Shutters down: how the night went

Eleven o'clock, and the last kottu has gone out of the sample counter in this tour. The hot plate is cooling, the shutters are half down, and the owner has two worries before counting the cash: did every order actually go out, and was tonight as good as it felt? This tour reads the night from the Home screen in five stops. A street food counter does not need a separate reports page for this; Home already holds the numbers that matter at closing.

Each stop is expanded below into what you look at, what the figure means and what to do with it. After that come tips, common mistakes and where to go next.

What does Home show at closing time?

The greeting at the top is followed by one line: Rs 257,650 taken from 176 served orders, and 0 orders still open. Two chips repeat the two numbers that matter most: taken today, and open orders.

Below that are three areas. Needs you now lists any order still waiting. How today is going shows the average served order, how orders came in and cash against card. Sales overview shows the last seven days as bars, with tonight last.

Step by step

1. Open Home after the last order. Read the top line first. Rs 257,650 from 176 served orders, nothing open. If the open count is anything but zero, deal with that before anything else.
2. Check Needs you now. It should say Nothing waiting. This is the forgotten-bag check: if a takeaway was paid for but never handed over, or an order was never marked served, it would be sitting here. An empty box means every customer got their food.
3. Read the average served order. In How today is going, the sample shows an average of Rs 1,464. That is about one kottu and a drink per order, which is a useful baseline when you try a combo or push an add-on like extra cheese.
4. Look at how orders came in. A bar splits the night between takeaway and eat-in. In the sample, 121 orders were takeaway and 55 were eaten at the counter, roughly 69% against 31%. If you are thinking about adding seats or cutting them, this is the number to watch over a month.
5. Check cash against card. The sample shows Rs 196,400 in cash and Rs 61,250 on card. Three quarters of tonight's money is in the drawer, which is why the count matters.
6. Work out what the drawer should hold. Take the cash figure, add the float you opened with, and that is what you should count. Our cash-up guide explains how to count before you look at the expected figure, so the number does not steer your count.
7. Compare tonight with the week. Sales overview shows seven bars, tonight last and labelled Today. Saturday at Rs 257,650 is the tallest; Monday at Rs 168,900 the shortest. One look tells you whether tonight was a good Saturday or just a busy one.
8. Close the day. Once the drawer is counted and agrees with the figure, cash up and lock the day so nobody can change tonight's sales tomorrow.

What did the sample week look like?

Two things stand out. The week builds steadily from Monday to Saturday, which suggests the quiet start of the week is the place to try something new, such as a weekday combo. And Saturday alone brought in about 17% of the week, so a Saturday where something goes wrong, a gas problem or a missing delivery, costs far more than a bad Tuesday.

Why check for open orders before counting the cash?

Because an open order is either food that has not gone out or money that has not been recorded properly. If a customer paid and their order is still open, the cash is in the drawer but the order says it is not finished. If an order was rung up but never paid, the figure on Home will not match what you count. Clearing open orders first means the number you count against is the true one.

There is also the customer. A forgotten bag at eleven at night is a customer who went home without their food, and probably one who will not come back. Needs you now is the last chance to catch it.

Tips for closing up

• Do Home before you touch the drawer. Know the expected cash first, then count.
• Keep the float the same every night. A fixed float, counted out first, makes the expected cash a simple sum.
• Write down one thing from the week. "Monday slowest again" or "takeaway up" is enough. A month of notes beats a month of guessing.
• Watch the average, not just the total. Takings rise with more customers. The average rises when customers buy more each. Each needs a different idea.
• Think about what each dish costs. Tonight's best sellers earn the most only if they are priced right; our guide to food cost percentage shows how to check.

Common mistakes

• Counting cash while orders are still open. The figure is not final until every order is served and paid.
• Comparing Saturday with Monday. Compare tonight with last Saturday, not with the quiet days. The bars make it tempting to compare neighbours.
• Treating card money as money in hand. Card payments take time to reach the bank; cash is in the drawer tonight. Our guide on cash flow for a small business explains why the difference matters for paying suppliers.
• Skipping the lock. If the day is not closed, a sale can still be changed tomorrow, and tonight's count will no longer match.

What should you do next?

Go back through the night if you have not seen it: tonight's menu before opening, the counter till, the evening rush in the kitchen and who is still waiting at nine. Then read the end-of-day cash-up guide to make the count itself a routine.

How EasyTaskr helps

EasyTaskr's food Home shows tonight's takings from served orders, any order still open, the average order, takeaway against eat-in, cash against card and the last seven days. End-of-day closing then lets you cash up and lock the day. The counter and figures in this tour are sample data.