In short: An opening float, logging everything that leaves the drawer, comparing cash with cash, and a blind count at closing: four habits that catch any gap on the day it happens.
In this guide
Two dinars missing from the drawer looks like nothing. Repeat it every day and it becomes 60 dinars a month and over 700 a year. Controlling cash does not take an accountant. It takes a clear daily routine that everyone behind the counter follows. Here is how to set it up, starting with how the cash drawer itself works.
Start every day with an opening float
Before the first sale, count what is in the drawer and record it. That change you start the day with, 20 or 50 dinars in small notes and coins, is your zero point. Without it, you cannot tell in the evening whether the drawer is over or short.
If more than one person handles the drawer in a day, each shift gets its own opening float and its own close. That way you know which shift the gap appeared in, instead of everyone being responsible and therefore no one.
What a cash drawer is and how it works
A cash drawer is the metal box under the counter, with slots for notes at the back and smaller cups for coins at the front. It locks with a key, and in most shops it opens from the receipt printer: a cable runs from the printer to the drawer, and the cashier app sends the open command with each cash sale.
The point is that the drawer only opens with a recorded sale, so nobody reaches into it without leaving a trace. Keep each denomination in its own slot, smallest to largest. That alone cuts change-giving mistakes and speeds up the count at the end of a shift.
Log everything that leaves the drawer
- Small expenses: water, cleaning supplies, bags, a delivery fee.
- Supplier payments made in cash from the drawer.
- The owner's personal withdrawals, recorded under their name as a withdrawal, not an expense.
- Staff advances, with each person's name and amount.
- Returns refunded to the customer in cash.
Keep cash apart from other payments
Sales paid by card or CliQ never enter the drawer, and neither do sales on credit. Compare the drawer against total sales and it will always look short. Compare cash with cash only.
The sum is simple: opening float, plus cash sales, plus debt payments received in cash, minus cash expenses, withdrawals and refunds, equals what should be in the drawer. The cash count calculator adds up your notes and coins in dinars for you.
Close the shift by counting, not estimating
At the end of a shift, the cashier counts the drawer and enters the actual amount before seeing the expected figure. This is called a blind count, and it stops anyone adjusting the count to match the number, whether on purpose or out of tiredness.
Then the gap appears: zero, over, or short. Record it as it is with a note. Do not cover it from your own pocket and do not ignore it. A month of recorded gaps shows patterns a single day never will.
Read the gaps before blaming anyone
- Small, repeated gaps in piastres: usually change-giving mistakes, so train cashiers to count back in front of the customer.
- Drawer over: a sale that was not recorded, which is a real risk because stock and invoicing were never updated.
- Short by exactly one receipt's value: it may have been logged as cash when it was paid by card, so check payment methods.
- A large, sudden shortfall: check big returns, big discounts and the activity log for that shift.
- Shortfalls that only appear with one person: that calls for a calm conversation and closer attention, not an accusation.
Sales are not profit
A full drawer does not mean a profitable day. Take away the cost of the goods sold and the day's expenses, and what is left is what the shop really earned. What you take for yourself should come out of that profit, not out of the money for next week's stock.
Separate the shop's money from your own from day one. Pay yourself a fixed weekly or monthly amount instead of dipping into the drawer whenever you need to.
Let the system do the sums
When the drawer is part of the sales system itself, the expected amount is calculated automatically from every sale and expense. In Ghalleh, the cashier counts the drawer by denomination at shift close, Ghalleh adds it up and shows the expected amount line by line: opening cash, cash sales, refunds, expenses and supplier payments. Then they choose how much stays in the drawer for the next shift and how much goes to the owner.
If there is a gap you get a notification on your phone even when you are out, with the gap kept on record under that shift and that employee. And with the drawer plugged into the printer, Ghalleh opens it on cash sales only.
Common questions
How do I calculate my shop's daily cash?
Take the opening float, add cash sales and debt payments received in cash, then subtract cash expenses, withdrawals and refunds. The result is what should be in the drawer. Compare it with the actual count.
Why is my drawer short at the end of the day?
Common reasons are change-giving errors, an expense taken from the drawer without being logged, a card sale recorded as cash, or a cash refund. Record every gap for two weeks and the pattern will show itself.
What is a daily cash log?
A record of everything that went into and out of the drawer during the day: opening float, cash sales, expenses, withdrawals and the closing amount. It can be a notebook, but a cashier app builds it automatically from your sales.
How does a cash drawer work?
In most shops the drawer is connected to the receipt printer by a cable. The cashier app tells the printer to open it on a cash sale, and it stays shut for card and credit sales. A key opens it by hand in an emergency.