Cash count and movements

The cash count is the moment of truth: you compare the cash the system says you should have with what is actually in the drawer.

The formula, exactly as Prestafolio computes it

Expected = Opening balance + Collected − Delivered

• Opening balance: what you declared when you opened the cash box.
• Collected: the sum of everything that came in during the shift (inbound movements).
• Delivered: the sum of everything that went out during the shift (outbound movements).

And on closing:

Difference = Counted cash − Expected cash

A full numeric example

A Tuesday shift:

• Collected (inbound) = 3,500 + 2,000 = RD$ 5,500.00
• Delivered (outbound) = 4,000 + 2,000 = RD$ 6,000.00
• Expected = 5,000 + 5,500 − 6,000 = RD$ 4,500.00

You count the drawer and find RD$ 4,500.00 → difference RD$ 0.00, the cash box balances.

If you counted RD$ 4,300.00 instead, the difference would be −RD$ 200.00: a shortfall of two hundred pesos.

The detail that confuses everyone: reversals

Look at the example: collection #3 was reversed, and it still shows up in the list and still adds to "Collected". That is correct and deliberate.

The cash movement log is append-only: nothing is ever deleted. When you reverse a collection, Prestafolio adds an outbound movement for the same amount instead of removing the inbound one. That way the full trail remains: it was collected, and then it was given back.

Practical consequences:

• The shift totals Collected and Delivered are inflated by reversals, but Expected is always right, because the inbound and the outbound cancel each other out.
• That is why what a collector "collected" in the shift breakdown may not match what the reports show for their payments. It is not a bug: it is the difference between cash that passed through their hands and payments that are still valid. We explain it in Cash by collector.

Movement types

A bulk collection (several installments of the same loan at once) generates a single movement for the total, not one per installment. In the report you see it as one Collection.

The session report

From Cash → Cash history, open any session (open or closed) and you will see:

• Summary: status, opening balance, counted, expected, difference, who opened it and when.
• Totals: delivered, collected, expected.
• Movements: every inbound/outbound entry with its kind, amount, the agent who recorded it and the date.
• Per-agent breakdown: how much each person delivered and collected during that shift.

The totals and the per-agent breakdown are business-wide money: they require the cash statistics permission. Without it you still see the movement list, but not the sums (Cash permissions).

Once the session is closed, the expected figure you see is the one stored at the count, not a recalculation: the closing snapshot does not change over time.

When the cash box does not balance

Closing with a difference is allowed: Prestafolio records the shortfall or surplus and closes anyway. It does not create any automatic adjustment and does not touch your accounting: the difference stays as a fact of the count, for you to decide what to do about it.

Before closing with a difference, check the usual suspects:

1. Was a collection taken in cash but never recorded in the system? (or the other way around)
2. Did someone take money out of the drawer for an expense without writing it down?
3. Was a loan disbursed with money that did not come out of that drawer (a transfer, another account)?
4. Are there collections from yesterday still sitting in yesterday's open shift?

Always use the note field when closing to write down why. The history keeps that note next to the difference.

Expected for the shift ≠ cash box balance

These are two different numbers and it is normal for them to differ:

The opening balance you declare is a count, not income: it does not move the accounting balance. The disbursement limit (the insufficient balance warning) is measured against the cash box balance, not against what you declared this morning.