Terminal reconciliation refers to the process where you as a restaurateur or café owner compare the payments made on your payment terminals (often by card and mobile payment) with the total sales registered in your POS system. The purpose of terminal reconciliation is to ensure that all payments received are correct and match what was actually sold during the day.

When customers pay by card, the amount is sent via your terminal to an acquirer (a bank or payment company), and the amount is paid out to your bank account. Terminal reconciliation consists of comparing the amount the terminal totals (called a terminal batch) with the information the POS system has registered as card payments. This reconciliation is usually done as part of your daily reporting and is closely linked to both reconciliation and end of day.

Example from the restaurant:

Imagine that as a café owner, at the end of a busy Saturday evening, you need to make sure everything adds up. You run an end of day in your POS system and get an overview of the day’s sales – both cash and card. At the same time, you pull a batch report from your terminal, showing that the day’s card payments total €2,460. If your POS system has also registered card payments of exactly €2,460, everything is in order. If there are discrepancies, this is where you catch them quickly, so you can investigate the cause, whether it is incorrect entries, technical problems or typing errors.

Why is terminal reconciliation important?

Terminal reconciliation is one of the most important routines for any café or restaurant that wants to ensure correct accounts and avoid losses. It helps you catch errors quickly – both in payments and in your sales system. These could be, for example, customers who were charged incorrectly or missing payments. By paying attention to terminal reconciliation, you reduce the risk of financial discrepancies and make bookkeeping much easier.

How Flexybox handles terminal reconciliation

The Flexybox POS system helps make terminal reconciliation simple and efficient. The system reconciles card payments per terminal daily against the sales registered at the till. Flexybox automatically compares the terminal batch, till sales and the actual card settlement. If discrepancies arise, you are told immediately, so you can react straight away. That way, you avoid manual checks and minimise errors.

Want to know more? Also read about:

Reconciliation

End of day

Frequently asked questions

Terminal reconciliation focuses specifically on card payments and the comparison between the terminal’s batch and the POS system’s records. Ordinary reconciliation is broader and includes all payment methods, stock and operating accounts.

Yes, it is strongly recommended to do terminal reconciliation daily – ideally as part of end of day. This ensures you spot errors quickly and can correct them while they are still easy to trace.

Start by double-checking both the terminal report and the POS report. Check whether an incorrect amount was entered or whether a payment did not go through correctly. If you use Flexybox, the system will help you locate the error.

As a rule, all payments that go through your payment terminal – typically card payments such as Visa and Mastercard, including Apple Pay and Google Pay. Cash payments, gift cards etc. are reconciled separately.