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Day Close: How to Match Cash at the End of the Day

By the SundarVahi team · 25 October 2026

Day close is the last job of the day in a shop. It answers one simple question: does the cash in the till match the cash the shop should have? If you skip this check, small cash errors stay hidden. If you do it every day, you catch mistakes early, while you can still find them. This guide shows a simple day close routine for a shop with a cashier.

Start with opening cash

Opening cash is the cash left in the till at the start of the day. It is not a sale. It is the change money and the float you start with.

Count it at the start of the day, and write it down. Do not guess it from yesterday. Yesterday may have ended with a short or extra amount, and that amount changes the start of today.

Keep opening cash the same on most days, unless the owner changes it on purpose. A fixed opening cash makes the day close check easy. If the till starts with Rs 10,000 today, the day close formula starts with Rs 10,000.

If two tills are open, each till has its own opening cash. Do not mix them. A close for one till must use only that till's opening cash, sales and expenses.

Work out expected cash

Expected cash is the cash the till should hold at the end of the day. It is worked out with one formula:

Expected cash = opening cash + cash sales + khata received - cash refunds - cash expenses

Khata means the record of money customers owe you. Khata received is money a customer pays today for an old khata balance. It is cash in hand, so it adds to expected cash.

Cash sales are sales paid in cash today. Sales paid by card or wallet do not go in this formula, because that money is not in the till. Cash refunds are cash given back to a customer today. Cash expenses are cash paid out of the till today, such as a small shop expense with a bill or receipt.

Here is an example with example figures. Check each line before you look at the total.

Check the maths: 10,000 plus 1,12,300 is 1,22,300. Add 45,600 and you get 1,67,900. Take away 3,200 and you get 1,64,700. Take away 6,700 and you get 1,58,000. The expected cash is Rs 1,58,000.

Count the cash

Now count what is actually in the till. Count in a quiet place, with no customers waiting. Count notes by value, then count coins. Write down each count, so a second person can check it.

Follow these steps in order:

1. Take all cash out of the till.
2. Sort notes by value, from large to small.
3. Count each value, and write down the total for that value.
4. Count coins, and add them to the total.
5. Add all values together to get the counted cash.

Do not count cash while new sales are still going through the same till. Stop billing on that till first, then count. If you count while sales continue, the count will never match the expected cash.

In the example above, suppose the counted cash is Rs 1,57,800. The expected cash is Rs 1,58,000. The difference is Rs 200 short. That difference is the next step, not a reason to hide the count.

Cash short or extra: what to do

A short amount means counted cash is less than expected cash. An extra amount means counted cash is more than expected cash. Both need the same calm response: record it, then look for the cause.

First, recount. Many differences come from a simple counting mistake. Count again, slowly, with a second person if possible.

Second, check the day's records. Look for a cash refund without a receipt, a cash expense without a note, or a khata payment that was written in the wrong place. Also check for a bill that was paid in cash but marked as credit by mistake.

Third, write down the short or extra amount, with the date and the till name. Do not change a sale amount to make the cash match. Do not take cash from another till to fill the gap. A false match hides the real problem and makes tomorrow harder.

If the amount is small and no cause is found, the owner decides what to do, and the record stays for review. If the amount is large, or if short amounts happen often, the owner should review the till routine, the refund routine and who can open the till. A pattern matters more than one small difference.

One close per till per day

Close each till once per day, at the end of that till's work. Do not close the same till twice for the same day, and do not leave a till open overnight without a close.

One close per till keeps responsibility clear. The cashier for that till knows the close belongs to that till. The owner can compare tills, and can see which till has a repeated short or extra amount.

After the close, set the opening cash for the next day. Put that amount back in the till, and take the rest to a safe place, as the shop routine requires. The next day then starts clean, with a known opening cash and a fresh close sheet.

A daily close takes only a few minutes when the routine is fixed. The cost of skipping it is much higher: lost cash, unclear responsibility and arguments that cannot be settled because the record is missing.

How SundarVahi does it

SundarVahi has Close day on the F10 key. It shows the cash that should be in the drawer, you type what you counted, and the printed day close (Z-report) keeps any short or extra amount on record. Card, wallet and khata are shown separately from cash.

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