Shifts and closing the day

Every counter works in shifts. A shift starts with the cash already in the drawer (the float) and ends with a count of the drawer. BooksPOS works out what should be there from every cash bill, refund and payment, and shows the difference. The count is blind: the cashier does not see the expected figure until their count is saved, so the count is honest.

How to open a shift

1. On Point of sale, choose Open shift (or press F9 on a bill; BooksPOS asks for a shift first). The Day book page also has Open shift.
2. Count the notes and coins already in the drawer and type the total in Opening float (Rs). "Every cash sale, refund and payment from this drawer is added to it until the shift is closed."
3. Choose Open shift. "Shift opened with a float of Rs 2,000."

The bar at the top shows Counter 1 · Shift 3 open. Each counter has its own shifts and its own drawer.

What needs an open shift

Anything that moves cash through the drawer: bills, returns, khata payments in cash, cash advances and refunds, cash paid to suppliers, cash expenses and cash taken to the bank. Without a shift, BooksPOS refuses: "Open a shift on Counter 1 before billing."

How to close a shift

1. Open Day book. The Till shift card shows when it was Opened, by whom, the Opening float and the Bills in this shift. "Expected cash stays hidden until the drawer is counted, so the count is honest (blind close)."
2. Choose Count drawer and close shift.
3. Count the notes: type how many of each note (Rs 5,000, 1,000, 500, 100, 50, 20 and 10) and the Coins (total). Counted cash adds them up.
4. Add a Note (optional), for example Rs 500 note torn, kept aside.
5. Choose Save count and close.

Only now does BooksPOS show Counted, Expected and Variance, with how the expected figure is made up:

"Card, bank, wallet and on-account amounts never enter the drawer. Any variance is posted to Cash over / short." Choose Done. The Day book then shows the last closed shift with its counted, expected and variance figures.

Blind count at shift close. The cashier counts the notes; the expected amount appears only after the count is saved. Screenshot of the current build (28 Sep 2026), synthetic demo data.

The variance

• Nil variance: the drawer matches.
• Short: less cash than expected. Check refunds and payments made from the drawer, and notes given as change.
• Over: more cash than expected, for example a bill paid in cash but recorded as JazzCash.

The variance is posted to the Cash over / short account, so it shows in the day book and profit and loss. A closed shift cannot be reopened or recounted.

The Shifts page and the Z report

Shifts (under Money in the menu) lists shifts, newest first: the shift number, cashier, counter and bills, when it Opened and Closed, the Opening cash, the Expected and Counted cash, and Short / over (red when short). A cashier sees only their own shifts; owners, managers and accountants see every counter's. Narrow the list by counter, by Open or Closed, and by dates (From and To as dd-mm-yyyy, or Today, This month, Last month, Year, All).

Choose a shift to open its Z report:

• Bills and Returns: how many, and for how much. A bill voided the same day stays among the shift's bills and is shown as Voided, paid back like a return.
• Collected on bills: what the shift's bills were paid with, by tender (cash, card, bank transfer, EasyPaisa, JazzCash, on account, from advance), less what returns and voids refunded. On account is still owed and from advance was paid earlier: neither is new money.
• Cash drawer: from the opening cash, each kind of cash movement in or out, to what the drawer should hold; then Counted and Short (−) or over (+), with the notes counted.
• Other cash in and out: every khata payment, advance, supplier payment, expense and bank move through this drawer, with its document number.
• Notes at close.

While a shift is still open its report leaves out the cash: the count stays blind for everyone until the shift is closed. Close shift on an open shift's report counts the drawer as on the Day book.

Print on receipt printer prints the Z report on this PC's receipt printer; a second print says COPY. PDF saves it on A4 and Print prints the A4 page; CSV gives it for Excel. The list itself exports the same way.

A shift's Z report. Bills, returns and what was collected by tender; the expected cash stays hidden until the count. Screenshot of the current build (28 Sep 2026), synthetic demo data.

A day with several counters

Each counter opens and closes its own shift. The daily report shows the whole branch; each shift's Z report shows its own drawer. For a till on another PC, choose which counter it is under Settings › Receipt printer on this PC on that PC.

Common questions

Can a cashier see the expected cash before counting?

No. That is the point of a blind close. It is shown after the count is saved, on the close window and on the shift's Z report.

Where do I find last week's Z report?

On Shifts: choose the dates, then the shift. Its report can be printed again at any time; a reprint on the receipt printer says COPY.

We forgot to close yesterday's shift. What now?

Close it now: count the drawer as it is. The expected figure includes everything since it opened. Then open a new shift for today.

The owner took cash from the drawer for the bank. What do I record?

Record it on Day book › Cash and bank › Drawer to bank before closing, so the expected cash is right. See Expenses and cash to the bank.

Can I close a counter for good?

Deactivate it under Staff & counters once its shift is closed. A branch keeps at least one active counter.

Related guides

• Taking payment: split tenders, EasyPaisa, JazzCash and khata
• Expenses and cash to the bank
• The day book, trial balance and closing the books
• Staff, roles and counters