Start every shift with the same float
Pick a float, say $150 in a set mix of notes and coins, and start every shift with exactly that. Count it at the start, ideally with the cashier who's taking over. If the float changes from day to day, you lose the fixed point that every other number depends on.
If you have more than one till, give each one a name and its own float. Don't let cash move between drawers without writing it down.
Record every bit of cash that isn't a sale
This is where most shortages come from. Cash leaves the drawer for perfectly good reasons and nobody records it. Every movement should fall into one of these:
- Pay in: cash added to the drawer, like extra change from the safe
- Pay out: petty cash spent from the drawer, like ice, cleaning supplies or a delivery tip. Always with a reason and a category.
- Drop: cash taken out to the safe or bank during the shift so the drawer doesn't get too full
- Refund: cash handed back to a customer
A slip in the drawer works if it's all you have. It's better if your till records these as you go, so they're already in the total when you count.
Know what should be in the drawer before you count
The expected cash is simple arithmetic: what you started with, plus cash that came in, minus cash that went out.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Opening float | $150.00 |
| Cash payments for bills | + $612.50 |
| Cash wallet top-ups | + $80.00 |
| Pay-out (ice) | − $18.00 |
| Drop to safe | − $400.00 |
| Expected in the drawer | $424.50 |
Don't forget wallet or account top-ups paid in cash. They aren't a sale on the day, but the cash is physically in the drawer, and leaving them out is one of the most common reasons a till comes up 'over'.
Count by denomination
Count each note and coin separately and write down how many of each. It's slower than counting a stack, but it's much harder to get wrong, and if the total is off you can recount one pile instead of everything. For large amounts or a drop to the safe, have a second person count too.
In the example above, the cashier counts $420.00. The till is $4.50 short.
Write down why when it doesn't match
Every shift ends one of three ways: balanced, over or short. When it's over or short, the cashier writes a note there and then, while they still remember the night. 'Gave change for a $50 instead of a $20 at about 10pm, customer came back' is useful. A blank isn't.
Then look for patterns rather than reacting to one night:
- Small shorts on most shifts usually mean a process problem, like change being given wrongly or pay-outs not recorded.
- A big one-off usually has a specific cause. Check refunds, voids and pay-outs from that shift first.
- Regular overs are worth checking too. They often mean cash sales are being entered as card, which throws your card reconciliation out instead.
- If the same cashier is short again and again, start with training before you assume anything worse.
Keep one cashier per drawer if you can
When three people use one drawer, nobody owns the count. If you can, give each shift a named cashier, or a small group of named cashiers, and close their shift before the next one starts. If cash is taken when no shift is open, put it against the next shift so it doesn't vanish from the record.
Make it quick, so it actually happens
A cash-up that takes 30 minutes gets skipped at 1am. The goal is a five-minute routine: the system already knows what should be there, the cashier counts by denomination, types it in, writes a note if it's off, and goes home.
How playdesk handles cash
playdesk has named tills with a default float, and shifts with named cashiers. Cash bill payments, cash refunds and cash wallet top-ups are copied into the shift automatically, and staff record pay-ins, pay-outs with a category, and drops to the safe as they happen. At close, the cashier counts by denomination or as a total, playdesk shows whether the shift is balanced, over or short, and a note is required whenever it doesn't match. A variance report covers every shift, so patterns are easy to spot.