Closing Your Shift

End of Day Procedure - Closing Your Shift (Z-Read)

Skill Level: Beginner Time Required: 5-10 minutes

Purpose

This guide explains how to close your shift at the end of the day using the Z-Read function. This includes counting your cash drawer, reconciling payments, and generating your end-of-shift report.

Before You Start

Check the Track screen for unpaid orders - pay or void them first
Ensure all pending orders are completed or voided
Have pen and paper ready to record your cash count
Ensure your receipt printer is connected (for printing the Z-Read report)

Understanding the Shift Button

The header button shows your current shift status at a glance:

Button Color	Label	Meaning
Red	"Start Shift"	No active shift - tap to start one
Green	"End Shift"	Shift is active - tap to view or close

Understanding X-Read vs Z-Read

Report	Purpose	Closes Shift?
X-Read	Check current sales progress during the day	No - shift stays open
Z-Read	Final end-of-day report with cash reconciliation	Yes - closes the shift

Steps to Close Your Shift

Step 1: Access the Shift Screen

Tap the green "End Shift" button in the header bar
The XZ Reads screen displays your current shift summary:

Shift details (ID, start time, duration)
Sales summary (total sales, orders, refunds, voids)
Cash drawer summary
Payment breakdown by method
Any recorded expenses

Step 2: Add Any Final Cash Expenses (Optional)

If you have any cash expenses to record before closing:

Tap the Cash expense button
Enter the expense amount using the keypad
Select a category or enter a custom description:

Cash Withdrawal
Petty Cash
Office Supplies
Delivery Costs
Maintenance
Other

Tap Add Expense

Step 3: Print X-Read (Optional)

Before closing, you may want to print an X-Read to verify your figures:

Tap the Print X read button
The report will print showing all current shift data
Review the expected cash amount, and check for a line about orders taken before this shift opened (see Orders Taken Before the Shift Opened)

Step 4: Count Your Cash Drawer

Remove the cash drawer
Count all notes and coins
Record the total amount
Don't forget to subtract the opening float if you're calculating takings

Step 5: Close the Shift (Z-Read)

Tap the red Z read · close shift button
The End Shift dialog appears with two sections:

Left side: Expected vs Actual breakdown
Right side: Numeric keypad

Enter Cash Amount:

Tap the Cash section to highlight it (turns green)
Use the keypad to enter your actual cash count
The variance will calculate automatically

Enter Card Amount:

Tap the Card section to highlight it (turns blue)
Enter your actual card total (from your card terminal)
The variance will calculate automatically

Review Variances:

Green variance = over (more than expected)
Red variance = short (less than expected)
Zero variance = perfect match

Tap Close shift · print Z read to complete

Step 6: Z-Read Report Prints

The Z-Read receipt will print automatically, showing:

Shift details and duration
Complete sales summary
Payment breakdown
Cash reconciliation with variance
Orders taken before the shift opened, if there were any
Card reconciliation with variance
All recorded expenses

Step 7: App Restarts

After the Z-Read completes:

A success message appears: "Z Read completed. Page will reload in 3 seconds..."
The app automatically restarts
The header button will change back to red "Start Shift"
You'll return to the login screen, ready for the next shift

Multi-Terminal Stores

All terminals share the same shift, so closing works as follows:

The Z-Read can be performed from any terminal - it closes the shared shift for all terminals
Once one terminal performs the Z-Read, the shift is closed for the entire store
All other terminals will show the Opening Drawer dialog when they next try to create an order

What's Included in Shift Data?

The shift summary shows combined totals from ALL terminals in the store:

Data	Scope
Sales Summary	All orders from all terminals
Cash Payments	All cash payments from all terminals
Card Payments	All card payments from all terminals
Order Count	Total orders across all terminals
Refunds/Voids	All refunds and voids from all terminals
Expenses	All expenses recorded during the shift

Important: The expected cash and card amounts reflect the entire store's activity, not just the terminal performing the Z-Read.

Unpaid Orders

Orders are only included in the shift when they are paid. If orders are left unpaid on the Track screen:

They are NOT included in the current shift totals
They will be assigned to the next shift when they are eventually paid
This won't affect your current Z-Read figures

Tip: Before closing your shift, check the Track screen for any unpaid orders that should be settled or voided.

Kiosk "Pay at Counter" Orders

When a customer chooses Pay at Counter on a kiosk, the order is added to the open shift as soon as staff take the payment on the POS. Cash taken this way is included in the expected cash on your X-Read and Z-Read, the same as any other cash order.

