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Counting the till

When the shift or the day ends, the cashier counts the drawer and enters the count. Reconciliation compares it with the expected amount, tender by tender, and approves it, asks for another count, or locks the till audit for someone to explain.

The cashier counts and Reconciliation compares each tender with the expected amount. If every tender is within its allowed deviation, the till audit is approved and completed. If not, the cashier counts again while attempts remain. When the last attempt fails, the till audit is locked and someone with approval rights writes an explanation and approves it. Each failed attempt is published as rejected, and the approval is published as completed.

What is counted​

Tenders. A tender is counted when its settings say so: doReconcileAmount to count its value, doReconcileQuantity to count the number of pieces, or both. Cash is typically counted by amount. Gift vouchers can be counted by number. A tender with neither set is shown but not counted.

Items. Bottle-deposit receipts and similar items that the POS marked for counting. See Counted items.

Cash can be counted per denomination: so many 500 notes, so many 20 coins. Reconciliation adds them up to the amount. The denominations come from the currency's configuration in Hii Retail.

When a count is approved​

a tender passes when | counted − expected | ≤ allowed deviation

  • Every tender that is to be counted must pass, for amount and for quantity separately. One tender outside its limit rejects the whole count.
  • The allowed deviation is set per tender: maxAllowedDeviationAmount and maxAllowedDeviationQuantity. Not set means 0: the count must match exactly.
  • The limit works both ways. With an allowed deviation of 20, a count 20 short and a count 20 over both pass.
  • ⚠ A tender whose expected amount is 0 is not checked. Whatever is counted for it passes. A drawer that should hold no euros, but holds 100 euros, is approved.
  • Counted items pass the same test against their own ReconciliationMaxAllowedDeviation. An item without one is not checked.

Attempts and locking​

Each count uses one attempt. The number of attempts is set with rec.maximum-reconciliation-attempts.v1, per store or per workstation. The default is 3.

Result of the countStatus of the till auditWhat happens next
within the limitCOMPLETEDdone
outside the limit, attempts leftOPENthe cashier counts again
outside the limit, last attemptLOCKEDsomeone explains the deviation and approves

With 1, the first count outside the limit locks the till audit, and someone with approval rights has to deal with every miscount. More attempts let the cashier recount a miscounted drawer without involving anyone else.

Explaining and approving​

A locked till audit is closed by approving it with an explanation: "two 50 notes taken as change by mistake", "customer paid by card twice". Approving requires the permission rec.reconciliations.approve. Whether that is the cashier or only the store manager depends on the roles you give your staff. Hii InStore asks for the explanation before it approves. If you approve from your own client, send it in comment.

Approval also works on an OPEN till audit that has been counted at least once, so a manager can accept a deviation without waiting for the attempts to run out.

The approved till audit gets the status COMPLETED. The cash in it is then booked into the safe, see Cash to and from the safe.

What the cashier sees​

After a count, Hii InStore tells the cashier whether it was approved, and if not, how many attempts are left. Three display settings say what else the store wants shown. The frontend reads them to decide:

SettingWhat the store wants
rec.show-deviation-details-in-till-audit.v1the deviation per tender shown once the till audit is locked
rec.show-reconciliation-deviations-before-comment.v1the deviation per tender shown when the cashier is asked for an explanation
rec.do-display-change-shift.v1the till audit shown split into shifts

Showing the deviation is a matter of store policy. A cashier who sees "40 short" may look for the 40, or may simply recount until the number fits.

What is published​

MomentEvent
A count outside the limit, including the one that locks the till auditreconciliation-rejected, once per attempt
A count within the limitreconciliation-completed
Approval of a locked or open till auditreconciliation-completed, carrying the explanation in comment
The till audit completesreconciliation-change-shift, with the deviation per shift

See Receiving the events.