In this guide (12)
- What is an end-of-day cash up?
- What do you need before you start?
- How do you work out expected cash?
- How do you cash up a till, step by step?
- Worked example: a full cash up
- How do you check card and account sales?
- What causes a till to be over or short?
- What should a cash-up checklist include?
- Why should you lock the day?
- How do you keep cash ups honest and quick?
- How EasyTaskr helps
- Questions people ask
Key takeaways
- Expected cash = float + cash sales − cash refunds − paid-outs.
- Count cash before you look at the till report, so the report cannot steer the count.
- Check card, cash and account sales separately; each goes wrong in its own way.
- Record every over and short, however small, with a reason and a name.
- Lock the day once it balances, so nobody can change yesterday's sales.
What is an end-of-day cash up?
A cash up is the daily check that the money in your till, on your card terminal and on your customer accounts matches what your till says you sold. It catches mistakes while they are fresh and turns a pile of takings into a figure you can bank and trust.
Done well, it takes 10 to 20 minutes. Skipped for a week, it becomes an afternoon of guessing, and small losses become impossible to trace.
What do you need before you start?
Have everything in one place before you open the drawer, so you count once and calmly.
- The till's end-of-day report, printed or on screen, but kept face down until the count is done
- The card terminal's end-of-day total
- Any paid-out slips (cash taken from the till to pay for something)
- Any refund and void slips
- A count sheet with every note and coin denomination
- A bag or envelope for banking, and somewhere safe to keep it
- A second person to count or check, if you have one
How do you work out expected cash?
Start with the float, add the cash sales, then take off cash refunds and paid-outs. That is the cash that should be in the drawer.
Expected cash = float + cash sales − cash refunds − paid-outs
Card sales and sales on account do not appear in the drawer at all, so leave them out of this sum and check them separately.
How do you cash up a till, step by step?
Count first, compare second. Counting before you look at the report stops the expected figure from steering the count.
- Close the till for sales, or switch to a second drawer if you are still trading.
- Take the drawer to a quiet place, away from the shop floor and out of view of the door.
- Count the notes and coins by denomination and write each line on the count sheet.
- Count again, or have a second person count. The two totals must match.
- Take out the float, using the same denominations each day where you can, and put it aside for tomorrow.
- Print or open the till report and note cash sales, card sales, account sales, refunds and paid-outs.
- Work out expected cash and compare it with what you counted.
- Check the card total against the terminal's end-of-day figure.
- Check sales on account against the invoices or account entries for the day.
- Record any over or short, with a reason if you know it and the name of whoever was on the till.
- Bag the takings with a copy of the count sheet and keep them safe until banking.
- Close and lock the day in your till system.
Worked example: a full cash up
A shop starts with a float of 200. The till report for the day shows:
| Payment type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Cash sales | 1,846.50 |
| Card sales | 3,412.80 |
| Sales on account (credit customers) | 640.00 |
| Total sales | 5,899.30 |
| Cash refunds | 18.00 |
| Paid-outs (cleaning supplies) | 25.00 |
Expected cash in the drawer:
200.00 + 1,846.50 − 18.00 − 25.00 = 2,003.50
The count. Denominations differ from country to country; use your own. This drawer held:
| Denomination | Count | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 20 | 1,000.00 |
| 20 | 31 | 620.00 |
| 10 | 22 | 220.00 |
| 5 | 15 | 75.00 |
| 2 | 22 | 44.00 |
| 1 | 25 | 25.00 |
| 0.50 | 18 | 9.00 |
| 0.20 | 21 | 4.20 |
| 0.10 | 20 | 2.00 |
| 0.05 | 20 | 1.00 |
| Total counted | 2,000.20 |
The result:
- Counted 2,000.20 against expected 2,003.50: the till is 3.30 short.
- Take out the float of 200: cash to bank is 1,800.20.
- Card terminal total 3,412.80 matches the till's card sales.
- Three account sales totalling 640.00 match the invoices raised.
The 3.30 short is recorded with the cashier's name and the note "no cause found". On its own, it is small. If the same till is short most days that week, it is a pattern worth looking into.
How do you check card and account sales?
Separately from the cash, because each goes wrong in its own way.
