How to Balance a Cash Drawer
The ability to properly handle money taken from and given to customers is perhaps the most important aspect of any business. Whether you work at a bank, the mall or a restaurant, you need cash handling skills to keep your job. A typical duty at any of these establishments is balancing the cash drawers to ensure accuracy and deter theft. Although every company will have different cash guidelines for you to follow, the basics of cash drawer balancing remain the same.
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Instructions
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Determine what should be in the drawer
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Record your beginning balance. You cannot balance your cash drawer unless you know the starting number. When using a proprietary computer program like that of banks, the starting balance should be there for you. If you must balance by hand each day, your starting balance is the same as your ending balance for the previous shift, assuming no one else used your cash drawer.
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2
Add your deposits to the beginning balance. Only include cash, as received checks do not affect your cash drawer totals.
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3
Subtract money you took out of the drawer. In a banking environment, this is the money withdrawn by your customers. In a restaurant or retail business, this includes any money you "dropped" into the safe.
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Include any cash bought or sold from the vault. This is different from exchanging cash denominations with a co-worker because it actually changes the sum of money you should have in your cash drawer. Subtract money you sold and add money you bought.
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Record your ending balance. This number represents the amount of cash you must have in your drawer.
Count what's in the drawer
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Follow a system. It doesn't matter whether you count loose bills or bundled cash first, as long as you remember to count everything.
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Verify your paper currency. Count how much you have in each denomination and record it on your currency counting form or enter it into your balancing program. Record each denomination separately in case you must recount.
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Count your coins. As you did with paper money, record each kind of coin separately. Don't forget any rolled coin in your drawer.
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Add your cash and coins.
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Subtract your total cash from your ending balance. Zero means the drawer is in balance. If you get a positive number, the drawer is short. Negative numbers indicate the drawer is over.
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Tips & Warnings
Even though you don't need the totals to balance your cash drawer, it's a good idea to know how much you took in from checks, credit cards and other non-cash payment options you accept. If your cash drawer is out of balance, you can verify whether checks are also out of balance. When both are off by the same amount, it's a good bet you recorded something incorrectly.
Always keep a tidy cash drawer. It's easier to find mistakes in a drawer where all the bills face the same way than it is in drawer containing unruly money, trash and snacks.
Never accept responsibility for the cash in a drawer until you verify it's correct.
