Manage a POS shift

This applies to a business that uses sales points and sells from web POS.

Count the cash when you open and close the shift. Its report covers sales taken at that sales point.

Choose where you are selling#

When Sales points is on and you have an active sales point, its menu appears next to New order. Choose your sales point under Selling at. The menu shows the sales point and shift number. POS remembers the choice on this computer.

When you choose a sales point, the Retail tab lists what that sales point sells, in its own order. A product the sales point has marked unavailable is listed as Unavailable and cannot be added. Owners and managers choose what each sales point sells in Manage sales points.

No sales point sells as before, with no shift, and the Retail tab lists every product.

Open a shift#

1. Select the sales point menu and choose the sales point in Selling at.
2. Select Open shift.
3. Count the cash in the drawer and enter it as the Starting float. Enter 0 for an empty drawer.
4. Select Open shift.

The menu shows when the shift opened. Each sales point has one open shift, shared across computers.

If a shift is required and none is open, POS takes no payment at that sales point. Checkout stays unavailable and shows Open a shift at with the sales point's name.

An owner or manager can let a sales point sell with no shift open. See Require a shift before selling.

Close a shift#

1. Select the sales point menu, then Close shift.
2. Count the cash in the drawer and enter it as Counted cash.
3. Add a note if something needs explaining, such as a float top-up. Leave out customer names: the note is kept with the shift.
4. Select Close shift.

POS does not show what the drawer should hold before you count. A closed shift cannot be reopened or changed, so check the count before you select Close shift.

After the close, POS shows the shift's report:

• Cash drawer: the starting float, the cash payments, any Cash paid into accounts, any cash refunds, the expected cash, the counted cash and the difference. Expected cash is the starting float plus the cash payments and the cash paid into accounts, minus the cash paid back from this drawer. The difference reads Balanced, or the amount the drawer is short or over.
• Payments taken: one total for each payment method. Cash and Own card reader are separate lines, and a card taken on your own reader is never part of expected cash. Once a payment names a terminal, the report also lists a total for each terminal under Own card reader, to check against that terminal's own end-of-day total. Payments that named none are listed there as No terminal named, so the lines add up to the total.
• Sales: the number of sales, their total and the VAT for each rate. When sales were put on customers' accounts, On account shows how many and the amount now owed. That amount is part of the sales total, but it is not in Payments taken or in expected cash. See Charge a sale to the customer's account.
• By staff member: each person's sales.
• Paid into accounts: money members paid into their accounts at this sales point, such as a membership paid at the till, with one total for each payment method. It is not a sale, so it is not in Sales or Payments taken. See What a shift counts.
• To review: voided items, refunds and sales flagged for a check, when there are any.

To sell again at that sales point, open a new shift.

Read a closed shift's report again#

Owners and managers: open Point of Sale, select the sales point menu, then See past shifts. It lists the latest 30 shifts with expected cash, counted cash and the difference. Select a closed shift to open its report. A shift that is still open shows no cash figures.

Other staff see the report once, right after they close the shift.

Depending on your country, regularly reviewing each staff member's voids, discounts or refunds can count as monitoring staff, and you may need to inform your staff or their representatives first.

What a shift counts#

• A shift counts sales taken at its sales point, including retail carts and single-item sales. Cash sales count toward expected cash.
• A sale started from a customer's page (including one marked No account) or a class list counts too, when the computer has a sales point chosen in Selling at. The New sale window says which sales point the sale is taken at. If that sales point requires a shift and none is open, the window does not charge and points you to Point of Sale to open one.
• A complimentary sale is in the number of sales, with no payment.
• A manual grant that takes no payment, made from a customer's page, is not a sale at the till. It needs no shift and is not on a shift report.
• A membership the member paid with Card or direct debit is under Card or SEPA Direct Debit in Payments taken, in the shift that is open when the payment goes through. For a SEPA Direct Debit that is when the bank confirms it, which can be days later. See Let the member pay by card or direct debit.
• A membership sold at the till is a sale on the member's account: the first period is under Sales, and the part the payment covered is under Wallet in Payments taken. The cash, card or transfer the member paid is under Paid into accounts, and cash paid that way is in expected cash. A membership that starts later has only the payment on the report: its first period is charged on the day it starts.
• A wallet top-up, and a payment recorded with Record a payment on a customer's page, is not on a shift report. Cash taken for one is not in expected cash, so keep it apart from the drawer or mention it in the closing note.
• A sale on a customer's account is on the report. The part paid from gift card balance or account credit is under Wallet in Payments taken. The part the customer now owes is on the On account line only.
• Refunds are listed on the report. Only cash paid back from this drawer is taken off expected cash: record it from the payment with Paid back from a cash drawer. See Correct the amount taken.
• The Naayya POS app does not open or close shifts yet, and its sales are not on a shift report.

POS says to open a shift#

The sales point in Selling at has no open shift. A colleague may have closed it on another computer. Select the sales point menu, then Open shift, enter the cash in the drawer and charge the sale again. Nothing was charged or recorded by the refused attempt.

The New sale window on a customer's page (including one marked No account) or a class list says the same on its Checkout step when this computer sells at that sales point. Open the shift in Point of Sale, then charge again.

Closing a shift says a sale is still being recorded#

Wait a moment, then select Close shift again. Your count stays in the window. POS can ask you to wait up to 5 minutes for an interrupted sale. Check Payments for that sale before you ring it up again.