Front Desk Terminal & Register

Why reception needs a register

Reception handles cash: deposits, incidentals, final settlements, refunds, and sometimes paying a taxi. Without a register those movements have no session to belong to and no cash count to prove them. The terminal gives the desk the same accountability the tills have.

Front desk registers and POS registers share the same model and both feed the same close — see Registers & Reconciliation.

Common Tasks

How to Open a Front Desk Shift (start shift, open front desk register, begin reception shift)

A shift must be open before the desk can take money.

Required permission: Front desk register

1. Go to Front Desk Terminal in the left sidebar
2. Open a shift
3. Enter the opening cash float in the drawer

Result: The shift is open and shows Shift open. Payments and payouts can now be recorded against it.

Note: If the terminal shows No active shift, nothing can be taken. Open the shift at the start of the handover rather than when the first guest arrives.

How to Collect a Guest Payment (take payment at reception, guest pays, settle folio)

Take money from a guest against their folio.

Required permission: Front desk register

1. Go to Front Desk Terminal and choose Collect
2. Find the guest or their folio
3. Enter the amount and the payment method
4. Record the payment

Result: The payment is recorded against the folio, the guest's balance reduces, and the takings are added to the shift.

Note: Payment goes against the folio, not the room. For how charges are routed and split, see Folio Management.

How to Record a Cash Payout (pay out cash, petty cash, refund from drawer)

Record cash leaving the drawer for something other than a refund on a sale.

Required permission: Front desk register

1. Go to Front Desk Terminal and choose Cash payout
2. Enter the amount and what it was for
3. Record it

Result: The payout is recorded against the shift, so the expected cash at close accounts for it.

Note: Record it at the moment the cash leaves. An unrecorded payout appears as missing cash at close, and by then nobody remembers what it was.

How to Drop Cash to the Safe (cash drop, move cash to safe, reduce drawer)

Move cash out of the drawer during a shift without closing it.

Required permission: Front desk register

1. Go to Front Desk Terminal and choose Cash drop (to safe)
2. Enter the amount going to the safe
3. Record it

Result: The drop is recorded and the expected cash in the drawer reduces accordingly.

Note: Drop regularly through a busy shift. It limits what is in the drawer and makes the final count smaller and faster.

How to Close a Front Desk Shift (close shift, end reception shift, count front desk cash)

Close the shift with a count, the same way a till is closed.

Required permission: Front desk register

1. Go to Front Desk Terminal
2. Close the shift
3. Count the cash and enter what you counted
4. Verify the non-cash methods against your terminal
5. Give a reason for any variance
6. Complete the close

Result: The shift closes with its expected, actual and variance recorded, and feeds into the day's reconciliation.

How to Review Past Shifts (shift history, front desk reports, past transactions)

Look back at what a shift took and who was on it.

1. Go to Front Desk Terminal
2. Open Shift history to list past shifts
3. Open Transactions to see the individual movements
4. Use Reports for the summarised view

Result: You can see what any shift took, paid out and counted.