What does reconciliation mean?

In a restaurant or café, reconciliation is about making sure that payments and recorded sales match the actual contents of the till, the card terminals and the digital accounts. It involves checking and comparing the data recorded in the POS system with the actual means of payment and bank deposits. This lets the owner or the person responsible for finance identify differences and errors – for example if cash is missing, an amount has been keyed in wrongly or a payment has not been posted correctly.

Reconciliation typically takes place at closing time, daily or weekly, and is often part of the routine for keeping track of revenue. It can also be done at staff shift changes or when extracting accounting data for bookkeeping. Read more about bookkeeping

An example from a restaurant:

Imagine a café where the till shows daily revenue of €1,400, split between cash, card and mobile payments. When the till is counted, however, there is only €1,370, and the card transactions do not quite match the figures in the system either. Here reconciliation helps the manager discover that a bill may have been paid in cash but mistakenly recorded as card, or that a payment is missing. Reconciliation makes it possible to correct things quickly and avoid errors that might otherwise only be discovered much later.

Why is reconciliation important?

Reconciliation is essential for making sure your accounts are correct and that you as the owner are in control of the cash flow in the business. It reduces the risk of errors, discrepancies and, in the worst case, theft. It is also necessary for settling VAT correctly, reporting to the tax authority and making sure all income is recorded correctly. Read also about the settlement date

How is “reconciliation” used in Flexybox?

The Flexybox till system makes reconciliation easy. When an employee ends their shift, a till count is generated that compares the expected contents of the till with the actual amount. The system also reconciles card and mobile payments automatically, so you can quickly see discrepancies. This ensures that all transactions match and that the accounts are accurate and up to date. In this way Flexybox helps you keep an overview and financial control.

Frequently asked questions

If there is a difference between the recorded amount and the physical amount in the till, it will appear in the till count. It may be due to a simple error, for example a payment keyed in wrongly, and should be investigated and corrected as soon as possible.

Yes, daily reconciliation is strongly recommended, especially if several employees use the till. It ensures that any errors are caught immediately and simplifies the overall bookkeeping.

Yes. A good POS system – like Flexybox – lets you reconcile cash holdings, card payments and mobile payments such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. You get a combined overview day by day.

You can pull daily cash reconciliation reports, overviews of sales by employee and payment method, and discrepancies. These reports help you find and correct any errors.