The cash drawer reconciliation sheet, and the one formula behind it
Starting bank, cash in, drops and payouts, then the count. One formula, a filled-in example, and what an over or short is usually telling you.
A cash drawer reconciliation sheet, also called a till reconciliation sheet, compares the cash that should be in a register drawer with the cash that is actually there. Expected cash is the starting bank plus cash sales and paid-ins, minus safe drops and cash payouts. Count the drawer, and the difference is the over or short.
In short
- Reconcile each drawer, not the whole store, so a short belongs to one cashier and one shift.
- Count by denomination and write each line down, because a total in your head can't be checked later.
- A short with a pattern matters more than any one short, however big.
What goes on a cash drawer reconciliation sheet
Six lines work out the cash that should be there, and two more compare it with the count. Take every figure from the register's shift summary and the drop slips, never from memory.
The example is one drawer, one shift. Copy the lines into a spreadsheet with the formula in Expected cash, and print the rest.
Till reconciliation sheet, filled in
| Line | Where it comes from | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Starting bank | The float the drawer opened with | $200.00 |
| Plus cash sales | Register shift summary, cash tender | $1,412.30 |
| Plus paid-ins | Cash put into the drawer, with a slip | $0.00 |
| Minus cash payouts | Lottery winners, vendor paid-outs | $35.00 |
| Minus safe drops | Every drop slip from the shift | $1,000.00 |
| Expected cash | The lines above, added up | $577.30 |
| Counted cash | The denomination count below | $575.80 |
| Over or short | Counted minus expected | Short $1.50 |
How to count the drawer
Count away from the register, with a second person watching if you can. Two people counting the same drawer once beats one person counting it three times.
Write each denomination on its own line so the count can be checked the next morning.
The count, in order
Pull the drawer after the session is closed
No sales while it is out.
Count bills from largest to smallest
Write the count and total for each.
Count rolled coin, then loose coin
Rolled coin by the roll, loose by the piece.
Add the lines for counted cash
Then subtract expected cash for over or short.
Sign and date the sheet
Both people, if two counted.
What a cash over or short usually means
Most shorts are mistakes, not theft: wrong change, a payout not rung as a payout, or a drop slip that never made it to the safe. Overs matter too, because an over usually means a customer got short-changed or a sale was rung twice.
Set a limit per shift, write it on the sheet, and look at anything outside it the same day.
Rule of thumb
One short is a question. The same cashier short three shifts in a row is a pattern, and that is the one to talk about.
From the sheet to till settlement software
A paper sheet works, but the numbers on it already sit in your POS. A back office reads each register session, so cash sales, drops and payouts come in on their own and only the count is left to type.
In Neo Office, Till Settlement shows each drawer's Sessions, Cash to verify, Counted cash and Net over or short, by store and by day. Pulse also checks drawers, voids and price overrides every night and sends a morning summary.
Only type the count
Neo Office reads every register session and works out expected cash for each drawer, so the over or short is ready when the count is in. Till Settlement is on Plus at $49.99 per location per month.