Record till takings for shops

This article explains how to deal with till takings (both cash and card) in FreeAgent.

The best way to manage cash till takings is to add a second bank account within FreeAgent.

Navigate to the 'Banking' tab at the top of the screen and select 'Bank Accounts' from the drop-down menu.

From the 'Bank Accounts Summary' page, select 'Add new account' and choose 'Bank Account'.

Call it something like 'Till Account' and don't tick either the 'This is a personal account' or 'Make this my primary account' boxes.

At the end of each day, you should use this account to record your cash takings.

If all of your sales are at the same VAT rate

If your sales are quite simple and you sell all items at the same VAT rate, for example 20% or 0%, you could enter your cash sales at the end of each day into the new ‘Till account’ using manual transactions and the appropriate VAT rate.

If and when you bank the cash from the till into your business account, explain this as a bank transfer from your till account into your business account.

When your card sales transactions appear into your business account, these would be explained as 'Sales' using the appropriate VAT rate.

If you sell products at different VAT rates

If your sales are a little more complex and you sell items at different VAT rates, you could use the new ‘Till account’ to record all of the daily sales so the VAT is accounted for accurately using manual transactions.

 You have two options:

• Option 1 - enter each day's sales as one total transaction, choose 'Amount' from the VAT drop-down menu and enter the amount of VAT you charged for all your sales, for cash and card payments.
   
• Option 2 - enter a separate transaction for the total sales you have made at each VAT rate. Your till's Z report should show you this.

If and when you bank the cash from the till into your business account, explain this as a bank transfer from your till account into your business account.

When the card transactions appear into your business account from your payment provider, these would be explained a bank transfer too. However, you would first deal with any fee element, as shown below.

Recording Purchases

If you make any purchases for the running of your business with cash from the till, enter this as a payment from the till bank account and select the appropriate category.

You can always set up more categories if you need to.

Gift vouchers

If any customers paid using a gift voucher, you may need to remove this figure from your sales figures if you have already accounted for this when the voucher was purchased. Please check with your accountant if you’re not sure. If you're not currently working with an accountant, you may wish to find one through FreeAgent CoPilot.

Dealing with fees

If your merchant services provider deducts a percentage as their fee, you can record this cost by adjusting the transaction to show the charges deducted. You should be able to get the exact amount they deducted from the payout report / statement of account.

To split the transaction, select 'Adjustments' and choose ‘Fees and commissions’ from the drop-down menu.

Enter the amount of fees in the 'Value' field.

Select the relevant category for the fees, enter a description and select ‘Save and finish’ at the bottom of the screen.

The remaining amount will then be ready for you to explain as ‘Sales’ or a transfer depending on which method you are using.