Card sales. Compare the till's card total with the terminal's end-of-day total. Common causes of a difference:
- A card payment keyed on the terminal but recorded as cash on the till, which shows as a cash short and a card over of the same amount
- A payment taken twice on the terminal after a failed attempt
- A refund done on the terminal but not on the till, or the other way round
- Two terminals, with only one included in the total
Sales on account. These are credit sales to customers who pay later. Check that each one is on the right customer's account for the right amount. A credit sale keyed as cash makes the drawer look short; a cash sale keyed to an account makes a customer owe money they have already paid, which is a far bigger problem when you send them a statement.
What causes a till to be over or short?
Most differences are honest mistakes, and the cause is usually one of a short list. Check these before assuming anything worse.
| Likely cause | How it shows | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong change given | Short or over by a small, odd amount | Busy periods on the till |
| Card sale keyed as cash | Cash short, card over, same amount | Terminal slips against till receipts |
| Paid-out with no slip | Cash short | Ask who paid a delivery or bought supplies |
| Refund not recorded | Cash short | Refund slips and returned stock |
| Sale not rung up | Cash over | Staff habits at busy times |
| Float wrong at the start | Over or short by a round amount | Yesterday's count sheet |
| Counting error | Any amount | Count again |
Set a small tolerance for normal mistakes and investigate anything above it. Track overs and shorts by person and by day. A single short is noise; the same name on most of them, or a short that keeps matching one product's price, is a signal.
Do not take shorts out of staff wages without checking the law where you trade. In many places that is restricted or not allowed.
What should a cash-up checklist include?
Print this and keep it by the till. Tick each line every day.
| # | Check | Done | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Till closed for sales or drawer swapped | ||
| 2 | Drawer counted by denomination, away from the shop floor | ||
| 3 | Second count matches the first | ||
| 4 | Float taken out and set aside for tomorrow | ||
| 5 | Till report printed after the count | ||
| 6 | Expected cash worked out: float + cash sales − refunds − paid-outs | ||
| 7 | Counted cash compared with expected; over or short noted | ||
| 8 | Card total matches the terminal end-of-day total | ||
| 9 | Account sales match the day's invoices | ||
| 10 | Paid-out and refund slips attached | ||
| 11 | Reason recorded for any over or short | ||
| 12 | Takings bagged with count sheet and stored safely | ||
| 13 | Day closed and locked in the till system | ||
| 14 | Banking date written down |
Why should you lock the day?
Locking the day stops anyone changing that day's sales, refunds or payments after the cash up. Without it, a late edit can make yesterday's balanced till go wrong, or hide a problem altogether.
Once a day is locked, any correction should go into today, as a new entry with a reason, so there is a clear trail of what changed and who changed it. That trail protects honest staff and makes your records far easier for your accountant to follow.
How do you keep cash ups honest and quick?
A few routines make the daily count fast and hard to get wrong.
- Same float, same denominations, every day. Differences jump out.
- One person per drawer per shift where you can, so overs and shorts have an owner.
- Paid-outs always need a slip, with a receipt attached.
- Bank regularly. Large amounts of cash on the premises are a risk; the banking schedule should not depend on one person remembering.
- Count out of sight of the front door and windows.
- Review the week every Monday: total overs and shorts, by till and by person.
A clean daily cash up is also the first line of your cash flow. Our guide to cash flow for small business shows how daily takings feed a weekly forecast.
Questions people ask
What is a till float?
The float is a fixed amount of small notes and coins left in the till at the start of each day so you can give change. It is not part of the day's takings, so it is counted out and set aside before you work out what to bank.
What should I do if the till is short?
Recount first, then check refunds, paid-outs, voided sales and card payments keyed as cash. If it is still short, record the amount with a reason and the name of whoever was on the till. Look for patterns across days rather than blaming one shift.
How much should I keep in the till float?
Enough small notes and coins to give change for the first few hours of a normal day. Keep the same amount every day, so the float is easy to check and any difference shows up immediately.
Should the same person count the cash and run the till?
Ideally not. Having a second person count, or at least check, the cash protects both the business and the staff member. In a one-person shop, count before you read the till report and keep the count sheet.
