Service ends and the real work starts. End of day reconciliation is not a formality, it is the venue's daily audit.
Quick answer: End of day reconciliation compares the sales total shown by the system against the money actually in the till. Cash, card, meal vouchers and account sales are handled separately. The gap between recorded cash sales and counted cash is the shortage or overage. The difference is recorded every day, and recurring patterns are investigated by source.
In most venues, end of day goes one of two ways: a quick glance and close, or hours of arguing.
Both have the same cause: payment types are not tracked separately.
Why reconciliation is done by payment type
Comparing one grand total is not enough, because revenue arrives through several channels and each reaches the account at a different time.
Cash is in the till immediately and can be counted. Card arrives at the bank on a settlement delay, with fees deducted. Meal vouchers pay on the provider's own settlement calendar. Account sales have not been collected at all.
Merged into one total, what looks like a shortage may simply be an uncollected line. Or the reverse: a real shortage disappears inside card takings.
Correct reconciliation compares each payment type against itself.
Step by step
1. Confirm no open tabs remain. An unclosed table means an incomplete sales report.
2. Run the Z report. Total sales, payment type breakdown, voids and discounts.
3. Count the cash. Subtract the opening float from the total in the till.
4. Calculate the cash variance. Compare recorded cash sales against counted cash.
5. Compare card takings. The card terminal's end of day report should match the system's card sales total.
6. Check meal vouchers and other channels separately.
7. Review voids, comps and discounts. Investigate anything unusual in value or count.
8. Post account sales to the customer record. Sold but not in the till today.
9. Record the reconciliation. Date, shift, who counted, the variance and any note.
Sources of till shortages
A shortage is usually not theft. Common sources:
- Change errors. The most frequent cause during peak hours.
- Unrecorded voids. The tab is voided but the product was served.
- Unrecorded comps. Given away, never entered.
- Wrong payment type selected. A card payment closed as cash produces a cash shortage and a card overage at the same time.
- Miscounted opening float. A morning error carried to the evening.
- Tips taken from the till. Without a record, this reads as a straight shortage.
The fourth point matters: when a cash shortage and a card overage appear on the same day, the cause is usually a keying error, not theft.
Setting a tolerance threshold
Zero variance is not a realistic target. Set a threshold instead, defined as a small percentage of daily cash revenue. Differences below it are recorded but not investigated. Differences above it are investigated the same day.
What matters is the trend, not a single day. A shortage recurring on the same shift is a stronger signal than one large one-off gap.
Shift level accountability
Done once at the end of the day, reconciliation leaves the question of whose shift produced the variance unanswered.
Handing over the till at shift change makes accountability clear. The till is counted, the count is confirmed by two people, and it goes on record.
This protects staff as much as it checks them. Without a record, suspicion falls on everyone.
Where the system takes over
- Payment types are recorded separately at the moment of sale
- The Z report and payment breakdown are generated automatically
- Entering the counted amount calculates the variance automatically
- Voids, comps and discounts are reported with who performed them
- Shift handovers are recorded
- Past reconciliations are stored so trends can be read
Once this is in place, end of day gets shorter. But the real gain is not time. The variance is no longer argued, it is measured.
Reconciliation is a daily audit, not a confrontation
End of day is the least liked part of the closing routine in most venues.
Set up correctly, it produces the most valuable daily data the business has: where revenue came from, how much was collected, where the loss is.
The question is not how much is in the till. It is where the gap between that and the expected figure came from.
Frequently asked questions
How is an end of day cash reconciliation done?
Confirm no open tabs remain, run the Z report, count the till and compare recorded cash sales against counted cash. Check card, meal vouchers and account sales separately, then record the variance.
What is a Z report?
The end of day report showing total sales, the payment type breakdown, and void and discount totals. It is the basis of reconciliation.
Why do till shortages happen?
Most often change errors, unrecorded voids and comps, selecting the wrong payment type, a miscounted opening float, and tips taken without a record.
What does a cash shortage with a card overage on the same day mean?
Usually a keying error. Closing a card payment as cash produces both at once.
What tolerance threshold should be set?
Set it as a small percentage of daily cash revenue. Below it, record but do not investigate. Above it, investigate the same day. Recurring trends matter more than any single day.