Cash Register Shifts

In Sarah, each cash register is operated through shifts. A shift represents the period in which a user (or group of users) is responsible for a cash register's money.

Working with shifts allows you to:

• Know who handled the cash register at each moment.
• Record the initial cash of each shift.
• Control intermediate income and expenses.
• Facilitate cash closing and counting.

Shift opening

1. Go to Cash Registers → Open shift.
2. Select the cash register you want to operate.
3. Indicate the initial amount (petty cash or cash you start with).
4. Assign the responsible user (normally who will be at POS).
5. Confirm the opening.

While the shift is open:

• All POS sales associated with that cash register are automatically recorded in the shift.
• You can record cash movements (manual income/expenses).

Operation during shift

Common actions during a shift:

• Record sales from POS.
• Record extra income (for example, cash register replenishment).
• Record expenses (minor expenses, cash withdrawals).

Each movement is associated:

• To the cash register.
• To the shift.
• To the user who performed it.

Shift closing

When you finish the day (or work period):

1. Go to Cash Registers → Open shifts.
2. Select the shift you want to close.
3. Indicate the counted amount in the cash register (actual cash).
4. Sarah will automatically calculate:
   • Theoretical balance according to sales and movements.
   • Difference between expected and counted.
5. Confirm shift closing.

The shift will be marked as closed and won't accept more movements.

Admin close

If a cashier forgot to close their shift, an administrator can do it:

1. Go to Shifts and open View details for the open shift.
2. Click Close shift (top right).
3. Review suggested amounts from the theoretical balance and adjust if the physical count differs.
4. Confirm; the balance ticket is generated and the shift records who closed it.

Closing ticket and WhatsApp

When closing a shift, Sarah generates a balance ticket with the closing summary:

• Theoretical balance and counted amount.
• Cash difference.
• Payment method and movement details.

Every role except Junior Salesperson sees this ticket: right after closing from POS, and later from Sales → Shifts (including other users' shifts in the same company). Junior Salesperson does not see the ticket; a supervisor prints it from that list.

From the ticket modal you can:

• Reprint the closing receipt.
• Send via WhatsApp an image of the ticket to a contact number (keyboard shortcut available in the interface).

Useful for informing the owner or accountant without leaving the closing flow.

Creating a shift from the list

The usual way to open a shift is from POS. An administrator can also create a shift from Sales → Shifts, but must pick a team user (a real email of someone in the business). If the email is not a member, Sarah does not save the shift: without that user, sales and movement details cannot be built.

Blind cash count (Junior Salesperson)

The Junior Salesperson role opens and closes the shift from POS, but without seeing expected amounts:

• On opening, the previous shift's closing balance is not suggested: they must count the cash and enter it, and fill in the operator (who is opening) so the shift can be identified.
• On closing, the theoretical balance is not pre-filled and the difference is not shown: they must count and enter the actual amount.
• They do not see the balance ticket after closing. Administrator, cashier, and salesperson view and print it from Sales → Shifts.

This records how the shift came out (counted vs theoretical) without the cashier knowing the expected result in advance.

Best practices

• Use one shift per user and day to facilitate control.
• Avoid sharing users: create separate users with their own permissions.
• Always record manual movements (income/expenses) to avoid unexplained differences.

To see how this information is reflected in reports, consult Cash Reports.