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Documentation › Staff & HR

Open, hand over and close a till

Give every cashier their own till. Filantis counts what each one takes, tells them what should be in the drawer, and shows at close whether it balanced.

Last updated 12 October 2026

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At a glance

  • A till belongs to a person, not to a counter: every payment they take is counted in it.
  • It starts with a float — the cash counted into the drawer.
  • Filantis knows what should be in the drawer: the float plus the cash taken.
  • Closing means counting. Cash decides whether the till balanced.
  • A hand-over passes the drawer on without closing the business day.

On this page:

  1. How a till works
  2. Set when your day starts
  3. Start a till
  4. During the shift
  5. Hand over
  6. Count and close
  7. Review the day
  8. Questions

1How a till works

1StartCount the float into the drawer
2Take paymentsEach one is counted in your till
3Hand overor keep going to the end of the day
4Count & closeCounted cash against expected
The cashier never adds up the day. They count the drawer; Filantis does the rest.

Tills are on the Shifts page in the sidebar. The page is headed Tills with the business day it is showing.

Payments are always recorded against their bill, whether a till is open or not. A till adds the question every owner asks at night: whose drawer was it in, and was it all there?

2Set when your day starts

A bar that closes at 2 a.m. has not started a new day at midnight. At the top of the page, set Day starts at to the hour your business day rolls over, and click Save. Takings before that hour belong to the previous business day.

3Start a till

  1. On Shifts, click Start a till — or Start my till for your own.
  2. Under Who is responsible for it, choose the cashier. Only a manager can start a till for somebody else.
  3. Choose the Drawer: a Fresh drawer, or take over the drawer a colleague has just closed.
  4. Enter the Cash in the drawer to start with. Count it — if you are taking over a drawer and find a different amount from their count, enter what you count.
  5. Click Start the till.

If you take payments with no till open, the page warns you: they are still recorded, but they are counted in nobody’s till and show under Not in any till.

4During the shift

Each open till has a card showing who holds it and since when:

Cash that should be in the drawer

The float plus the cash taken so far.

Total taken

Everything received on this till, by every method.

Transactions

The list of every payment counted in the till.

The top of the page adds it up across the business: Cash in open tills, what has been Taken on the day, and anything Not in any till.

5Hand over

At a change of shift the drawer usually stays where it is and the person changes.

  1. On the till’s card, click Hand over. A colleague arriving can click Take over on yours instead.
  2. Count what is physically there and enter it against each payment method. The form shows the Expected cash beside it.
  3. Choose Who takes over.
  4. Leave Their starting cash blank when the drawer stays at the desk — the counted cash becomes their float. Enter a figure if some cash is being removed.
  5. Add a note under Anything worth recording and confirm.
Arjun’s tillCounted and ended
The drawerCounted cash becomes the float
Meera’s tillStarted — “took over from Arjun”
Each cashier answers only for their own hours. A shortfall is found at the hand-over, not at midnight.

6Count and close

  1. On your till’s card, click Count & close.
  2. Count what is physically in the drawer and enter it for each payment method.
  3. If it did not balance, say why under Anything worth recording — in your own words.
  4. Tick Sign me out afterwards if your duty is over.
  5. Click Close the till.

Cash decides whether the till balanced. Card and other payments are counted too, but only cash can physically go missing from a drawer — so the difference that matters is counted cash against expected cash.

7Review the day

Below the open tills, the page lists every till for the business day:

ColumnWhat it tells you
CashierWho was responsible, and who they took over from
Opened / ClosedWhen the till started and ended
FloatThe cash it started with
TakenEverything received while it was open
Counted cashWhat the cashier counted at the end
DifferenceCounted cash against what should have been there

A till may still be opened and closed after the business day itself has been closed; it shows on the list so somebody can see it happened.

8Questions

Can two people share one drawer at the same time?

A till has one person responsible for it. To share a counter, hand the drawer over at the change — or give each person their own drawer and their own till.

I forgot to start a till and took payments.

The payments are safe on their bills. They show as Not in any till for the day. Start your till now so the rest are counted.

Who can start or close someone else’s till?

A manager — an admin, or someone granted the Accounting or Restaurant manager area. Everyone else manages their own. See Roles and permissions.

The drawer is short. What now?

Enter what you actually counted and write what you know in the note. The difference is recorded against that till, where the manager can see it.

Does closing a till close the books for the day?

No. A till is one person’s drawer. The takings were posted to your books as each payment was recorded.

Every drawer accounted for, every night

Because payments are taken in Filantis, it already knows what each cashier should be holding. Starting, handing over and closing a till takes a minute — and the difference is on screen before anyone goes home.

  • Per cashierOne till, one person responsible.
  • Expected cashFloat plus takings, worked out for you.
  • Clean hand-oversCounted at every change of shift.
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What to do next

See how the money a till takes reaches your books in Record a payment against an invoice and Vouchers, ledger and day book.

Still stuck?

Write to support@filantis.com with your workspace name and what you were trying to do.