Cash Registers

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Open Cash Registers

Open Finance > Close & Reconcile > Cash Registers. You can also search for Cash Registers in the command palette. The page shows each active register, whether it has an open session, and the current totals for drawer balance, cash sales, and check sales. Opening the page needs permission to view settings, and the registers themselves are read with permission to view accounting. Each action has its own permission:

• Add Register, Delete, and Release (unassigning a card reader from a register) need permission to edit settings.
• Open Session needs permission to create payments.
• Cash In / Out, Reconcile drawer, Close session and Repair wiring need permission to process payments.
• Force-close on a stale session needs permission to void or reverse payments.
• Deposit needs permission to create bank deposits.

Controls you lack permission for are hidden, except Deposit and Repair wiring, which stay visible but disabled. Those three totals are the whole list. Card payments never touch the drawer, so they are not part of drawer control: the register shows no card total, and no card figure appears on the Z-report at close. A card payment stays with the order it was taken against. Find it in that order’s Payments section, or read Record A Payment.

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Create A Register

1. Open Finance > Close & Reconcile > Cash Registers.
2. Click Add Register (or Create your first register when there are none).
3. Enter a clear register name, such as Front Counter 1.
4. Click Create.

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Open A Session

A register session represents one drawer run. Open a session before accepting cash activity at that drawer.

1. Find the register with no active session.
2. Click Open Session.
3. Enter the opening cash balance counted in the drawer.
4. Confirm the session.

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During The Session

• Cash In/Out: record money added to or removed from the drawer outside normal sales.
• Reconcile drawer: count the drawer part way through a shift without closing it. Any difference from the expected amount is booked to Cash Over/Short and the session stays open. Use it at a shift handover, or any time you want the books to match a count you just did.
• Details: opens Session Details (see below): the cash that should be in the drawer now, how Arcus worked it out, and every cash movement.
• Close: count the drawer and close the session.
• + Deposit: start a bank deposit with the register session context prefilled.

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Session Details

Details opens Session Details for the session. At the top, Cash in drawer now is the physical cash you should count: the float plus undeposited cash sales. Under it the math reads Opening float, plus Cash sales (this session), minus Deposited to bank, and a line Cash in / out + over/short when cash movements or a variance moved the drawer, ending at Expected in drawer. Two tiles sit beneath it: Undeposited cash (cash sales above the float, ready to deposit) and Checks received (credited to Undeposited Funds and deposited separately, so they never touch the cash drawer). The Drawer Journal lists every cash event with its time, type, detail, and the amount in or out, or says “No movements in this session.” Deposited to bank counts the register cash on this session’s bank deposits that are not voided, so voiding a deposit puts that cash back in the drawer’s expected balance. Arcus does not let an edit take drawer cash off a posted deposit yet, precisely so this figure stays true (see Register Cash On A Bank Deposit below).

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Close A Session

1. Click Close on the open register session.
2. Count the physical drawer.
3. Enter the closing balance.
4. Add notes when there is an overage, shortage, or operational explanation.
5. Close the session.
6. Review the Z-report when it appears.
7. Print the Z-report if the location keeps paper close packets.

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What The Numbers Mean

Four numbers drive every drawer session, and mixing them up is the most common way a drawer ends up wrong on the books while the cash in the till is fine.

• Opening balance (the float): the cash you counted in the drawer when you opened the session. It is a starting point, not a target.
• Expected balance: the float, plus cash taken in, minus cash paid out, minus any register cash already pulled onto a bank deposit during this session. Arcus works this out. You never type it.
• Closing balance: the cash you physically count when you close. This is the one you type.
• Variance: closing balance minus expected balance. Negative is a shortage, positive is an overage.

When you close, the cash above the float is moved to Cash Drawer Pending Deposit. That is a holding account, not the bank. The money sits there until someone physically bags it and records a bank deposit. The float stays in the drawer for the next session.

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Register Cash On A Bank Deposit

Click Deposit on a register to open the New bank deposit window with this register’s drawer already in Step 3. Its Open register sessions list shows each session’s drawer, float, and To deposit cash; Deposit cash sales (keep float) fills in the cash above the float and leaves the float in the drawer. A session is offered while it still holds cash pending deposit, open or closed. The deposit posts the cash from Cash Drawer Pending Deposit into the bank, and the session’s Deposited to bank figure goes up by that amount. If the deposit ticket turns out wrong, see Bank Deposits:

• Edit can add register cash or other cash to a posted ticket, but it cannot take drawer cash off one yet. The row says “Drawer cash stays on this ticket for now”, because the register’s Session Details would still show that cash as deposited. Drawer cash swept from a session that has since closed also cannot be removed.
• If the bank credited less cash than the ticket shows, close the difference as Cash over/short when you match the ticket to its bank line, or void the ticket, which puts the drawer cash back.
• Void restores the register cash pending deposit for the included cash.

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Stale Sessions

Arcus warns when a register session has been open longer than expected. Stale sessions usually mean a drawer was not closed at the end of the day.

• Review the register name and opened date.
• Confirm whether the drawer was physically closed.
• Use Force-close only when the stale session should be settled at the system-computed expected balance.
• Add any cleanup notes in the source workflow or accounting review packet.

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Delete A Register

Registers can be deactivated from the UI when they have no open session. Historical sessions remain for audit history. Close the active session before deleting a register.

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Repair GL Wiring

Each register should post its cash sales to its own cash drawer account under Cash Drawer. If a register is instead sharing another register’s account (or has none of its own), Repair wiring appears so you can fix it. Confirming Repair GL wiring creates or reuses that register’s own cash drawer account, points the register at it so sales post there from the next sale onward, and leaves every journal entry already posted to the old account exactly where it is. Arcus reports GL wiring already correct when nothing needed to change, or GL wiring repaired when it fixed the mapping.

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Common Blocks

• Cannot delete register: close the open session first.
• Closing balance is off: review cash sales, cash in/out movements, refunds, change given, and notes.
• Deposit amount does not match: confirm the register session, cash pending deposit, and bank deposit selections.
• Drawer cash is on a deposit it should not be on: drawer cash cannot be taken off a posted ticket yet. Close the difference as Cash over/short when you match the ticket to its bank line, or void the ticket and build a new one.
• A session is missing from the deposit: a session is offered only while it still holds cash pending deposit. Being closed does not remove it. If it is missing, that cash is already at zero, either because someone recorded the deposit or because the close swept nothing above the float. Open the session details and read the movement history before recording anything by hand.
• Stale banner appears: close or force-close the prior session before continuing normal register work.
• Check totals look wrong: review payments, refunds, and source orders before creating the bank deposit. Card payments are not part of the register totals, so a card question belongs on the order, not here.

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