Opening the shift: the float everything starts from
The shift begins by counting the cash in the drawer and recording it as the opening float under the cashier’s name. That number is the base from which the expected cash is computed at the end; without it every later comparison is a guess. The simple rule: one cashier per open shift, so no cashier has two shifts open and nobody sells on someone else’s shift.
During the shift: what enters the drawer and what leaves it
Cash from sales enters the drawer, as does cash paid on website or phone orders at pickup. Change for guests, petty expenses and amounts moved to the safe when the drawer fills up leave it. Every outflow is recorded at that moment with its reason: “ice”, “drop to safe”, “cash refund”, and if an expense carries VAT, its amount is recorded with it so it reaches the accountant correctly.
Returns and cash refunds are recorded on the shift in which they happen, even when the original sale was in an earlier shift or came from another channel, because the cash left this particular drawer.
- A drop to the safe when the drawer passes an agreed limit.
- A petty expense with its reason and its VAT if any.
- A cash top-up when change runs low.
- A cash refund tied to a specific order.
Before closing: the X report and the drawer comparison
Before pressing “close”, print the shift reading. The report shows sales by payment method, tips, returns and expenses, then the expected cash in the drawer: opening float plus cash sales plus top-ups minus drops, expenses and cash refunds. Count the drawer and compare. The difference is explainable now because the shift is still open and a forgotten expense can be recorded or an order logged as card when it was cash can be corrected.
Closing: the Z report and frozen figures
At closing you enter the cash actually counted; the system records the difference as a shortage or an overage, prints the Z report, and the shift’s figures freeze. Anything sold afterwards goes to a new shift, and a sale arriving late from a device that was offline is recorded on its original shift and flagged as arrived after closing, so the report is never rewritten and the sale is never lost.
The difference is never corrected with a fake payment or by editing the opening float. A small recurring shortage on one particular shift is more valuable information than a perfect number.
Open tables at shift change
In table-service restaurants the closing moment arrives while some tables are still occupied. An open table stays on its original shift until it is paid; the next cashier sees it in their list and can complete it, and the payment is recorded on the shift of whoever collected it. What matters is that the system shows the open tables to the departing cashier before closing and to the arriving one at opening, so neither is surprised by a bill they do not know.
Review before the books
In restaurants that keep their books inside the system, the closed shift passes to an accountant who reviews the report, the expenses and the difference before its entries are posted. The review does not change the cashier’s figures; it approves them or adds a note, and then the day’s sales, cash and shortage are posted. Separating who sells, who reviews and who posts is what makes the month-end number one you can trust.
The closing list in a few lines
Print the X report, count the drawer and record any forgotten expenses. Enter the counted cash, close the shift and print the Z report. Review the open tables and hand them to the next cashier. Put the cash in the safe up to the drop amount and leave the agreed change float. Then start the next shift with a counted opening float. Five minutes each time saves hours at month end.
