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Shifts let you track your cash drawer from the moment it opens to the moment it closes. When shift management is turned on for your branch, staff must open a shift before taking orders. At end of day — or end of a turn — you count the cash by entering individual denomination values, and the app calculates whether the drawer matches what it expects.
The Shifts section is only visible on your device if your branch administrator has enabled shift management. If you see a “shift management disabled” message, contact your manager or check Waiter App (ePOS) Settings.

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Permissions

You need the Manage Shifts permission to open, close, and record cash transactions. Accepting a shift that has a cash variance also requires a manager’s authorization.

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Opening a shift

1

Go to the Shifts tab

From the bottom navigation bar on your device, tap Shift. If no shift is currently open, you will see the open-shift form.
2

Enter the starting cash

Type the amount of cash already in the drawer before any sales take place. This figure must be zero or greater.
3

Tap Open Shift

The shift starts immediately. You are taken to the active shift summary, and the POS is now ready to accept orders.

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Viewing the active shift summary

While a shift is open, the Shift tab shows a live summary so you can monitor the cash position at any time.

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Recording cash movements

During a shift you can log money going into or out of the drawer for reasons other than sales — for example, petty cash or a till float top-up.
1

Tap Cash In or Cash Out

On the active shift screen, tap the Cash In or Cash Out button.
2

Enter the amount and reason

Type the cash amount and an optional reason (for example, “petty cash — cleaning supplies”). The reason appears in the shift detail and on the closing report.
3

Confirm

Tap Confirm. The summary totals update immediately.
Recording a reason — even a brief one — makes it much easier to reconcile the drawer at the end of the shift and to answer manager questions later.

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Closing a shift

Closing a shift walks you through a denomination-entry wizard so the app can calculate whether your physical cash matches the expected amount.
1

Tap Close Shift

On the active shift screen, tap Close Shift. The denomination wizard opens.
2

Count and enter denominations

For each bill and coin denomination listed, enter how many you have in the drawer. The wizard shows denominations appropriate for your branch currency (for example, 1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.1, 0.05). The wizard calculates a running total as you type.
3

Review the variance

After you have entered all denominations, the app compares your counted total against the expected cash figure and shows the variance — the difference between the two.
  • No variance — you can close the shift immediately.
  • Variance exists — you must get a manager to authorize the close (see below).
4

Add a variance note (if needed)

If there is a discrepancy, you can type an optional note explaining it before requesting authorization.
5

Confirm or get manager authorization

If there is no variance, tap Close Shift to finalize. If a variance exists, a manager authorization prompt appears — a manager or supervisor enters their PIN to approve and close the shift.
Once a shift is closed it cannot be reopened. Make sure your denomination counts are correct before confirming.

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Manager authorization for variance

When your counted cash does not match the expected amount, the app blocks the close until a manager approves it. A manager or supervisor taps the authorization prompt and enters their PIN. The override token is valid for 60 seconds — enough time to complete the close. The variance and any note you entered are saved in the shift record.

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Viewing shift history

The History tab on the Shifts screen lists all past shifts for your branch.
  • Filter by status — show only open or closed shifts.
  • Filter by date range — narrow results to a specific period.
Tap any shift in the list to open the detail view, which shows the full summary, all payments taken during that shift, and every cash transaction recorded.
For a higher-level view of shift performance and cash approval workflows, your manager can review shifts from the web dashboard under Shifts and Cash Register Overview.