Why your cash drawer is short, and how to fix it

September 29, 2026 · 3 min read

Counting the drawer at night and finding it short is stressful, especially when you trust your staff. Most shortages have ordinary causes you can fix.

The usual causes

• Wrong change, especially when it is busy.
• Sales not recorded, so the cash is there but the sale is not.
• Cash taken out for ice, gas or change and not written down.
• Utang payments mixed into the drawer without a record.
• GCash payments counted as cash, or the other way round.
• And sometimes, honestly, theft.

Start every shift with a fixed amount

Put the same starting cash, called the float, in the drawer every morning, for example ₱1,000 in small bills and coins. Write it down. At closing, the drawer should hold the float plus cash sales, minus cash refunds.

One person per drawer

If three people use the same drawer, nobody is responsible for a shortage. Give each cashier their own shift and count the drawer when they hand over.

Write down every cash that goes out

Taking ₱50 for ice is fine. Not writing it down is how a drawer ends up ₱50 short with nobody remembering why. Keep a small slip in the drawer, or record it as an expense.

Keep GCash separate

Digital payments never touch the drawer. At closing, count them separately so they do not hide a cash shortage or make one look bigger.

Let the system do the maths

With Tindro’s cash drawer, each cashier opens a drawer with a float. At closing it shows what should be there, including utang paid in cash, and records the difference. You see it per cashier and per day instead of guessing.

Questions