Shifts
Open and close cash drawers, track floats, and reconcile Over or Short at closeout.
A financial shift is the open period on a Base terminal when that drawer is accountable for cash. Clear shift windows keep every drawer auditable from open float through closeout.
Shifts are opened, monitored, and closed at a Base Terminal and require a manager signed in on that Base for the open and close steps. Satellite terminals cannot open or close shifts.
Shift, terminal, and location model
In plain terms: each open shift belongs to one Base register's drawer. A store can run several Base registers at once, so several shifts can be open at the same location. Satellites never own a shift; they only need to know that trading is open somewhere at the venue before they can save orders.
| Relationship | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Shift → terminal | Every shift belongs to exactly one Base register |
| Terminal → open shift | Each Base register may have at most one open shift at a time |
| Location → shifts | A location may have many shifts, including several open shifts when multiple Base registers are trading |
| Shift → location | Each shift also stores its location; it must match the owning terminal's location |
| Satellite → shift | Satellites never receive a shift. They check whether the location has at least one open Base shift before saving orders |
When a location runs two Base registers, each drawer maintains its own shift, closeout, and over/short result. Satellite staff only need to know that trading is active at the venue, not which specific register opened first.
Checking shift status
Before ringing the first sale of the day, confirm the terminal's shift state.
| Terminal type | What to check |
|---|---|
| Base | Whether this register's shift is open, required to settle payments and to attach direct Base sales to the drawer |
| Satellite | Whether any Base shift is open at the location, required to save new orders |
The header shift badge shows No shift or Shift open. Managers on Base tap the badge to open or close. If no shift is open (for that Base, or anywhere at the location for a Satellite), new order entry stays blocked until a manager opens a shift on a Base register.
The Shift Management Process
Initializing the Shift (Open)
A manager enters the precise starting
amount loaded into the cash drawer: the Opening Float. Only Base terminals can open shifts; the platform rejects shift open requests from Satellite terminal IDs. Satellite registers at the same location can start saving orders as soon as any Base shift is open.
Monitoring the Summary Line
At any point during the trading window, a manager can pull the live Shift Summary to review gross collected sales, transaction counts, and a breakdown by payment method running on that terminal.
Executing the Closeout (Reconciliation)
When the window ends, the manager performs a physical count of the drawer and enters the amount in the location base currency. Expected cash is opening float plus cash sales in base. GreenSails compares that expectation against the counted total and logs the result as Balanced, Over, or Short. If cashiers took secondary-currency cash, convert using sale FX snapshots or handle at the bank separately — closeout does not auto-convert the drawer count.
Reading the Reconciliation Result
At closeout the system produces an accountability status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Balanced | Counted cash matches expected cash. |
| Over | More cash in the drawer than expected, often unrecorded change or a miskeyed payment. |
| Short | Less cash than expected, investigate voids, refunds, or miscounts. |
A consistent small Short at one terminal often points to a process issue (change-making, tip handling) rather than loss. Use the Shift Summary's payment breakdown to narrow it down before escalating.
Satellites and drawer accountability
Satellite terminals do not hold their own drawer and cannot open or close shifts. Floor staff save orders on Satellites; a Base register at the same location settles them when payment is collected. Only at settlement does the sale join that Base register's active shift, so each drawer closeout reconciles the tabs settled at that register during the window.
Enforcement summary
| Action | Base terminal | Satellite terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Open / close shift | Manager on Base only | Not allowed |
| Save new order | Requires this register's open shift | Requires any open Base shift at the location |
| Settle payment | Yes, sale joins this register's shift | Not allowed |
| Settle a saved satellite tab | Yes, from Recall or Satellite orders | - |
Satellites need an open shift somewhere at the location before they can save new orders. Saved satellite tabs stay unassigned to a shift until a Base register settles them. Settlement must run on an active Base terminal with an open shift on that same register.
See Satellite orders and Provisioning POS Terminals.