How to run a Z-Report and close a shift
5 min read ·
A shift close has one job: establish whether the money in the drawer matches what the system says should be there, while the people responsible are still in the building. Everything else is bookkeeping.
Before service: record the opening float
The drawer starts with a known float. If that number is approximate, every variance calculation downstream is approximate too, and the close stops being evidence of anything.
During service: paid-outs go through the register
Cash that leaves the drawer for a supplier run or a delivery rider is the single most common source of unexplained variance. Recording it as a paid-out at the moment it happens is the difference between a reconciled drawer and a mystery.
At close: declare before you look
Count the drawer and declare the figure before viewing the expected total. If the expected number is visible first, the count tends to agree with it — not through dishonesty, but because that is how counting works.
GrandPOS asks for the declared figure and then shows the variance, in that order, deliberately.
Read the tender breakdown, not the revenue
The drawer should match cash sales plus float minus paid-outs — not the day’s revenue. Card and wallet settlement never touches the drawer, and confusing the two produces alarming variances that are not real.
Review comps and voids as part of the close
Every comp and void on the shift appears on the report with the reason and the manager who authorised it. Reviewing them at close, while the shift is fresh, is when an explanation is still available.
A pattern only visible at month end is a pattern that has already cost you a month.
Investigate the variance now or not at all
A variance is solvable on the night and effectively unsolvable a week later. Treat the close as the deadline for explaining it.
Who should close
The person who took the money should not be the only person who counts it. Where staffing allows, a manager witnesses the count; where it does not, the report itself is the control, because the variance and the comps are visible to an owner who was not there.
Keep the closes
A single close tells you about one night. A run of closes tells you whether a variance is noise or a pattern, and patterns are what actually get resolved.
Closes are retained and the daily summary is emailed, so the record accumulates without anyone maintaining it.
A realistic close checklist
Record the opening float. Put every cash movement through the register as it happens. Count and declare before viewing expected. Read the tender breakdown, not the revenue. Review comps and voids with the shift still present. Explain any variance beyond your threshold tonight.
Frequently asked questions
Should each shift close separately, or once a day?
Per shift. A daily close makes a variance unattributable to the people who were on the floor when it happened, which removes most of its value.
What is an acceptable variance?
That is your call and depends on volume. The useful discipline is setting a threshold in advance and investigating anything beyond it, rather than judging each variance on the night.
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