A cash drawer session tracks the physical cash in one register from the moment it is opened with a starting float until it is closed and counted at the end of a shift.
Opening and closing a drawer
Drawer sessions are opened, and normally closed, in the Door POS app. A staff member:
- Opens the drawer with a starting float — the cash placed in the register before the first sale.
- Sells tickets as usual. Every cash sale rung up on that register while the session is open is counted toward it automatically.
- Closes the drawer at the end of the shift by counting the cash actually in it.
Only one session can be open on a register at a time.
The web box office does not open drawer sessions, and cash sales made at the web box office are not counted toward one. To reconcile a web box-office window, use the Ticket ledger with Tender set to Cash and Seller set to the staff member.
A session's float and variance only ever move with cash. Card and Tap to Pay sales settle through the card processor and never touch the drawer.
Paid-outs
If staff take cash out of the drawer mid-shift for something other than a refund — paying a vendor in cash, say — they record a paid-out in the app, with a reason. A reason is required. Paid-outs lower the drawer's expected cash.
Expected, counted and variance
When a drawer closes, Noctern works out what should be in it:
expected cash = starting float + cash sales − cash refunds − paid-outs
The staff member enters what they actually counted. The difference is the variance:
variance = counted − expected
$0 means the drawer balanced. A negative variance means it came up short; a positive one means there was more cash than expected.
The Daily cash report
Open the Reports hub (Reports in the admin sidebar) and click Daily cash under Finance. Venue admins can open it; box-office staff cannot.
Filters
- From and To — whole days, both set to today when the page opens. A session is listed under the day it was opened.
- Register — leave blank for all registers, or enter a register's ID to see only that one.
Click Run after changing a filter.
Columns
One row per drawer session:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Register | The register the drawer belongs to |
| Status | Open or Closed |
| Opened / Opened by | When the session started, and who started it |
| Closed / Closed by | When it was counted, and by whom |
| Float | The starting float |
| Cash sales | Cash taken during the session |
| Cash refunds | Cash given back |
| Paid outs | Cash removed for other reasons |
| Expected | Float + cash sales − cash refunds − paid-outs |
| Counted | What was counted at close |
| Variance | Counted − Expected. Any amount other than $0 is shown in red, over or short |
Expected, Counted and Variance show — while a session is still open.
Tiles above the table total the selection: Sessions, Cash sales, Expected, Counted and Variance. CSV and XLSX download the session list.
Tracking down a variance
Click a session's row to list what was rung up while it was open:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Time | When it happened |
| Type | Sale or Refund |
| Order | The order number |
| Patron | The buyer, or Guest |
| Tender | How the order was paid |
| Seller | Who rang it up |
| Amount | The order's total |
Things to look for:
- a sale whose Tender is not what really happened — a cash sale that was really paid by card, or the other way round
- a refund that was handed over in cash but not recorded
- a split order: Amount is the whole order, so check Tender for the cash part
Card sales made while the drawer was open are listed too, for context — they do not change the expected cash.
Paid-outs are not in this list. They show only as the Paid outs total on the session's row, so if that total is not what you expect, ask the staff member who ran the register.
Closing a drawer from the web
If a device is lost or a staff member leaves before closing out, a venue admin can close the session from this report.
Click Close on the open session's row.
Enter the cash counted in Counted cash ($), and a note in Notes (optional) if there is something to explain.
Click Close drawer.
This runs the same sums as closing from the app. Opening, closing and paid-outs are all written to the venue's activity log.
Count the cash, or confirm the count with staff, before closing a drawer from the web. A drawer closed with the wrong counted amount reports the wrong variance, and a closed session cannot be closed again.