Z report and closing the drawer
The Z report is your end-of-day snapshot: total sales, payments by method, VAT collected and the cash that should be in the drawer. Learn to read it and close the day correctly.
At the end of every trading day a shop needs one honest number: how much did we sell, how was it paid, and how much cash should physically be in the drawer? The Z report answers all three. In CEMAC POS it is generated from your immutable, hash-chained sales, so the figures cannot be quietly edited after the fact.
How it works
CEMAC POS records every completed sale as an append-only, hash-chained entry (each sale references the previous one). A Z report simply sums the sales for the period you close — usually one day or one shift — and groups them the way the DGI and your accountant expect: net of returns, by payment method, and by VAT rate.
- Gross sales and returns, giving net turnover for the period.
- A breakdown by payment method: cash, MTN MoMo, Orange Money, card.
- VAT collected at 19.25% (17.5% state VAT + 10% council surcharge) shown separately from the pre-tax base.
- Expected cash in drawer = opening float + cash sales - cash refunds - cash paid out.
Because sales are immutable, a Z report for a past day always reproduces the same totals. Nothing is deleted when you close; the report is a read of the ledger, not a reset that wipes data.
Closing the drawer, step by step
- Stop taking new sales for the shift you are about to close.
- Open Money then Z report and pick the day (or shift) to close.
- Read the summary: net sales, totals per payment method and VAT collected.
- Count the physical cash in the till and enter the counted amount.
- Compare counted cash against expected cash; the screen shows the difference (over or short).
- If there is a gap, check for a missed cash payout, an unrecorded expense or a wrong-method sale before you confirm.
- Confirm the close and, if you print, keep the Z report with the day’s receipts.
A small cash difference is normal in retail. What matters is that you record it rather than hide it — an honest short is auditable; a forced balance is not.
Reading the numbers
Net sales should match the sum of the payment methods. If cash + MoMo + Orange Money + card does not equal net turnover, a payment was recorded on the wrong method or a sale was left unpaid. The VAT line is your collected output VAT (account 4431) for the day; it flows into the VAT declaration covered in its own tutorial.
Common errors and how to fix them
| Message / symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Expected cash far higher than counted | A cash payout or expense was paid from the till but never recorded | Record the expense (Expenses tutorial), then re-read the Z report so the drawer reconciles |
| Payment totals do not add up to net sales | A sale was tagged to the wrong payment method (e.g. MoMo taken as cash) | Locate the sale in the day’s list and correct its payment method before closing |
| “No sales for this period” | Wrong date selected, or the device was offline and sales have not synced | Check the date; if offline, let the outbox sync, then reopen the Z report |
| Yesterday’s Z totals changed | This should never happen — sales are immutable | It means you are reading a different date or tenant; confirm the shop and day selected |
| Drawer short every evening by a similar amount | Opening float entered wrong, or a recurring cash payout not logged | Set the correct opening float and record the recurring payout as an expense |
Common questions
Does closing the drawer delete my sales?
No. Sales are immutable and hash-chained. Closing only reads and summarises them; you can reopen any past Z report and get identical totals.
Can I run a Z report while offline?
Yes for sales already on the device. Sales made on other devices appear once the outbox syncs, so close a shared till only after devices are back online.
What is the difference between a Z report and the income statement?
The Z report is a daily operational close of one till. The income statement (in the accounting tutorial) aggregates all activity over a period into SYSCOHADA results.
Try it in your own shop
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