Cash drawer over and short: why the till does not match

What do over and short mean?

At the end of a shift the cashier counts the drawer. The system works out how much cash should be there, and the difference between the two is the variance: counted cash minus expected cash. A positive variance is Over, a negative one is Short, and zero is Balanced.

The expected cash is only as good as the records behind it. Every note that went in or out of the drawer for a reason other than a sale has to be recorded, or the drawer will look wrong even when nobody took anything.

Why is the drawer short?

• Too much change was given, often in a rush or with a large note.
• A card payment was rung up as cash, so the system expects notes that are not there.
• Cash left the drawer without a record: a supplier, a delivery, a cleaner or a staff advance paid from the till.
• A refund was given in cash but not recorded as a refund.
• The opening float was counted wrong when the shift opened.
• A bill split between cash and card was entered with the wrong amounts.
• A counterfeit note was taken and later set aside.
• Theft. It is one possible cause, not the first one to assume.

Why is the drawer over?

An over drawer is not good news. It means the records missed something, and sometimes it means a customer was short-changed.

• A customer paid but the sale was not rung up, so cash is in the drawer with no bill behind it. Repeated overs followed by shortages are a pattern worth checking.
• A cash payment was rung up as card.
• A customer was given too little change.
• Change brought from the safe was put in the drawer without recording it as cash in.
• The opening float was counted lower than it really was.

How do you count the drawer properly?

1. Count at the same point in every shift, away from customers and with the drawer out of the till if you can.
2. Count note by note and coin by coin on paper or a count sheet, then add up one total.
3. Count before you look at the expected figure. A count typed to match an expectation is not a count.
4. For a large drawer, have a second person count it again.
5. Enter the total straight away, and keep the count sheet with the Z report.

How does PointLit handle over and short?

Closing a shift in PointLit is a blind count. The cashier types Counted cash first, and only then does the screen show Expected in drawer and the Variance, marked Over, Short or Balanced. A cashier whose role cannot see the staff reports does not see the expected cash while the shift is open at all; it appears on the Z report once the shift is closed. A closed shift cannot be reopened or recounted, so the variance stays as it was signed off.

The records that make the expected cash right are built into the till. Cash in and Cash out need a Reason, and a movement cannot be edited or deleted: a mistake is corrected by an opposite movement. Supplier payments and expenses paid from the drawer are recorded against the shift, so they lower the expected cash instead of showing up as a shortage. A sale rung while the internet was down is recorded against the shift it was rung in, even if it arrives after the close.

• Manage, then Shifts, lists every shift at a branch with its Float, Counted and Variance.
• The Cash variances report shows each shift's Expected, Counted and Variance, and a section By the member who closed, with their number of shifts, Total variance and Largest shortage. It is on Counter, Chain and Enterprise.
• Business settings has a switch, Shift variance needs sales report access. When it is on, only people who can see the sales reports see a closed shift's variance; everyone else sees No permission. It is off unless you turn it on.
• Another switch, Require an open shift to sell, stops a sale from being rung until a shift is open, so every sale belongs to a counted drawer.

What should you do about a recurring shortage?

1. Look at the variances by the person who closed, over several weeks, not one shift at a time.
2. Check the shifts that came up short for refunds, voids and discounts. PointLit's Refunds and voids report and Discounts report list them by staff member.
3. Make sure every cash payment from the drawer is recorded as Cash out, a supplier payment or an expense.
4. Talk to the cashier with the figures in front of you. A variance is a record to discuss, not proof of who took what.
5. Tighten who may refund, void or discount, and read our guide on preventing cashier theft.