Shift handover and closing the drawer: steps and a checklist

In short: Hand over every shift with a blind count by denomination, match cash to cash and cards to their reports, record the difference as it is, and leave the same opening float every day. Give each cashier their own login and shift, so nobody answers for someone else's mistake.

A shift handover closes the outgoing cashier's shift by counting the cash and matching it against what the software recorded, then opens a new shift for the next cashier with a known float. Many drawer problems start in two minutes: the evening cashier tells the morning cashier 'all good' and walks out. Closing a shift is a routine that takes ten minutes at most when it is clear, and it spares you a pile of unanswerable questions at the end of the month. Here are the steps in order, a worked example in dinars, and a checklist to pin up by the counter.

Why each employee needs a shift

If several people handle the drawer in a day with no close between them, any difference in the evening is everyone's responsibility, which means no one's. A shift gives each person a start and an end: an opening float they receive, an amount they hand over, and any difference recorded under their name. That protects honest staff before it protects the shop.

Do not let two employees work the same shift on the same login, and do not let anyone start selling before the previous shift is closed. If two cashiers work at the same time, each needs their own shift and drawer or login.

Fifteen minutes before closing

• Finish open invoices: a table not yet billed, or a basket parked on the screen.
• Record any expense taken from the drawer that has not been logged, and keep its receipt.
• Make sure every debt given out is recorded under the right customer's name.
• If your shop uses JoFotara, check that no invoices are left unsent, or that they are queued for automatic sending.

A blind count, by denomination

The cashier counts the drawer and enters the actual amount before seeing the expected figure. That way the count cannot be nudged to match the number, on purpose or out of tiredness. Count each denomination separately: 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1 dinar notes, then coins, and write down how many of each.

Counting by denomination takes a minute longer but makes any review much faster when there is a difference, because you know where to look. Count in front of a second person when you can.

A worked example

This is how the expected drawer amount is calculated. Card, CliQ and credit sales are left out, because that money never entered the drawer.

Card and CliQ sales are matched against their own reports, not the drawer.

Match the other payment methods

Card totals in your cashier app should equal the card terminal's report for the same period. If your bank terminal needs an end-of-day settlement, print its report and keep it with the close. Do the same for CliQ: compare what the app recorded with what actually reached your account.

A difference here is usually a sale recorded under the wrong payment method, and fixing it the same day is far easier than hunting for it a week later.

The shift report: your daily cash log

At closing, the cashier software produces a shift report that usually shows cash sales, card and CliQ sales, refunds, discounts, expenses paid from the drawer, the expected cash, the counted cash and the difference. That report is the daily cash log the owner or accountant reviews, and it is kept with the cash handed over.

An example: at a supermarket in Jubeiha, the morning cashier closes at 4 pm. The report says expected cash is 214.750 JOD and the count matches exactly, so the cashier hands 184.750 JOD to the manager and leaves a 30.000 JOD float for the evening shift.

The handover

1. Leave the next shift's opening float in the drawer, the same amount every day, in small change.
2. Put the rest in an envelope marked with the date, shift, employee name and amount, or straight into the safe.
3. The next cashier counts the opening float in front of the person handing over, before the first sale.
4. Record any difference as it is, with a note if there is an explanation. Do not cover it from your own pocket and do not ignore it.

The checklist

• No open invoices or unbilled tables.
• Every expense from the drawer recorded.
• Every debt recorded under the customer's name.
• Pending invoices sent or queued.
• Blind count done by denomination and entered in the system.
• Card and CliQ totals matched to their reports.
• Difference recorded with a note.
• Opening float in the drawer, the rest in an envelope or the safe.
• The next shift counted its float before selling.

Shifts in Ghalleh

In Ghalleh every employee sells from their own account with their own PIN, so every sale, expense and refund is recorded under their name. When a shift closes, they count the drawer and Ghalleh works out the expected amount from the invoices and payment methods. You can make the count blind for cashiers, so they enter what they counted before seeing the expected figure.

If there is a difference, you get a notification on your phone even when you are away, and it stays recorded against that shift and employee. You also see who is working now, and the hours worked from clocking in and out on the phone at the shop.

Ghalleh is on Google Play now, the Windows version is on the download page, and the trial is 14 days free with every feature and no card.

Common questions