Skip to main content
A till session frames a cashier’s shift. The cashier opens the till at the start with a Cafe Opening Entry, bills orders against it, and closes it at the end with a Cafe Closing Entry that reconciles the cash. Billing is blocked until a session is open, so this is the first thing a cashier does each shift.
BIZ Cafe shift-control screen for opening a till with cash, card, and UPI opening balances

​
Who Uses This Feature

​
Open the Till

At the start of a shift, the cashier opens the till by creating a Cafe Opening Entry. This records the cash already in the drawer, who is on the till, and which terminal it is.
1

Start the opening entry

Begin a Cafe Opening Entry for your shift.
2

Count and enter the opening cash

Count the cash float in the drawer and enter it as the opening cash amount.
3

Confirm the cashier and terminal

Confirm you are the cashier on the session and which terminal or till it is.
4

Open the session

Open the session. Its status becomes Open and you can now bill orders against it.
Billing is blocked until a till session is Open. Open the till before you take any payment, or the counter will not let you bill.

​
Field Guide: Cafe Opening Entry

An opening entry stays Open until its closing entry is submitted, at which point it becomes Closed.

​
Close the Till

At the end of the shift, the cashier closes the till by creating a Cafe Closing Entry. BIZ Cafe computes the shift’s sales by tender, works out the expected cash, and compares it against the cash the cashier physically counts.
1

Start the closing entry

Begin a Cafe Closing Entry against your open session.
2

Review the computed sales

The entry shows total sales and the split by tender: cash, card, and UPI.
3

Count the drawer

Physically count the cash in the drawer and enter it as the actual cash in hand.
4

Check the difference

The entry shows expected closing cash and the difference, flagged as Balanced, Excess, or Shortage.
5

Submit to close

Submit the closing entry. The session locks, cash reconciliation is posted in the background, and the alerts are sent.

​
Field Guide: Cafe Closing Entry

Submitting the closing entry posts a cash-reconciliation record in the background and fires a closing-summary alert. If the till is over or short beyond the set threshold, a cash-variance alert is also sent so a manager can investigate.

​
What Gets Printed

Two slips support the shift:
  • Cafe Opening Slip, a record of the till opening.
  • Cafe Closing Slip, the end-of-shift summary with the cash reconciliation.
The closed session also feeds the Cafe Session Report, the Z-report. See Reports Overview.

​
Counters and Who May Open Them

A till session runs on a counter, and each counter lists the cashiers allowed to work it. A cashier who is not on that list cannot open the counter, and a counter that is already open cannot be opened again until it is closed. If you run more than one outlet, a cashier opens a counter at their own outlet only. See Outlets and Counters for setting counters up and assigning cashiers.

​
Upstream and Downstream Dependencies

  • A till session must be open before billing; the counter depends on it. See Counter & Billing.
  • The closing entry depends on the bills taken during the session to compute sales by tender.
  • A submitted closing entry feeds the background cash reconciliation and the Z-report, and closes its opening entry.

​
Best Practices

  • Open the till first thing. Nothing can be billed until the session is Open.
  • Count the float at opening, not from memory. An accurate opening cash amount is what makes the closing reconciliation meaningful.
  • Physically count the drawer before entering actual cash. Do not guess; count notes and coins.
  • Close every session the same shift. Closing posts the reconciliation and locks the session for an accurate Z-report.
  • Investigate a variance the same shift. A flagged excess or shortage is easiest to explain while the shift is fresh.