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Cash Drawer Balancing Overview
Cash Drawer Balancing Overview
Angel Horowitz avatar
Written by Angel Horowitz
Updated over a week ago

These instructions will help you set up a starting cash balance amount in your cash drawer, count it down accurately at the end of each business day, and get it set up for the next day.
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​Cash Drawer Balance and Startup
The actual amount of money, checks, credit cards, and other currencies in the cash drawer may be recorded and compared to the amount of currency taken in on closed tickets. Each cash drawer balance for each employee can be recorded and tracked. Cash drawer balances can be reached by selecting View Cash Drawer Balances from the Cash pull-down menu. You do not need to do a cash drawer balance first thing in the morning or at the beginning of a shift, but it is recommended. The starting balance will be used when counting down the drawer for closing, or counting down the drawer at the end of a shift. Most businesses use a set amount for each day's starting balance, i.e. $200.

  1. Click Open the Day which is located under the General Options section.

  2. The Open the Day screen will appear.

  3. Enter the starting balance of your cash drawer. Most businesses prefer to have a set amount of money that they start the day with. This is usually done so businesses can make change at the start of the day and have a set balance that drawers can be counted down to. This balance will reset to the same amount day.

  4. Check the box next to When running a new cash drawer balance, automatically set the starting balance to the counted cash value of the last cash drawer balance ran if your business carries over the previous night's sales to the morning balance. The starting amount in the drawer will be set to the last amount recorded from the previous cash balance. This is typically used when there aren't replacement drawers used between shifts, or when businesses hold all money in the drawer until a deposit can be made to the bank.

  5. Click OK to save the changes.

Adding Cash Drawer Balance Entries
Adding cash drawer balance entries is similar to closing out the drawer at the end of the day. Cash drawer balance entries can be made periodically throughout the day, or when changing cashiers. The cash drawer balance entries record the cash amount at specific times of the day.

  1. Click the Add button.

  2. If password protection is enabled, the cash drawer balance will be recorded for the employee who is currently logged in. The Select Date and Time screen will appear.

  3. Select the appropriate date and tine parameters and click OK.

  4. If you have booth renters, a pop-up screen will appear asking if you would like to include them.

  5. Select Yes or No as desired.

  6. Select the computer(s) for which you would like to record the new cash drawer balance and click OK.

  7. The Cash Drawer Balance screen will appear.

  8. In the Counted Cash section, enter the number of each type of currency in the cash drawer.

  9. The Starting Balance field should already be set to your declared starting balance. If you have not set a starting balance, enter the amount that the cash drawer started with today.

  10. The amount of dropped cash will automatically appear.

  11. The amount of petty cash and settled tips will automatically appear.

  12. Your software will calculate the reported amount of cash from closed tickets in the drawer and compare it to the counted cash in the drawer.

  13. The Non-Cash section shows the total amount of checks, credit cards, and other non-cash amounts from closed tickets. You can add up and record all the charge slips from credit cards and checks received today.

  14. For a perfect drawer balance, there should be no difference in counted currency and reported currency.

  15. Click Save when finished.

Record a New Cash Drawer Balance and Close Out
Your software can easily close out and balance your cash drawer at day's end. It's entirely possible that you will only need to run the Close Out & Cash Drawer Balance. This is OK.

  1. Select Close Out & Cash Drawer Balance from the Cash pull-down menu.

  2. Follow Steps 2-15 from the previous section.

  3. After closing the drawer, most businesses fill out a deposit slip and take the day's cash and checks to the bank, or they keep them in a safe until they are taken to a bank or a can be picked up by a bank service.

The cash drawer Reported Balance should be equal to the Counted Cash in the drawer. The Reported Balance = Starting Balance + Calculated Total of Cash from Closed Tickets - Dropped Cash - Petty Cash - Settled Tips. The Counted Cash is the amount of cash physically in the drawer. Status shows if the drawer is balanced, over, or under.
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​Viewing Cash Drawer Balance Entries and Close Outs
Your software does not allow you to edit an existing cash drawer balance entry. This screen may be used by the business owner or manager to view, delete, and add cash drawer balance entries. We recommend that this screen be password protected.

  1. Select the appropriate Date Range as desired:

    • Today: balances recorded today

    • Yesterday: balances recorded yesterday

    • Range: balances recorded within a user defined range of days

    • Single Date: balances recorded on a single date

    • All dates: balances recorded for all days

  2. Click on the cash drawer balance entry that you would like to view.

  3. Click the View Balance button.

  4. Click OK when finished.

Deleting Cash Drawer Balance Entries
If you happen to accidentally run a cash drawer balance for the incorrect day or time, it can easily be recalculated but will need to be run again.

  1. Select the appropriate Date Range.

  2. Click on the cash drawer entry to delete.

  3. Click the Delete Balance button.

  4. The Are You Sure? screen will appear.

  5. Select Yes to permanently delete the cash drawer entry from the database.

  6. If necessary, you may now rerun the cash drawer balance.

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