Guides / X report vs Z report
X report vs Z report: what is the difference?
Updated By the EkamOS team
The short answer
An X report is a summary of sales and payments so far in a shift or day; printing it changes nothing. A Z report is the closing summary: it ends the shift or day, fixes its totals, and later sales start a new period. Cafés use X reports to check the drawer and a Z report to close it.
Why there are two reports
A cash drawer needs checking more than once a day. At a shift change or before cash is taken to the bank, the manager wants to know what the drawer should hold without ending the day: that is the X report. At closing, the day has to be ended so its figures stop moving and can go to the owner and the accountant: that is the Z report.
Both exist so the cash can be counted against a number. The Wikipedia article on cashier balancing describes the check: the counted drawer must match the figure expected on the X or Z report, and any gap is an overage or a shortage. Indian point of sale (POS) maker Petpooja’s glossary calls the X report a read-only view you can run several times a shift. Not every system uses the names the same way (Erply, for one, uses them differently), so check what yours means.
X report and Z report side by side
| What differs | X report | Z report |
|---|---|---|
| When you run it | Any time during the shift or day | Once, at the close of the shift or day |
| What it does | Shows the figures so far; nothing changes | Closes the period; later sales go into a new one |
| Used for | Mid-shift checks, shift handover, cash pickups | Day close, the owner’s file, the accountant |
| How many | As many as you like | One per shift or day |
How to close the cash drawer at the end of the day
- Start the day with a counted float. Put a fixed amount of change in the drawer, for example ₹2,000 in small notes and coins, and record it.
- Record every cash in and out as it happens. Cash taken out to pay a supplier, or added for change, is written down with a reason at the time, not remembered at night.
- Run an X report at handover. If staff change mid-day, count the drawer against an X report so each person is responsible for their own part of the day.
- Stop billing and count by denomination. Count each note and coin separately: ₹500, ₹200, ₹100 and so on down to coins. A count written out by denomination is easy to recheck.
- Compare with the expected cash. Expected cash is the opening float plus cash sales plus cash put in, minus cash taken out and cash refunds. The difference is the overage or shortage; if there is one, count again.
- Check card and UPI separately. Match card totals with the card machine’s settlement and UPI totals with your UPI app or bank statement.
- Run the Z report and file it. Write the reason for any difference on the day’s close, run the Z report, and keep it with the count.
An example: opening float ₹2,000, cash sales ₹18,450, and ₹1,200 paid out of the drawer to the milk supplier. Expected cash is ₹2,000 + ₹18,450 − ₹1,200 = ₹19,250. If the drawer counts ₹19,150, it is ₹100 short.
EkamOS
How EkamOS helps with day close
EkamOS is point of sale (POS) software for cafés and restaurants in India. For closing the day, it does the following today.
- Open the cash drawer with a float, record cash in and out with a reason, count the drawer by denomination at close, and print X and Z reports.
- Only the owner can reopen a closed day.
- Refund a paid bill from the bill drawer: EkamOS issues a credit note against it, so the original bill stays intact.
- Staff can discount up to a limit you set; above it, a manager approves with their PIN.
- Café sales for any period, broken down by item and by payment type.
X and Z report questions
Does running an X report reset sales?
No. An X report only reads the figures so far (Petpooja); the Z report is the one that closes the period. If your system behaves differently, it is using the names its own way, so check its manual.
How often should I run a Z report?
Once at the end of each business day, or at the end of each shift if every cashier is responsible for their own drawer. Running it at the same point every day keeps one day comparable with the next.
What should I do if the cash drawer is short?
Count again first: the Wikipedia article on cashier balancing notes that a difference is usually recounted. Then look for refunds or payouts that were not recorded, card or UPI payments entered as cash, and wrong change. Record the difference and the reason on the day’s close rather than topping up the drawer.
What is a float in a cash drawer?
The amount of change put in the drawer at the start of the day or shift, so the first customers can be given change. It is counted in and taken back out at close, so it is not part of the day’s sales (Wikipedia).
Sources
The pages this guide relies on, opened when it was written or last updated.
- Cashier balancing, Wikipedia
- X Report (POS Closing Report): Meaning and Use, Petpooja
- Benefits of the X-Report, Erply
Related guides
- Kitchen order tickets (KOT): What a kitchen order ticket is, how it moves from table to kitchen to bill, special KOTs, and printed tickets against a kitchen display.
- Hotel night audit: What night audit is, the steps to run one, and the figures on the report: occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room.
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