Till Shortage

A register starts with $200 in cash and records $800 in cash sales, $50 in cash refunds and $700 removed for deposit, so expected closing cash is $250. If the count is $240, the till shortage is $10.

Expected cash equals opening float plus cash received minus cash paid out or removed, and the shortage equals expected cash minus counted cash when that difference is positive. A negative result would be an overage, not a shortage, and both should be reported because looking only at shortages can hide a systematic POS error or inconsistent change-giving.

Lightspeed's register support explains that counted and expected cash may differ when sales are not processed or are entered on the wrong register, so the POS record needs investigation before assigning a cause. Square provides cash drawer reports comparing activity during a session, but the physical count and transaction classification still matter.

Define the shift, because a shortage for one drawer and cashier period differs from a store-wide daily difference, and name the opening and closing times. Count the opening float, since a wrong starting amount skews every later calculation, and keep a consistent handover and verification process.

Separate payment types and include every cash movement: a card transaction wrongly marked cash will inflate expected cash, while petty-cash paid-outs, bank deposits, change top-ups and inter-register transfers must be recorded or an undocumented removal can look like a shortage. Reconcile refunds carefully.

If a customer paid by card but received a cash refund under a policy exception and the system records the refund to the wrong tender, expected cash differs from the count. Check timing too, because a sale recorded just after one session closes might be attributed to another, and compare receipts with actual handover times.

Retain count evidence such as denomination counts, date, drawer, person counting and an independent check where appropriate, and recount before escalating a discrepancy. Protect staff fairness: a shortage can come from change mistakes, training, POS setup or process flaws, so do not label a cashier dishonest based on one variance.

Follow local employment rules as well, since wage deductions or disciplinary responses are jurisdiction-specific and may be restricted, and a store policy cannot override law. Segment patterns, because repeated differences at one register might point to a faulty tender key, while repeated change errors at peak hours may suggest training or staffing.

Use access controls, since shared drawer access makes individual attribution unreliable, and set investigation thresholds so that small rounding differences and material shortages are reviewed appropriately but all are recorded consistently. Correct records transparently through the supported POS process, preserving an audit trail, and never quietly edit counts to zero out a variance; avoid mixing cash and inventory loss, since a missing product can affect stock without affecting the cash count, and keep a deposit trail with bag number, counting witness and bank confirmation.