The envelope that is always a bit short
Each driver starts the night with a float in a bag. They collect cash on some drops, card on others through a handheld reader or a payment link, and some orders were prepaid online. At the end of the night they hand over the bag and a pile of slips. You add up the cash orders from the slips, subtract the float, and count what is in the bag.
It is short. Not by much, but it is short, and it was short last Tuesday too. Maybe a customer did not have the right change and the driver let it go. Maybe a slip was marked cash when the customer paid online. Maybe a slip is missing. The driver says they handed everything over. You do not want to accuse anyone and you cannot prove anything, so it goes in the book as a loss.
Why driver cash-ups do not balance
Payment method is recorded at the time of ordering, on a slip or in the till, and it often changes at the door. A customer who said cash pays by card. A prepaid order gets a tip in cash. The driver is the only person who knows what really happened, and the only record is a scribble on a slip that was folded in a pocket for three hours.
Floats make it harder. If floats are not counted out and recorded the same way each night, nobody knows exactly what each driver started with. And with several drivers swapping bags on a busy night, cash from one driver's drops can end up in another's envelope.
Where the shortfalls come from
| Cause | How it happens |
|---|---|
| Changed payment method | Cash order paid by card, or the reverse, not recorded |
| Float not recorded | Unsure what the driver started with |
| Lost or unclear slips | A cash drop missing from the count |
| Change given short or long | Small differences that add up |
| Bags swapped between drivers | Cash from one run in another's envelope |
The cost is partly the money and partly the atmosphere. Unexplained shortfalls make everyone uneasy, and good drivers leave if they feel they are being blamed without evidence.
Cash recorded per drop, not per night
- At the start of the shift, each driver's float is counted and entered against their name on the dispatch screen.
- Each drop in the driver app shows how the order was expected to be paid and the amount to collect.
- At the door, the driver taps how it was actually paid, cash or card, and the amount received. If it differs from the expected method, that change is recorded at the time.
- Card payments at the door can go through a card reader or a payment link, and those are matched automatically to the order.
- At the end of the shift, each driver's expected cash is calculated: float plus cash collected. The driver and the manager count the bag together and the difference is recorded.
- If there is a difference, the list of that driver's cash drops is right there, so you can check specific orders rather than argue about the total.
This is a record-keeping tool. How you handle differences with your staff is your decision and your employment policy's.
Cashing up drivers afterwards
A driver finishes and the screen shows their float, six cash drops and one that changed from cash to card at the door. Expected cash is on the screen. They count it together with the manager and it matches. On the one night it does not, the list shows a cash drop where the amount collected was entered lower than the order, and the driver remembers the customer who was short of change.
- Expected cash known for every driver at close
- Payment changes recorded at the door
- Differences traced to specific orders
- Fewer awkward conversations based on guesswork
Does your driver cash-up look like this?
- Driver envelopes are regularly a little short or over.
- Payment methods change at the door with no record.
- Floats are handed out without being written down.
- Driver slips are lost or unreadable by close.
- You cannot say which order a shortfall came from.