Kiosk Card Payments

When a customer pays by card on the kiosk itself, the payment never goes through a POS terminal. These orders are:

Included in Total Sales and Orders on your X-Read and Z-Read
Not included in the POS terminal's card line (for example STRIPE) or in expected cash. The money goes straight to your Stripe payouts, so there's nothing to count in the drawer or on your card terminal.

The X-Read and Z-Read show them on a line of their own under Payment Methods:

KIOSK CARD: 1703.50 Paid on kiosk, not in this POS

The printed Z-Read also shows how many kiosk card orders there were
On screen, they appear as Kiosk card in the payment breakdown
The line is for information only. It doesn't change your expected card amount or any variance.
If there were no kiosk card payments, the line doesn't appear

This is why Total Sales is higher than your cash and card lines added together: the difference is your kiosk card takings.

Note: The Kiosk Card line needs an up-to-date POS app. On an older version the line doesn't appear, but kiosk card sales are still included in Total Sales, so the gap between Total Sales and your cash and card lines is your kiosk card takings.

Split Payments

When an order is paid partly by card and partly in cash, each part counts towards its own payment method. For example, an order paid £6.30 by card and £20.00 in cash adds £20.00 to expected cash and £6.30 to the card total.

Always Start a Shift Before Trading

The POS asks you to start a shift before it takes payment or sends an order to the kitchen. Always tap Start Shift, with your float, before the first order of the day.

If orders are paid while no shift is open (for example, on a POS terminal that hasn't been updated yet), they are added to the next shift that opens. Its expected cash then matches what's in the drawer. Don't count that cash into the opening float, or it will be counted twice.

Orders Taken Before the Shift Opened

When a shift picks up orders that were paid before it opened, the X-Read and Z-Read tell you with an extra line:

Includes 2 orders (£24.60 cash) taken before this shift opened

On screen, the line appears in the Cash drawer card, under Cash expenses
On the printed X-Read, it appears under Expected Cash
On the printed Z-Read, it appears in the Cash Reconciliation section
If no orders were taken before the shift opened, the line doesn't appear

These orders are already included in your cash sales and expected cash. The line is only there so you can see them. Don't add the amount on again.

Important: If staff counted the cash from these orders into the opening float when they started the shift, that cash is counted twice: once in the float and once in cash sales. Your drawer will then come up short by that amount. For example, if the line says £24.60 cash and your cash variance is about −£24.60, this is almost certainly why.

The same orders appear in the Paid Before Shift column of the Back Office Shift Details report. See Opening your shift for starting the shift before taking payment.

Recommended Closing Procedure

Ensure all terminals have finished processing orders
Collect cash from all terminals into one location for counting
Count all card terminal receipts if reconciling cards
Perform the Z-Read from any terminal
Enter the combined totals for cash and cards

Viewing Shift Data in Back Office

All shift data is recorded and can be viewed in the Back Office:

Log into Back Office
Navigate to Reports > Staff Reports > Shift Details (with a store selected in the switcher)
Filter by date, terminal, or staff
View opening amounts, closing amounts, cash payments, expenses, and variances
Export to Excel if needed

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Large variance showing	Re-count your cash drawer; check for unrecorded expenses
Total Sales is more than cash plus card	The difference is usually kiosk card payments, which go to Stripe rather than through the POS (see Kiosk Card Payments)
Counted cash is higher than expected	Check whether orders were taken before the shift was started (see Always Start a Shift Before Trading above)
Counted cash is lower than expected	Check the X-Read or Z-Read for "taken before this shift opened", or Paid Before Shift in the Back Office Shift Details report. That cash may have been counted into the opening float (see Orders Taken Before the Shift Opened)
Z-Read won't print	Check printer connection in Settings > Select Printers
Can't close shift	Ensure all pending orders are completed first
App doesn't restart	Manually close and reopen the app
Another shift appears after Z-Read	Multiple open shifts exist - close each one via Z-Read, or use Back Office to close all (see below)

Multiple Open Shifts

In some cases, multiple open shifts may exist for your store. When you close one shift with Z-Read, the POS will show the next open shift.

To check for open shifts:

Log into Back Office
Navigate to Reports > Staff Reports > Shift Details (with a store selected in the switcher)
Set the Status filter to "Open"
This shows all open shifts for your store

To resolve:

Close each shift one at a time via Z-Read on the POS
Or contact your administrator to bulk close shifts from the Back Office

Quick Reference Checklist

End of Day Checklist:

Check Track screen for any unpaid orders - pay or void them
Complete or void all pending orders
Record any cash expenses
Print X-Read to verify expected totals
Collect and count physical cash from all terminals
Count card terminal totals (if reconciling cards)
Perform Z-Read with combined actual amounts
Store Z-Read receipt for records
Secure cash drawer contents