One stall's float is easy; a fair needs eight of them simultaneously, sourced by one treasurer, counted back by tired volunteers at 3pm. The planning is simple arithmetic plus a bit of ritual — here's both.
| Stall type | Float | Weighted towards |
|---|---|---|
| 50p–£1 games | £10–15 | £1 coins and 50ps, almost no notes |
| £1–£2 stalls (tombola, cakes) | £15–20 | £1 coins, a few £5 notes |
| £2.50+ (BBQ, face painting) | £30–40 | £5 notes and £1 coins — these stalls break £10s all day |
| Entrance/refreshments | £25–30 | the busiest change-makers on site |
A typical eight-stall fair needs £150–£200 of float in total, and — the part that catches treasurers — most of it in coins and £5 notes, which means a bank visit the week before, not a cashpoint dash the night before. If your fair takes card payments at a central point, floats shrink but don't vanish: cash remains the currency of children clutching £2 from grandma.
Each float goes out in a labelled tin with the amount written on masking tape on the lid, counted by two people. At close, each tin is counted back by two people (one from the stall, one from the committee), takings = contents minus the tape number, written on the same tape. It's thirty seconds of ceremony per tin, and it means no volunteer is ever alone with an ambiguous number — which is protection for them, not suspicion of them. Treasurers who skip this do it exactly once.
Float isn't a cost (it comes back), but it is cash someone must physically assemble, and the total only reveals itself when every stall is listed. That's a one-glance number if your stall plan lives in one place.
General guidance, August 2026. Your PTA's money-handling policy and insurer requirements take precedence. CAAC.
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