Why the cash register doesn't add up: how to find lost checks and fix errors before the Z-report

Closing the shift and generating the Z-report is the final and most responsible stage of a cashier’s work. However, employees very often face a problem: the amount of actual cash or the data from the bank terminal does not match the data in the program or software ECR. Entrepreneurs most often contact technical support with symptoms such as «the amounts do not match», «the X-report does not match», «the money went through the terminal, but there is no receipt in the program». Discrepancies occur due to human error (inattention when selecting the payment type), technical failures (power or internet outages), or incorrect program settings. This process requires the senior shift employee or cashier to understand how to compare data from three different sources (terminal, PECR, accounting system) and safely balance the amounts without violating tax legislation or charging customers extra money.

Below is a comprehensive instruction for finding and eliminating the most common causes of discrepancies.

Step 1. The verification triangle: where to look for the discrepancy

To find the error, the senior shift employee needs to compare data from three sources:

1. X-report from the bank terminal (shows how much money was actually charged from customers’ cards).

2. X-report from the PECR (it can be viewed in Torgsoft through the «Software ECR» form -> the «Software ECR Analytics» tab). It shows which amounts and with which payment types were sent to the tax authority.

3. Daily item report / Daily cash register report in Torgsoft (shows what was recorded in the accounting system itself).

In addition, it is worth checking the «Analysis of sales of fiscal goods» form to see which receipts received fiscal status and which were processed as non-fiscal.

Step 2. The most common causes of discrepancies and how to fix them

Cause 1. The payment type was mixed up (cash and cashless)

Sometimes the cashier processes a payment through the bank terminal, but mistakenly selects «Cash» payment in Torgsoft (or vice versa). As a result, in the PECR X-report, the cashless amount will be higher or lower than the amount on the terminal.

• How to find it? Compare the receipts for the day in the Torgsoft expense list with the receipts on the terminal. Find the transaction that was processed incorrectly.

• How to fix it? The found receipt must be reprocessed with the correct payment type. If the shift has not yet been closed, you can make a return for the incorrect receipt (or a reversal, if it is the last receipt) and process the sale again, specifying the correct form of payment.

Cause 2. The fiscal receipt print button was not pressed

If the Torgsoft settings (receipt printing condition) are set to «At the buyer’s request», the cashier may simply fail to press the print button. In this case, the sale is recorded in Torgsoft internal accounting, the item is deducted from stock, but the fiscal receipt is not generated and is not sent to the tax authority. This can also happen if the power briefly goes out or the internet connection is lost during a sale, the program displays a license request, and the cashier closes the window, processing the receipt outside the PECR.

• How to find it? In «Analysis of sales of fiscal goods», such sales will be displayed without a fiscal mark, although the item should have been fiscal. Accordingly, the amount in the PECR will be lower than in Torgsoft.

• How to fix it? These receipts must be reprocessed through the PECR. To avoid this in the future, business owners are strongly advised to change the receipt printing condition setting to «Mandatory for every sale».

Cause 3. Stuck sales in «Sale drafts»

If the connection with the bank is lost during payment through the terminal, the power goes out, or the program closes unexpectedly, the sale may not be completed. Money may be charged from the customer’s card, but the receipt will not be recorded as closed in Torgsoft.

• How to find it? If the «Remove item from stock when adding it to the Sale form» checkbox is not selected in the settings, such an incomplete sale will go to the File -> Sale drafts menu. If the checkbox is selected, look for it in the Payment -> Unpaid sales of regular customers menu.

• How to fix it? Go to «Sale drafts», select the required transaction, and click «Restore sale». After that, complete the receipt payment.

Step 3. Instructions for safely reprocessing receipts

The main rule for correcting errors: when balancing the amounts, you must not accidentally charge the customer’s bank card a second time.

1. Reversal (cancellation) of the last receipt. If the cashier has just made a mistake (for example, entered the wrong amount), and it was the last registered receipt in the PECR, you can use the Reversal function. It completely cancels the settlement receipt, it is not included in the shift totals (Z/X-reports), and the item is returned. After that, the sale can be processed correctly.

2. Reprocessing without connection to the terminal. If the money went through the terminal successfully, but the receipt did not reach the PECR (or went to «Drafts»), you need to process the sale in Torgsoft as a cashless payment. But to prevent the terminal from waiting for the card again, the payment must be made without sending the amount to the bank terminal (bypassing the terminal). To do this, in Torgsoft you need to process a fiscal cashless payment, but without using the direct connection to the terminal. This will balance the PECR with the terminal X-report.

3. Using the «User action log». If it is unclear where the discrepancy came from, the senior shift employee should open File -> User action log. It records every cashier step: whether they deleted an item from the sale after payment, canceled a receipt, or received tax server error messages. This makes it possible to restore the chronology of events and find the "lost" amounts.

Most discrepancies can be avoided by setting up mandatory receipt printing, training cashiers to check «Sale drafts» after power outages, and regularly reconciling X-reports during the day, not only at the last minute before closing the shift.