Choosing a POS for a Caribbean restaurant
What to look for in a restaurant point-of-sale system in the Caribbean — offline selling, kitchen screens, split bills, tips, stock and a cash-up that balances.
Point of sale
The end-of-day cash-up — cash and the card machine
A step-by-step cash-up for Caribbean shops and restaurants that checks both the cash drawer and the card machine total, so small losses don't hide.
The end of the day is when money is counted, and when small mistakes and small losses either get caught or disappear for good. A cash-up that only counts the drawer misses half the picture: these days, much of the takings goes through the card machine.
Here's a routine that checks both, takes ten minutes, and gives the manager a clear answer the next morning.
Before you start
- Finish the last sale and close any open tabs.
- Print the card machine's end-of-day report (often called the batch or settlement report). It shows the total the machine took.
- Don't look at what the till says the drawer should hold. Counting blind gives an honest count.
Step 1 — Count the cash
Count notes and coins by denomination. It's quicker and more accurate than counting a pile, and the breakdown helps the next shift's float.
Step 2 — Enter the card machine's total
Type in the total from the card machine's report. If you use more than one machine, add them up.
Step 3 — Compare
Now look at what the till expected:
| Counted | The till expected | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | what's in the drawer | opening float + cash sales − cash refunds ± cash in/out | over or short |
| Card | the machine's total | card sales − card refunds + card tips | over or short |
A difference in cash usually means wrong change, a sale rung up as card but paid in cash, or money that left the drawer without being recorded.
A difference in card has its own usual suspects:
- a sale paid by card but rung up as cash (cash will be over by the same amount),
- a card payment taken twice on the machine,
- a sale taken on the machine but never rung up on the till,
- a tip added on the machine but not on the till.
Step 4 — Write down why
If either is off, write a short note while it's fresh: "2:40pm sale paid by card, rung as cash". The manager reads it in the morning instead of starting an investigation.
Step 5 — Bank it and leave the float
Leave the usual float in the drawer for tomorrow and bank the rest. Record the drop so the drawer and the bank both add up.
How Aurient does it
Closing the till in Aurient follows exactly these steps: count the drawer by notes and coins, enter the card machine's total, then see both against what the till recorded. A card difference needs a note before the till can close. The cash-up slip prints both, and anything off shows on the manager's Till exceptions report and the home page the next morning.
Read more about the till on the retail and restaurant pages.