How shifts work
A shift is one cash drawer session on one till. It opens with a float, records every sale and every cash in and cash out, and closes with a count of the cash in the drawer.
- Open the shift with the float, the coins and notes you start with for change.
- Sell. Cash sales add to what the drawer should hold. M-Pesa, card and other payments are recorded against the shift but do not count as cash.
- Cash in and out. A float top-up goes in; a bank drop or petty cash comes out, each with a note.
- Close by counting the cash. Wave POS compares the count with what the drawer should hold and shows the variance: over, short, or balanced.
Here is a Saturday at a minimart in Kisumu:
| KSh | |
|---|---|
| Opening float | 5,000 |
| Cash sales | 48,350 |
| Bank drop at 2 pm | −30,000 |
| Petty cash for KPLC tokens | −500 |
| Expected in the drawer | 22,850 |
| Counted at close | 22,700 |
| Variance | 150 short |
A KSh 150 shortage on the day it happens is easy to look into. Found a month later in a notebook, it is not. Our guide to cash drawer reconciliation covers the count in detail.
Several cashiers, one drawer
Several cashiers can share one drawer without closing the shift. Each has their own PIN, and whoever takes over the till switches in with theirs. Every sale records the cashier who made it, so the dashboard and reports show sales per cashier even when the drawer was shared.
A cashier who steps away locks the screen. The shift stays open, but nobody can sell until a cashier picks their name and enters their PIN. PINs are checked on the till itself, so cashiers can switch even with no connection.
A manager’s PIN for large discounts and price changes
Cashiers can give discounts up to a percentage you set. A larger discount, or a change to an item’s price at the till, needs a manager to enter their PIN there and then. The manager does not have to sign in or take over the till, and the PIN is checked on the till itself, so approvals work while it is offline too.
Roles and permissions
Wave POS comes with four roles: Owner, Manager, Cashier and Stock Clerk. Each role is a set of permissions, and you can create roles of your own with the permissions you choose.
Permissions are specific. They include giving discounts, giving discounts above your limit, changing prices at the till, selling on account, processing returns, voiding sales, approving stock adjustments, viewing and exporting reports, and seeing the audit log. You might create a Senior Cashier role that can process returns but not void sales, or a Supervisor who can approve discounts but not change prices in the back office.
Managers close and reopen shifts from the back office
If a cashier goes home without closing, a manager can close the shift from the back office, entering the cash they counted. If a shift was closed too early, a manager can reopen the till’s last shift, with a reason. The till takes the shift back the next time it syncs.
Closing and reopening shifts from the back office is a permission of its own, so you decide which managers can do it, and the shift keeps a record of who closed or reopened it.
Shift reports and the shifts report
When a shift closes, the till prints a shift report, often called a Z-report: sales, payments by method, cash in and out, and the count against what was expected.
In the back office, the shifts report lists every shift with its till, who opened and closed it, its sales, the expected cash, the count and the variance. Read down the variance column and a till, or a cashier, that is often short stands out. It exports to Excel, CSV or PDF like the other sales reports.
An audit log of who did what
The audit log records who did what and when, such as a change to a product’s price or a customer’s credit limit. When something looks wrong, it tells you who to ask. Seeing the audit log is a permission, so you choose who has it. More ways to keep stock and cash where they belong are in our guide to preventing shop theft.