Cash drawer sessions on your Owner POS track your cash so you can reconcile the drawer at the end of a shift or day.
Requirements
Owner POS
Use cash drawer sessions turned on for the station
The Manage cash drawers permission to open and close sessions and use Pay In and Pay Out
How cash drawer sessions work
A cash drawer session is the period a drawer is in use, typically one shift or one business day. You open a session by entering the starting bills, and the POS tracks every cash transaction in real time as sales happen. When you close the session, a reconciliation step compares expected cash to actual cash.
Cash drawer activity is tied to employee clock-in and clock-out. Once an employee clocks in, any cash drawer activity they do is logged against their profile with a timestamp and an optional reason. This gives you a full audit trail of cash flow at a glance.
Turn on cash drawer sessions
Cash drawer sessions aren't on by default. It's a per-station setting on the POS, so turn it on for each station before the cash drawer actions appear.
On the POS, go to Settings › Station.
Tap Access. It's on the Station screen with Order types, Items, Printing, Alerts, and Connectivity.
Turn on Use cash drawer sessions.
Once it's on, employees clocked in to that station can use cash drawer actions. Repeat these steps for every station that needs cash drawer access.
The Manage cash drawers permission in your Owner Dashboard is a separate control. It sets who can open and close sessions and use Pay In and Pay Out. It's set per location, not per tablet, and it doesn't turn the feature on.
Watch how cash drawer sessions work
Prefer to watch? This short walkthrough covers how cash drawer sessions work on the POS.
Open a cash drawer session
Once cash drawer sessions are on for the station, the POS prompts you to start a session from the Checkout tab before you can take cash payments.
Open the Checkout tab. The cash drawer start prompt appears.
Enter the number of bills of each denomination you're placing in the drawer to start the shift. The POS calculates the total for you. For example: five $20s + two $50s = $400 starting balance.
Tap Start Cash Drawer.
From this point on, every cash transaction is tracked against the session, and the expected cash balance updates in real time.
⚠️ If no session is open, the POS warns you to start one before you take cash payments. This prevents untracked cash transactions.
Track cash during a session
While a session is open, the POS tracks all cash activity.
Cash sales and refunds (automatic)
Every cash sale or refund you process on the POS updates the expected cash total automatically. The running expected balance updates in real time, with no manual action needed.
For example, a session opens with $200 and you take a $5.43 cash sale. The POS shows an expected balance of $205.43.
Pay In (add cash to the drawer)
Use Pay In to record cash you add to the drawer outside of a sale, like a manager dropping off more change.
Open the cash drawer on the POS.
Tap Pay In.
Enter the amount you're adding, like $20.
Add a reason, like "Manager dropped it off."
Confirm the transaction. The expected balance updates automatically.
The POS logs the employee name, exact timestamp, amount, and reason.
Pay Out (remove cash from the drawer)
Use Pay Out to record cash leaving the drawer outside of a sale, like paying a vendor or buying supplies.
Open the cash drawer on the POS.
Tap Pay Out.
Enter the amount you're removing, like $50.
Add a reason, like "Bought more beans."
Confirm the transaction. The expected balance updates automatically.
The POS logs the employee name, exact timestamp, amount, and reason.
ℹ️ Note: If you open with $100, pay in $20, and pay out $50, the expected close-out balance is $70.
Close a cash drawer session
At the end of the shift or day, close the session to reconcile your cash.
Count the cash in the drawer.
On the POS, tap Close Cash Drawer.
Enter the actual amount you counted. The POS compares it to the expected amount. If they don't match, it shows the message "The total does not match the expected amount."
Optional: Add a comment to explain a mismatch, like "Two $1s missing, possibly given as extra change."
Confirm to close the session. The drawer is marked as closed, and you can remove the cash for deposit.
The POS logs the employee name, the exact close-out timestamp, the expected and actual amounts, the over/short amount, and any comments.
✅ Tip: To print the session summary automatically when you close a session, turn on Auto-print report on session close in Settings › Station › Printing › Cash drawer. It's off by default and only appears when cash drawer sessions are on for that station.
Multiple drawers and registers
You can run more than one cash drawer session at a time if you have multiple registers or drawers:
Multiple registers: Each register is set up as a separate station in your Owner Dashboard, like "Register 1" and "Register 2." Cash drawer sessions belong to the device they were started on.
Single register, multiple drawers: Give each session a clear, descriptive label when you open it.
View cash drawer activity on the POS
Any clocked-in employee can view a live log of cash drawer activity for the current session on the tablet. The log shows every Pay In, Pay Out, and close-out with the employee name, timestamp, amount, and reason.
When you close out the cash drawer, you can see the cash paid in, the cash paid out, and the totals.
View cash drawer reports in the Owner Dashboard
For a more detailed view, or to review past cash drawer activity across time frames and stations, use the Cash Drawer History Report.
In your Owner Dashboard, click Reports.
Scroll down to Cash Drawer History Report.
Select the time frame you want to review.
Optional: Select a specific station to see the cash drawer history for just that station.
Report types
Drawer History: a list of all past cash drawer sessions over a date range, with employee name, dates, total sales, and any over/short amounts.
Cash Drawer Report (Session Summary): a detailed summary for each session, including station, time frame, starting cash, total cash sales and refunds, total paid in/out, expected and actual ending cash, over/short, and close-out comments.
Cash Activity Audit Report: a detailed log of all cash activity over a date range, built for accountability. Each entry shows date, event type, amount, reason, and employee.
Permissions
There are two permission levels for cash drawer access:
Manage cash drawers (full access): open and close sessions, use Pay In and Pay Out, and see full totals.
Use checkout (limited access): can't start or end sessions and can't use Pay In or Pay Out. On a station with cash drawer sessions turned on, staff with only this permission can't use Checkout until someone with cash drawer permissions signs in.
✅ Tip: To keep cash totals visible only to managers, give the Manage cash drawers permission to managers or trusted staff only.
FAQ
Is the cash drawer feature on by default?
Is the cash drawer feature on by default?
No. Turn it on for each station on the POS in Settings › Station › Access › Use cash drawer sessions.
What's the difference between Pay Out and closing a session?
What's the difference between Pay Out and closing a session?
Pay Out removes a specific amount of cash mid-shift, like paying a vendor or petty cash, and keeps the session open.
Closing a session ends the shift's cash tracking with a reconciliation step, where you count the cash and compare it to the expected amount, and finalizes the log.
What happens if the counted cash doesn't match the expected amount?
What happens if the counted cash doesn't match the expected amount?
The POS shows a message that the total doesn't match the expected amount and prompts you to add a comment to explain the difference. The over/short amount and comment are saved to the session log and appear in your Owner Dashboard reports.
How are activities attributed to employees?
How are activities attributed to employees?
The POS uses the employee clock-in record. Any action taken while an employee is clocked in is logged against them.