Till Balancing

Till balancing is how we keep track of money in OpenVPMS. At the end of the day, many practices will "close the till". This is the tool to accomplish that. First let's look at the display.

This screen allows you to search for balances using date criteria, as well as status. The status is either "Cleared" or "Uncleared" (or both).

When a balance is "Cleared", that money has been reconciled with what's actually in the till. The till comprises actual cash on hand, checks, and records of online transactions such as credit cards, EFT, or any other transfer types you have setup (such as debit). To clear the till, is to move money out of the operational part of the business. These funds are no longer available for refunds, or any other usage except depositing. This is covered in the deposit section.

Upon clicking on one of the balances that your seach yields, you will see all the payments associated with that balance in the area below.

Closing the Till

We presume that most practices will want to check the till balance daily. So, this makes a daily procedure, usually at the end of the day.

In order to close the till, first select the balance you want to clear. There should be only one that is unbalanced. Next, print (or preview) the current balance by using the "Print" action button at the bottom of the screen.

The goal, is to ensure that all the cash on hand, and receipts from electronic transactions match what OpenVPMS believes happened for the day. The printout will show totals for each transaction type. The sums of cash, cheques, credit on hand must match the printout. If it does not, then an adjustment must be made to document the discrepancy. When this happens, please work with your financial controller to reconcile the situation.

Once the balance has been confirmed, you can click the "Clear" action button at the bottom of the screen. This button will prompt you for a new "Float" balance. Type in the new amount of cash that has been left in the till. This is the balance that the practice will begin with the next day.

Once this is complete, remit all payments to whatever location has been established for this, and you're done!

Adjusting the Balance

Another button at the bottom of the screen is the "Adjust" action button. This button can be used to make an adjustment. If some money is not found, or there is extra money, this can help you balance the till. This functionality is considered advanced, and depending on policy, may be unused except for by your financial controller.