready-made linked set. The log states what was paid out; the float states what the box started with. When a question asks how much remains or how much must be topped up, the two numbers force one conclusion, exactly what a linked set needs. ETS asks the reader to match the disbursements to the float, and only one reading survives.

Reason 2 — a petty cash fund runs on a fixed lifecycle. Because every fund follows the same order — establish, disburse, log, reconcile, replenish — ETS can ask "What is missing before the claim is paid?" or "How much will the fund be topped up?" with exactly one correct answer. The reader matches the order against the log.

Reason 3 — the terms are fixed cash-handling conventions. Petty cash float, voucher, disburse, receipt, reconcile, and replenish the fund mean the same thing across every office. That rigidity makes the cluster perfectly testable — and perfectly learnable. The collocation, not the isolated word, is the unit of memory.

The cluster, organized by the petty cash lifecycle

Stage 1 — establishing the float

Verbs and collocations: establish a float, set a limit, assign a custodian, hold in an imprest fund, cap the amount.

Nouns: petty cash float, imprest fund, custodian, spending limit, cash box.

The office establishes a float — a fixed imprest fund held in a cash box and controlled by a named custodian, with a spending limit per purchase. A Part 4 briefing states the per-item cap; a Part 7 question about whether a purchase qualifies hinges on that limit, not on the total in the box. Note that the float is a fixed starting amount the box always returns to — ETS uses the imprest idea to test whether you know the fund is topped back up, not spent down.

Stage 2 — disbursing against a voucher

Verbs and collocations: disburse cash, pay out against, issue a voucher, require a signature, authorize a payment.

Nouns: petty cash voucher, disbursement, payee, authorization, cash slip.

Cash is disbursed only against a voucher — a signed petty cash slip naming the payee and the purpose. A Part 4 message says no cash leaves the box without a voucher; a Part 7 question about why a payment was refused points to a missing voucher or signature, not to an empty box. The trap offers a legitimate purchase that simply lacks the paperwork.

Stage 3 — logging the expense with a receipt

Verbs and collocations: log the expense, record in the ledger, attach a receipt, itemize the purchase, support the claim.

Nouns: petty cash log, ledger entry, receipt, supporting document, running balance.

Each disbursement is logged in the petty cash ledger with the receipt attached as a supporting document, and the running balance is updated. A Part 7 log gives entries beside a reimbursement request; a question about which claim can be paid points to the one with a receipt. Read carefully — an entry without supporting documentation cannot be reimbursed, and ETS plants an unreceipted line among valid ones to test whether you check the support, not just the amount.

Stage 4 — reconciling the box

Verbs and collocations: reconcile the box, count the cash, tally the vouchers, account for the difference, flag a shortfall.

Nouns: reconciliation, cash on hand, vouchered total, shortfall, overage.

At intervals the custodian reconciles the box: cash on hand plus the vouchered total should equal the original float. A shortfall means cash is unaccounted for; an overage means too much is in the box. A Part 7 question about whether the box balances points to the sum of cash and vouchers against the float — and ETS swaps shortfall and overage to test whether you tracked the direction of the difference.

Stage 5 — replenishing the fund

Verbs and collocations: replenish the fund, top up the float, reimburse the total, restore the balance, submit for replenishment.

Nouns: replenishment, top-up, reimbursement check, restored float, replenishment request.

To restore the float, the custodian submits a replenishment request for the vouchered total, and a reimbursement check tops up the box back to its fixed amount. A Part 7 question about how much the fund will be topped up points to the total of the vouchers, not to the cash still remaining — ETS tests whether you know the top-up equals what was spent, restoring the imprest amount.

How ETS builds the traps

The linked set is almost always disbursements against the float. The log gives what went out; the float gives the fixed starting sum. The question asks what remains or what must be topped up, and the answer lives where the two meet — the vouchered total for a top-up, the float minus vouchers for cash on hand. The trap offers the wrong side of the subtraction.

The second trap is the missing support. A claim with a valid amount but no receipt or voucher cannot be paid. The question asks which claim is reimbursable, and the wrong answer is the largest amount rather than the one properly documented. Track the paperwork, not just the number.

Practice the cluster in context

Read a petty cash log and a reimbursement request as one document, exactly as Part 7 presents them. Ask: what was disbursed, which claim has a receipt, and how much must the fund be replenished? Then check each answer against the stage it belongs to — establish, disburse, log, reconcile, or replenish. The stage that answers the question is the only defensible choice.

For claims too large for the cash box — the ones that must be itemized and routed for approval — work through the expense report and reimbursement approval cluster next, so the small-cash and formal-claim routes reinforce each other rather than competing for the same half-remembered word.

The cluster is small, fixed, and high-frequency. Learn the five stages as a loop, learn the collocation rather than the isolated word, and the petty-cash questions become some of the most predictable points on the test.