How to close the day: from the till to the books, step by step
The end of the day is not when service ends, it's when the numbers close. Closes done with paper and spreadsheets finish late and produce errors; differences roll into the next day and on to month end. In a proper close, the report from the POS is the single source of truth.
This guide covers the steps of an end-of-day close, what belongs on the closing report and how figures move from the till to the books.
The steps of an end-of-day close
The end of the day in five steps.
1. No open bills
Before closing, check there are no open tables. A bill left open either mixes into tomorrow's revenue or stays uncollected. The same goes for delivery orders.
2. Review the closing report
The closing report summarises the day: revenue, number of bills, average bill and cancelled amount. Payments are split by type: cash, card and online.
3. Count the drawer
Count the cash in the drawer and compare it with cash takings in the system. Card takings are compared not with the drawer but with the card terminal's end-of-day report.
4. Record any difference
If there is a difference, however small, record it. A one-off is usually a change error; a recurring one points to a process problem.
5. Pass it to the books
The day's sales go to the bookkeeping module as a single daily summary (Z) line. Nothing is re-keyed by hand.
What should the closing report contain?
- Gross revenue and number of bills
- Split by payment type: cash, card, online
- Total cancellations — with reasons and who made them
- Discounts and comps — on separate lines
- Sales by waiter, if needed
- Open-bill warning — should be zero before closing
The business day doesn't end at midnight
For a restaurant open until 1 a.m., Saturday's revenue includes the first hour of Sunday. A report cut at calendar midnight books the busiest hour to the next day. ari adisyon calculates reports and bookkeeping periods on the branch's business day, so a bill closed after midnight lands on the right day.
Cash count and reconciliation
Reconcile on the same day and differences are still explainable.
The end-of-day reconciliation in ari adisyon's bookkeeping module shows on the same day whether the money in the drawer matches the system. The day you see a difference is the day you still remember why.
Sometimes the drawer has to open without a sale — to give change or swap coins. That's what the "Open drawer" button at the till is for, and every use is logged. Entering a fake payment to open the drawer is exactly the habit that makes a till impossible to audit.
Passing it to the books
Your day's sales land in bookkeeping as one summary line per business day. When a payment is taken, ingredients of items with recipes come off stock. At month end you hand your accountant the period's records as a CSV file that opens in Excel. See bookkeeping integration for details.
Bookkeeping has no delete, only corrections: a wrong entry is corrected with a reversing entry and both remain visible. That's exactly what your accountant wants to see.
If you do delivery
For orders from platforms like Yemeksepeti, money the customer paid online never enters the till. Showing that amount in its own column lets you compare the cash count only with the money in the drawer. See delivery and dine-in revenue in one report.
End-of-day checklist
Before closing the till.
Frequently asked questions
Should I drop the old method in the first weeks?
Running both side by side for the first few days makes sense: compare the two results, and drop paper once you trust the numbers.
Why aren't card takings compared with the drawer?
Because card payments never go into the drawer. In ari adisyon the drawer opens only for cash payments; card totals are compared with the card terminal's end-of-day report.
Conclusion
A good close takes ten minutes and leaves no questions for the morning. The key is a report that comes straight from the till and a difference you see on the same day. For ari adisyon's reports and bookkeeping, see the features page.