Midnight, a Z read and a pile of coins
The last table has gone. The closing manager prints the Z read from the till, runs the end-of-day on the card terminal, counts the cash drawer and the float, and fills in the cash up sheet. The card total on the terminal is different from the card total on the till. The cash is a little over. There is a paid-out for the window cleaner that nobody wrote down. The sheet goes into a folder with 'minus' written next to the card figure.
The owner looks at the folder once a month, if that, and by then nobody remembers the night.
The sheet records the answer, not the reasons
A paper cash up sheet captures totals. It rarely captures why they differ: a bill closed to cash that was paid by card, a refund done on the terminal but not the till, a tip keyed wrongly, a delivery paid from the till. Those explanations are obvious on the night and forgotten by the morning.
- Till and card terminal totals are typed from printouts.
- Paid-outs from the till (for small purchases) are not always recorded.
- Differences are noted as a figure, without a reason.
- The owner sees cash ups late, in a folder.
A worked example: on a busy Saturday, a server closes a table of four on the till as cash, but the guests paid by card. The cash drawer is short by that amount and the card terminal is over by the same. On paper, the night shows two differences that look unrelated. The explanation takes a minute on the night and much longer a month later.
Why an unexplained cash up is a problem
Small unexplained differences are normal. Patterns are not, and paper sheets hide patterns. A regular shortfall on nights a particular person closes, or card totals that never match on one terminal, are the things an owner needs to see, and they are invisible in a folder.
It also costs time: closing managers doing arithmetic at midnight, and bookkeepers retyping cash up figures into the accounts.
And it wears on the people closing. A manager who ends a long shift with an unexplained shortfall and no way to find it goes home worried, and the next person to close has no better way of avoiding the same thing.
How we build a guided cash up
- The day's sales by payment type are read from your till or EPOS, and card totals from your card provider, where they offer an API or export.
- The closing manager counts cash on a tablet screen, note by note and coin by coin, with the float deducted automatically.
- Paid-outs are recorded with a photo of the receipt.
- Differences between till, card terminal and cash are shown, with common causes suggested, such as a bill closed to the wrong payment type.
- Each difference is given a reason before the cash up can be completed. Corrections to bills can be noted for the morning.
- The owner gets a short summary that night or first thing, and a weekly view shows differences by day, terminal and closing manager.
| Item | Paper sheet | Guided cash up |
|---|---|---|
| Till and card totals | Typed from printouts | Read automatically |
| Cash count | Added up by hand | Counted on screen, float deducted |
| Paid-outs | Sometimes written down | Recorded with a receipt photo |
| Differences | A figure | A figure with a reason |
How you handle cash differences with staff is your policy. The cash up records the facts; it does not decide anything.
Closing up with an answer, not a question
The closing manager finishes faster, because the sums are done and the till and card figures are already there. Differences are explained while the night is fresh. The owner sees each night's cash up the next morning and spots patterns in the weekly view. The bookkeeper gets figures they can use without retyping.
Deposits paid in advance and gift vouchers redeemed can be included, so the cash up reflects everything that happened at the till.
Signs your cash up needs this
- Cash ups are done on paper sheets.
- Till and card totals often differ.
- Differences are written down without reasons.
- Paid-outs from the till are not always recorded.
- The owner looks at cash ups rarely.