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Accounting & Finance

Shifts, cash reconciliation, expenses, and reports

Shift Management

Shifts are the foundation of cash tracking in noqat. Every POS session is tied to a shift, and every cash transaction is recorded against it.

Opening a Shift

  1. The employee logs into the POS with their PIN.
  2. They select their branch and cash register (if applicable).
  3. They enter the opening cash float — the amount of cash in the drawer at the start of the shift.
  4. The shift is now open. All orders processed during this shift are linked to the employee and register.

Closing a Shift

  1. The employee clicks Close Shift from the POS menu.
  2. They physically count the cash in the drawer and enter the counted amount.
  3. The system calculates the expected cash: opening float + cash received - cash refunds.
  4. The variance is displayed: counted amount minus expected amount. A positive variance means excess cash, negative means a shortage.
  5. The employee can add a note to explain any variance.
  6. Confirm to close. The shift moves to "closed" status and cannot be reopened.

Shift Summary

Each closed shift generates a summary containing:

  • Opening and closing times.
  • Total orders processed and total revenue.
  • Revenue breakdown by payment method (cash, KNET, Visa, etc.).
  • Opening cash float, expected cash, counted cash, and variance.
  • The summary can be printed as a shift receipt.

Day Closing Process

Day closing is the daily reconciliation process that aggregates all shifts and financial activity for a branch.

  1. A manager or admin initiates the day closing from the admin dashboard.
  2. All shifts for the day must be closed before the day can be closed.
  3. The system generates a day closing report showing:
    • Total revenue across all shifts.
    • Payment method totals for the entire day.
    • Aggregate cash variance from all shifts.
    • Expenses recorded during the day.
    • Net cash position.
  4. Review the report and confirm to lock the day. Once locked, orders and shifts for that day cannot be modified.

Day closing provides a clean financial cutoff and ensures that each day's numbers are finalized and auditable.

Cash Register Management

If your branch has multiple cash drawers, you can set up individual cash registers:

  • Go to Settings → Cash Registers and add registers for each physical drawer.
  • Give each register a name (e.g., "Register 1", "Drive-Through").
  • Assign registers to a branch.
  • When an employee opens a shift, they select which register they are using.
  • Only one shift can be open per register at a time, preventing conflicts.
  • Cash tracking is done per register, so you can identify exactly which drawer has a variance.

Expense Tracking

Record business expenses directly in the system to maintain an accurate financial picture.

Creating an Expense

  1. Go to Expenses and click Add Expense.
  2. Enter the amount, category (e.g., supplies, utilities, ingredients, maintenance), and a description.
  3. Select the branch and date.
  4. If the expense was paid from the cash register, link it to a shift. This reduces the expected cash for that shift accordingly.
  5. Optionally attach a receipt photo for documentation.

Expense Categories

Organize expenses by category for better reporting:

  • Ingredients and supplies
  • Utilities (electricity, water, internet)
  • Maintenance and repairs
  • Marketing and advertising
  • Miscellaneous

You can create custom categories that fit your business needs.

Expense Approvals

Depending on your configuration, expenses above a certain amount may require manager approval. The manager reviews the expense and either approves or rejects it with a note.

Driver Shift Settlements

Drivers who collect cash on delivery need to settle at the end of their shift.

  1. When a driver completes delivery orders with cash payment, the system tracks the cash they collected.
  2. At the end of the driver's shift, the manager reviews the driver settlement: total cash collected from deliveries minus any expenses.
  3. The driver hands over the cash and the settlement is recorded.
  4. Any discrepancy between expected and actual cash is noted as a variance.

Payment Reconciliation

Reconcile card and digital payments with your bank and payment gateway statements.

  • The system records every card and digital payment with a unique reference ID.
  • View payment reports filtered by method (KNET, Visa, Apple Pay, etc.) and date range.
  • Compare noqat totals against your MyFatoorah dashboard or bank statement to ensure all payments are accounted for.
  • Online payments are automatically reconciled through the payment gateway. POS card payments (recorded manually) should be cross-checked with your physical terminal reports.

Petty Cash Management

Track small cash expenditures that come out of the register during a shift.

  • During a shift, record petty cash withdrawals through the POS or admin panel.
  • Each withdrawal is linked to the current shift and reduces the expected cash amount.
  • Common petty cash uses: emergency supplies, small repairs, tips, delivery change.
  • All petty cash entries are included in the shift summary and day closing report.

Financial Reports

noqat provides several financial reports for management and accounting:

  • Daily sales report — Total revenue, order count, and payment method breakdown for each day.
  • Shift reports — Detailed shift summaries including cash reconciliation for each employee and register.
  • Expense report — All expenses for a period, grouped by category and branch.
  • Payment method report — Revenue broken down by payment method across all branches.
  • Cash flow summary — Net cash position accounting for revenue, expenses, and petty cash.
  • Day closing reports — Finalized daily summaries with all financial data locked and auditable.

Reports can be filtered by date range and branch, and exported as CSV for use in external accounting software.

Audit Logs

noqat maintains audit logs for financial accountability:

  • All shift opens and closes are logged with timestamps and employee IDs.
  • Discount applications, especially manager overrides, are recorded.
  • Order modifications after payment (voids, refunds) are tracked.
  • Expense entries and approvals are logged.
  • Price edits on the POS are recorded with the original and modified amounts.

Audit logs help you maintain financial integrity and investigate any discrepancies. They cannot be modified or deleted.