Cash does not stay in the drawer. Some of it goes into the safe during a busy night, some of it pays for ice or a gas cylinder, and the rest goes to the bank a day or two later. Each step is a chance for money to go missing without anyone noticing, because the drawer was balanced but the safe and the bank never were.
Wink You follows the cash from the till to the safe and on to the bank. This guide covers the till side on the POS, the Safe tab in Business Admin, and the parts that are not built yet.
At the till: pay ins, safe drops and petty cash
With the register open, tap Register Open at the bottom of the POS:
- Pay In: adding cash, such as extra change. Type the amount and a note, then tap Add to Register.
- Drop To Safe: too much cash in the drawer. Type the amount and record it. The safe balance goes up by the same amount automatically.
- Petty Cash: a small expense paid from the drawer, recorded by a manager. Type the amount, choose a category, describe what was bought and record it. The supplier can be picked here too.
All three appear under View Logs with who recorded them, and they are counted when the drawer closes. A bank deposit is never recorded as a pay out from the till: cash goes from the drawer to the safe with Drop To Safe, and from the safe to the bank.
Set the cash limits for each branch
In Business Admin open Cash, then Settings, and pick the branch. Every limit is in the branch currency, and a limit that is switched off means no limit:
- Cash movement approval limit: pay ins and safe drops above it need a manager PIN.
- Pay out approval limit: pay outs above it need a manager PIN.
- Limit for each pay out, per shift and per business day: going over needs a manager PIN and sends the owner an alert.
- Receipt required above: pay outs above it need a receipt photo.
- Business day turns over at: so a late night stays in the same business day.
Review every pay out
Open Cash, tab Pay outs, to see every pay out from every till with its amount, VAT, reason, supplier, cashier, the approving manager, the shift and the receipt photo. Filter by reason, supplier, cashier, status, over limit or linked to a bill. A pay out is never edited or deleted: a mistake is voided with Void pay out and a reason, and stays in the list marked Voided. Receipt photos are private, and the link to a photo works for a few minutes. Cash, Reports also totals pay outs by category, supplier, cashier and branch.
The safe: balance, counts and deposits
Open Cash, tab Safe. Each branch card shows the Safe balance, the pending deposits, the last count with its variance, and the Petty cash float.
- Count the safe: pick the branch, enter the counted amount and a note, and save. Any difference corrects the safe balance and is listed under Safe counts. The first count of a branch sets its starting balance and is not booked as cash over or short.
- Confirm a deposit: under Waiting for the bank, when the deposit shows in your bank account, press Confirm and enter the amount the bank received. If it differs, write the reason. A difference is booked to cash over or short.
- You can be notified on the Wink You Business app when a deposit is waiting for you.
A simple daily routine
- During service, drop surplus cash to the safe with Drop To Safe instead of letting the drawer fill up.
- Record every small purchase as Petty Cash at the moment it is paid, with the category and, above the limit, a receipt photo.
- At close, the drawer count already includes the drops and pay outs, so any difference is a real difference.
- Count the safe on a fixed day, for example every morning before opening, so a gap is found within a day, not at the end of the month.
- When the bank shows a deposit, confirm it on the Safe tab with the amount the bank actually received.
- Once a week, open Cash, Reports and look at pay outs by cashier and the drawer variances.
What is not built yet
Two parts exist in the system but do not have a button in Business Admin, the POS or the Wink You Business app yet: recording a new bank deposit that takes cash out of the safe, and topping up or counting the petty cash float. Today the Safe tab is where you see the balances, count the safe and confirm deposits. We will update this guide when those buttons arrive.
Frequently asked questions
How do I record petty cash in a restaurant?
On the POS, a manager taps Register Open, then Petty Cash, enters the amount, a category and a description, and records it. Above the branch limit a receipt photo or a manager PIN is required.
How do I count the safe?
Open Cash, tab Safe, press Count the safe, pick the branch, enter what you counted and save. The difference corrects the safe balance and is kept in the list of safe counts.
Can a cashier delete a pay out?
No. Pay outs are never edited or deleted. A wrong one is voided with a reason, and the record stays with who voided it and when.
What happens to the cash when a pay out is voided?
If the shift is still open, the cash goes back into that drawer, so the close stays right. If the shift has already closed, the void only corrects the books. A pay out linked to a supplier bill is unlinked first, so the bill shows as unpaid again.
Learn more
See winkyou.com/products/point-of-sale for the till and winkyou.com/products/accounting-reports for the books. The video guide is winkyou.com/support/pos/how-to-record-pay-ins-safe-drops-and-petty-cash.