What it means
At the end of a business day, staff must count the money in the register to see if it matches the sales system records. This simple routine protects your business from accidental errors, gives staff accountability, and prevents small mistakes from turning into major financial losses over time.
The process starts with a fixed amount of cash, known as the float, placed in the register before trading begins. Throughout the day, sales add cash, card payments, and vouchers to the till.
When the shift ends, the total expected amount is calculated by taking the starting float, adding total cash sales, and subtracting any cash payouts or refunds. Staff then count the physical cash and check card machine totals.
If the count matches the expected total, the till balances. If there is a difference, you have either a cash shortage or a cash overage, which requires investigation.
Doing this daily helps you identify patterns. Frequent shortages might indicate giving incorrect change, unrecorded refunds, or theft, while regular overages often point to missed sales entries or overcharging customers.
It keeps your financial records accurate and ready for bookkeeping. Till reconciliation is like weighing the ingredients at the end of baking a batch of bread to make sure you used the right amount and none mysteriously vanished.
In practice
Real-world examples
Example 1
At a coffee shop, the morning float is $150. System sales show $500 in cash taken, so the expected total is $650. The end of day cash count is $645, leaving a $5 shortage to investigate. The manager checks for a mis-keyed order or an unrecorded refund.
Example 2
A boutique clothing shop tallies its register. The system records $1,200 in card payments and $300 in cash. The card machine report and cash count match the system perfectly, so the manager signs the sheet and banks the cash.
Example 3
A museum gift shop finds $50 extra in the till at closing. Reviewing the receipts shows a customer was given incorrect change, resulting in a positive cash overage. The shop refunds the customer's account and corrects the training notes for the staff.
Think of it
Till reconciliation is like weighing the ingredients at the end of baking a batch of bread to make sure you used the right amount and none mysteriously vanished.
Formula
Calculation
Expected Cash in Till = Starting Float + Cash Sales - Cash Refunds and Payouts. Discrepancy = Counted Cash - Expected Cash.
Worked example: a $100 float plus $400 of cash sales minus $20 of refunds gives $100 + $400 - $20 = $480 expected. If you count $475, the discrepancy is $475 - $480 = -$5, a shortage of $5.
Card payments are reconciled separately. If the system records $500 of card sales, the card machine settlement report should also show $500. A difference is investigated just like a cash difference.
It helps to express the gap as a percentage. A $5 shortage on $400 of cash sales is 5 / 400 = 1.25%. Repeated small shortages of this size across 20 trading days would total $100, which is why even small differences should be logged and investigated.Case study
Seen in the real world
This is a fictional, illustrative scenario. At Blossom Florists, shop manager Sarah closes the register every evening. One Tuesday, the system records $850 in total sales, split between $350 in cash and $500 in card payments. Sarah removes the $150 morning float and counts the remaining cash. She finds $340, which is $10 less than expected.
Instead of ignoring the small gap, Sarah checks the receipt log. She discovers that during a busy lunchtime rush, a colleague forgot to record a $10 cash refund for a damaged vase. Sarah updates the ledger, correcting the system total to $340 in cash sales. Because of this quick daily reconciliation, the daily accounts balance correctly, and the bookkeeping for the week remains accurate, preventing hours of frustration at month-end. The fix also changed behaviour.
Sarah added a refund log beside the till and asked staff to record every payout at the time. She also began a weekly summary showing each day's expected cash, counted cash and difference, which she reviewed with the team every Monday. The sheet gave her an early warning if one person or one shift showed repeated gaps. Over the next month the till balanced exactly on 24 of 26 trading days, and the two exceptions were both under $5.
Watch out
Common mistakes
- Failing to record the exact starting float amount before trading begins.
- Ignoring small daily shortages or overages instead of investigating the cause.
- Allowing multiple staff members to use the same till without individual accountability.
Questions
People also ask
What should I do if my till does not balance?
Check your receipt log for unrecorded refunds, missed discounts, or manual entries, then recount the cash carefully.
How often should reconciliation happen?
You should reconcile the till at the end of every business day or at the end of every individual staff shift.
What is a till float?
A till float is the baseline amount of cash kept in the register at the start of the day to provide change to customers.