My cash count does not match

Before chasing money, work out which count disagrees. The app keeps two, and they are not the same number.

Which count is it?

Cash drawer = this till’s shift (handover OK). Day close = end the restaurant day once in Reports.

	Till shift	Day close
Covers	One person on one device	The whole restaurant day
Includes the opening float	Yes	No
Happens	Several times a day, at handovers	Once

That float line is the single most common false variance. The day’s expected cash is settled cash tenders for this business day with no opening float, so a day count that includes the float in the drawer will be over by exactly the float.

Work it in this order

1. Close any open till shift first. A shift still open means the day figure is a Projected variance, not a real one. The Reports screen warns you about this.
2. Check the opening float was actually counted. The float prefills from the last close: Prefills from last close: $200.00 — recount and adjust if the drawer changed. A prefilled float nobody verified carries yesterday’s error into today.
3. Read the cash movements. Safe drops, tip outs, banking, vendor payments and paid-ins all move money legitimately. A drawer that is short by the exact value of a safe drop was not robbed — the drop was not recorded, or was recorded twice.
4. Separate cash from card. The close result shows Cash sales and Card sales separately. A card payment recorded as cash shows up as a cash surplus that never existed.
5. Check for a refund paid in cash. A cash refund leaves the drawer and is recorded as a movement. If it was handed over without being recorded, the drawer is short.

Blind counts

Where Expected cash is hidden until close (blind count) is on, you cannot see the target until you commit a figure. That is the point — a counter who can see the expected number tends to count to it. If you genuinely need the expected figure before counting, a manager changes the setting; do not count twice to get around it.

It is a real difference

Record it and leave it. Every open, close and movement is logged with the staff name and time, so a variance that is investigated later needs an honest figure, not a tidy one. Correct a mistake with another movement rather than adjusting the count.

See The cash drawer and waiter bank and Reports and the day close on the device.