Record till takings for shops

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

Cash till takings

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.

Cash sales

When recording cash sales, choose the appropriate rate of Sales Tax or enter an amount. If you're unsure which Sales Tax rate to select, please ask your accountant.

If you sell goods with different rates of Sales Tax then you have two options:

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

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

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.

Card sales

When the card transactions appear into your business account, these would be explained as Type > Sales. However, you would first deal with any fee element, as shown below.

Dealing with fees

If your merchant services provider deducts a percentage as their fee, you can record this cost by splitting 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.

Explain the remaining amount as Type > Sales. Choose the appropriate rate of Sales Tax or enter an amount. If you're unsure which Sales Tax rate to select, please ask your accountant.