Shifts

Shifts tie every sale to a specific cashier and a specific session. They're how you know who was on duty, what they sold, and whether the cash drawer balances at the end of the day.

Why shifts matter

• Attribution — every sale is tied to the cashier's active shift
• Cash control — reconcile actual cash against expected cash at close
• Theft detection — large or repeating variances point to a specific person
• Payroll evidence — shift opens/closes are timestamps

Starting a shift

1. Cashier logs in
2. Drawer → Shifts → Start shift
3. Enter the opening float — cash physically in the drawer at the start
4. Tap Start

From this moment, every sale they ring up is tagged to this shift.

During the shift

The dashboard shows the cashier their shift status, rung-up total, and today's transactions. Nothing else special — just business as usual.

Closing a shift

1. Count the cash actually in the drawer
2. Drawer → Shifts → End shift
3. Enter the closing cash amount
4. Review the calculated variance
5. If it's off, add a note explaining why
6. Tap Close

The variance formula

Expected cash = opening float + cash sales − cash refunds

Variance = actual closing cash − expected cash

A variance of +/− KES 50 on a busy day is normal. More than that should raise eyebrows.

What counts as "cash"

For reconciliation purposes:

• Notes and coins in the drawer — yes
• M-Pesa payments — no (don't need to reconcile, Safaricom does it for you)
• Card (Pesapal) payments — no
• Credit sales — no (tracked separately in Credit → Outstanding)

Variance causes — in order of likelihood

1. Wrong change given — math errors under pressure (60% of variances)
2. Untracked cash movement — petty cash, loans to staff, supplier payment in cash
3. Tip pocketed — customer left a tip, cashier took it without recording
4. Receipt voided but cash kept — requires manager to investigate
5. Theft — rare but serious; patterns emerge over weeks

Who sees what

• Cashier — their own shift history, open/close their own shift only
• Manager — all shifts in their shop, can review any cashier's variances
• Owner — every shift across all shops

Tips

• Close shifts at the end of each working day, not weekly — weekly makes variance tracing impossible
• Never share login credentials — the whole system relies on per-cashier attribution
• If cash is off, write down the reason immediately; memory fades by the next morning
• Review variances weekly as a manager — patterns are more telling than individual events