Guide · Cashing up
How to cash up a till and make it balance.
Cashing up is the short routine at closing time that tells you whether the day's takings are all there. Here is a method that works for one till or several, with a cash-up sheet layout you can copy.
In short
To cash up a till, print or open the day's sales report, count the cash in the drawer by denomination and take out the opening float. Compare what is left, plus any paid-outs, with the cash sales the till recorded, then check card takings against the card terminal. Write down any difference, sign the sheet and bank the takings.
Cashing up, also called an end-of-day cash up or till reconciliation, is the check that the money in the shop matches the sales that were recorded. In the US the same job is usually called balancing the cash register or closing out the drawer.
Done the same way every day, it catches mistakes while everyone still remembers the shift: wrong change, a sale keyed twice, a refund handed over from the drawer with nothing written down. Left for a week, small gaps turn into a mystery nobody can explain.
Cash-up sheet
A cash-up sheet layout you can copy.
Fill it in from top to bottom, one sheet per till per day. The example till is £2.40 short.
| Line | Example | How to work it out |
|---|---|---|
| Till and staff | Till 1, closed by Sam | Which till, which day and who worked it. |
| Opening float | £150.00 | The cash put in the drawer before opening. |
| Notes counted | £585.00 | Every banknote in the drawer, counted by denomination. |
| Coins counted | £96.60 | Every coin, including any already bagged. |
| Total cash in drawer | £681.60 | Notes plus coins. |
| Less float | − £150.00 | Set aside for tomorrow. |
| Cash takings | £531.60 | Total cash in drawer minus the float. |
| Paid-outs | £18.00 | Cash taken from the drawer for shop costs, with a receipt for each. |
| Cash sales per till report | £552.00 | Cash sales recorded by the POS, after cash refunds. |
| Difference | − £2.40 (short) | Cash takings + paid-outs − cash sales. Positive is over, negative is short. |
| Card takings per terminal | £1,244.35 | The end-of-day total from the card machine. |
| Card sales per till report | £1,244.35 | Card sales recorded by the POS. These should match. |
| Banked and signed | £531.60, SB and PK | The amount bagged for the bank, signed by two people. |
For a US store, use the same layout in dollars. Keep each completed sheet with that day's till report.
Set the float before you open
The float is the cash in the drawer at the start of the day so you can give change to the first customers. Keep it at the same fixed amount every day, made up of coins and small notes. A fixed float makes cashing up simple: whatever is above it at closing time should be takings.
Count the float into the drawer at opening, ideally with a second person, and write it at the top of the sheet. Keep spare change in the safe and record it when you move it into the till, rather than topping up from the takings.
An end-of-day cash-up routine
- Serve the last customer and stop taking payments on that till.
- Run the day's sales report. On an old cash register this is the end-of-day or Z reading; on a POS it is the day's sales broken down by payment method.
- Take the drawer somewhere quiet and out of sight of the door, with a second person if you can.
- Count out the float first and bag it for tomorrow.
- Count the remaining notes and coins by denomination and write each total on the sheet.
- Add up the paid-out receipts and any vouchers or cheques taken.
- Compare cash takings plus paid-outs with the cash sales on the report.
- Compare the card terminal's end-of-day total with card sales on the report.
- Write down any difference and the reason if you know it, then both people sign.
- Bag the takings for the bank or the safe and record the amount.
Counting cash quickly and accurately
- Sort notes by value and face them all the same way before counting.
- Count notes twice, the second time in the opposite direction.
- Stack coins in piles of the same value, or use your bank's coin bags, so each bag holds a known amount.
- Write each denomination on the sheet as you go, not just the grand total, so a recount can start where the mistake is.
- Check suspicious notes before you bank them rather than after.
Reconciling the till against sales
Till reconciliation compares what you counted with what the till says you should have. The expected cash is cash sales minus cash refunds. The difference is cash takings plus paid-outs minus expected cash. Checking cash and card separately matters, because a card sale keyed as cash makes the drawer look short and the card total look over by the same amount.
POS2026 records how each customer paid, and the Report module covers sales and payments with filters, so you can pull the day's cash and card totals. Every transaction is also kept in Sales history, which helps when you need to find the sale behind a difference. POS2026 is not a card processor, so check card sales against your terminal's own end-of-day report.
Recording and investigating differences
Record every difference, over or short, with the date, till and staff on shift. A till that is over is not good news: it can mean a sale was never recorded or a customer was short-changed. Agree a small amount below which you simply note the difference, and investigate anything above it the same evening.
The usual causes are wrong change, a sale recorded under the wrong payment method, a refund that was paid out but not recorded, a paid-out without a receipt and a float that was miscounted in the morning. Look for patterns by shift, day and person over a few weeks. Never make up a shortfall from your own pocket; it hides the problem instead of fixing it. If stock as well as cash keeps going missing, see our advice on reducing shrinkage in retail.
How to balance a cash register
US stores follow the same steps with different words. The float is the starting cash or starting bank, the over/short log records differences, and the end-of-day report may be called a Z report. Many stores also make cash drops during the day, moving notes above a set level from the register to the safe. Record each drop on a slip so it can be added back when you balance the drawer at close.
Keep cashing up safe and consistent
- Cash up away from windows and the front door, not on the shop counter.
- Avoid cashing up alone late at night where you can.
- Keep the amount in the drawer low during the day with regular drops to the safe.
- Vary the times and routes you use to take cash to the bank.
- Keep completed sheets and compare weekly totals with the deposits on your bank statement.
Questions
Common questions.
Straight answers for shop owners, based on what POS2026 actually does.
What does cashing up mean?
Cashing up means counting the money in the till at the end of a day or shift and checking it against the sales the till recorded. It shows whether the takings are complete and records any difference.
How much should a till float be?
Enough to give change to your first customers without running short, which depends on your prices and how people pay. Choose an amount, keep it the same every day and make it up mostly of coins and small notes.
What should I do if the till is short?
Recount the cash first, then check paid-out receipts, refunds and any card sales that may have been recorded as cash. Write down the difference and what you found, even if you cannot explain it, and watch for a pattern.
Is the float included in the takings?
No. Count the float out first and set it aside for the next day. Takings are the cash left in the drawer once the float is removed.
How often should I cash up?
At least once a day at closing. If several people share a till across shifts, cash up at each change of shift so every difference belongs to one person's shift.
Can POS2026 replace my cash register?
For recording sales, yes. POS2026 records every sale and how it was paid, and runs in a web browser on a computer or tablet. It does not sell hardware: keep cash in your existing drawer or cash box, use your own card machine; a barcode scanner or receipt printer is optional.
Make every cash-up quicker to check.
POS2026 records each sale with its payment method, so the figures you balance against are ready at closing time.
