This topic generates the most calls to support and seems to be the least understood. Cash drawers are one area where shops seem to differ very greatly. Some owners only want to track the activity at the counter, but not the vault. Other owners want to track all the money in the shop. Some shops use individual cash drawers and some shops have a central cashier. There are even a few shops that don’t use any cash drawer at all.
When Individual cash drawers are used, the option of using “Blind Closeout” is frequently selected. It is important to understand that the security level in the system settings called “Allow over/short in blind closeout” that will determine who will be able to see the available column and who will be blind. If you are using this feature you won’t want the counter agents seeing the drawer total, but a manger will need to see it if an employee is outside the over/short tolerance and is unable to correct it.
My best advice here is; no matter how your cash drawer is configured, run the cash drawer detail report selecting “Activity Since Previous Closeout” prior to balancing the drawer, and balance the cash drawer at the end of every shift or daily. My preference is to balance at the end of the day or shift while my memory of the day is still fresh, some shops prefer to balance first thing in the morning. Either is OK but be consistent.
My tips are as follow:
Selecting Return does not allow you to leave money in the drawer. This is used to move money to the vault if the amount at the counter is getting excessive.
Selecting Balance gives you the option to leave (Disburse) money back to the drawer. This is also what tells the cash drawer report that the drawer was “closed out”.
If the drawer is over or short and you click balance with the actual amounts, the drawer will now have the amounts you entered. In other words, the act of balancing the drawer is entering the actual amount on hand and recording the overage or shortage.
The single most common error is selecting the wrong tender during a transaction. In this scenario, the tenders will be out of balance but the drawer will be in balance.
