Tills
A till is a teller's individual cash drawer for the duration of a shift. Every shilling that flows through the front-counter passes through exactly one till and is logged denomination-by-denomination so that close-of-day balancing is provable to the cent.
Till and till session
Two records are involved. The **till** (`mfi.cash.till`) is a permanent record — Till 01 at Kawangware branch — with a GL account, a maximum float, and an assigned teller pool. The **till session** (`mfi.cash.till.session`) is created every time a teller opens that till; it carries the running balance, the denomination ledger, and every transaction for that shift. Closing a till session writes a journal entry from the till GL account to a transit/clearing account; opening a new session brings the float back from the vault.
Note — One teller can hold only one open till session at a time. A till can be reused by different tellers across shifts but never overlapping.
Lifecycle
- **Open** — teller scans badge + PIN at the till. System pulls the assigned float (default KES 50,000) from the vault and credits the till session.
- **Float check** — teller counts cash in drawer, enters denomination breakdown, system compares to expected. Mismatch on open blocks the session.
- **Active** — every customer-facing transaction (deposit, withdrawal, disbursement, repayment, fee) updates the running balance.
- **Sweep** — when balance breaches policy maximum, supervisor moves excess to vault. Logged as till → vault transfer.
- **Lock** — teller stepping away locks the drawer; balance is frozen, badge required to unlock.
- **Pre-close count** — teller declares denomination breakdown at close.
- **Reconcile** — system computes declared vs expected; variance ≠ 0 triggers incident workflow.
- **Close** — once reconciled (or variance accepted), session closes and cash returns to vault.
Denomination ledger
Kenyan currency in circulation is KES 1,000 / 500 / 200 / 100 / 50 notes and KES 40 / 20 / 10 / 5 / 1 coins. The till tracks each denomination count separately. This is not cosmetic — it's how you detect mistakes versus theft.
Default opening float total: KES 50,000. The denomination editor on the till session form recalculates the total live as you type.
| Denomination | Type | Common float allocation |
|---|---|---|
| KES 1,000 | Note | 30 (= KES 30,000) |
| KES 500 | Note | 20 (= KES 10,000) |
| KES 200 | Note | 25 (= KES 5,000) |
| KES 100 | Note | 30 (= KES 3,000) |
| KES 50 | Note | 20 (= KES 1,000) |
| KES 40 | Coin | 10 (= KES 400) |
| KES 20 | Coin | 20 (= KES 400) |
| KES 10 | Coin | 10 (= KES 100) |
| KES 5 | Coin | 10 (= KES 50) |
| KES 1 | Coin | 50 (= KES 50) |
Note — If your branch operates a coin-light policy (most urban branches do), set the policy to skip coin denominations and round to KES 50 — the float comes out cleaner.
Who can do what
| Action | Teller | Supervisor | Branch manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open own session | Yes | Yes (own) | Yes (own) |
| Open someone else's till | No | Yes (cover) | Yes (cover) |
| Sweep till → vault | No (request) | Yes | Yes |
| Force-close someone else's session | No | No | Yes (with reason) |
| Override hard maximum on transaction | No | No | Yes (logged) |
| Accept variance ≤ KES 5,000 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Accept variance > KES 5,000 | No | No | Yes if ≤ KES 50,000; else escalate |
Journal entries posted
Each till transaction generates an accounting journal entry against pre-configured GL accounts.
| Event | Dr | Cr | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Float draw (vault → till) | Till cash (GL) | Vault cash (GL) | On open |
| Customer cash deposit (savings) | Till cash | Member savings liability | Per product config |
| Customer cash withdrawal | Member savings liability | Till cash | Per product config |
| Loan disbursement in cash | Loan principal asset | Till cash | Per loan product |
| Loan repayment in cash | Till cash | Loan receivable / interest income | Allocator splits per schedule |
| Sweep till → vault | Vault cash | Till cash | Mid-day or pre-close |
| End-of-shift return | Vault cash | Till cash | Closes the till session |
| Shortage accepted ≤ cap | Cash shortage expense | Till cash | Creates incident anyway |
| Overage accepted ≤ cap | Till cash | Cash overage income | Creates incident anyway |
Worked scenarios
Scenario — Mary works a normal teller shift
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Mary Mutua | Senior teller |
| Peter Otieno | Supervisor |
| Jane Wambui | Member depositing |
| Kimani Mwangi | Member repaying loan |
Timeline
- 07:55: Mary taps badge at Till 01 terminal. Peter co-authorises the float draw from vault. (Till session #41 opened, float KES 50,000)
- 07:57: Mary counts the float in front of Peter. Matches. (Float verified, session ACTIVE)
- 08:12: Jane deposits KES 8,000 in 4 × 2,000-equivalent (4 × KES 1,000 × 2). Mary enters denomination breakdown. (Till balance KES 58,000)
- 10:30: Kimani repays KES 22,500 — KES 22 × KES 1,000 + KES 5 × KES 100. Mary enters split. (Till balance KES 80,500)
- 12:00: Mary locks till for lunch. (Session LOCKED)
- 13:00: Mary unlocks with badge. (Session ACTIVE)
- 15:45: After heavy afternoon repayments till balance hits KES 215,000. System soft-warns Mary and pages Peter. (Operating max breach)
- 15:50: Peter sweeps KES 150,000 to vault. Till now KES 65,000. (Till → Vault transfer logged)
- 17:00: Counter closes to public. (Branch in close mode)
- 17:08: Mary declares closing denomination breakdown. Total declared KES 71,300; expected KES 71,300. Variance 0. (Reconciled clean)
- 17:12: Cash returned to vault. Till session closed. (Till session CLOSED)
Outcome — Clean session; ~KES 145,000 in customer-facing throughput; zero variance.
Reference
Till session states
| State | Meaning | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| draft | Created but float not yet pulled | System on open request |
| awaiting_count | Float pulled, awaiting opening count | System on float transfer |
| active | Open for customer transactions | Teller on float verify |
| locked | Drawer temporarily locked, no transactions | Teller on lock |
| pre_close | Counter closed, teller counting | Teller on close request |
| reconciling | Variance found, awaiting decision | System on variance |
| closed_clean | Closed with zero variance | System on reconcile |
| closed_with_variance | Closed after variance accepted | System on variance accept |
| force_closed | Closed by manager override | Branch manager |
Key fields on till session
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| session_no | Char | Auto-allocated |
| till_id | M2O mfi.cash.till | Permanent till record |
| teller_id | M2O res.users | The teller for this shift |
| open_date | Datetime | When float was drawn |
| close_date | Datetime | When session was closed |
| opening_balance | Monetary | Float drawn |
| closing_balance_expected | Monetary computed | Opening + ins − outs |
| closing_balance_declared | Monetary | Teller's count at close |
| variance | Monetary computed | Declared − expected |
| denomination_line_ids | O2M | Denomination ledger lines |
| transaction_ids | O2M account.move | All journals against till |
| incident_id | M2O mfi.cash.incident | Set if variance ≠ 0 |
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Teller cannot lock till — 'pending transaction' warning | Customer transaction in mid-flight (e.g. receipt printing) holding a database lock | Wait 30 seconds for the transaction to complete or roll back. If still stuck, branch manager can force-unlock from the till session form. |
| Denomination breakdown total does not match cash count | Coin denomination skipped (e.g. KES 40 coins not entered) | Open the denomination editor, enable 'Show coins', recount and enter all denominations. |
| Float draw fails — vault rejected | Vault not yet opened by supervisor, or vault below configured minimum reserve | Supervisor opens the vault session first (dual control). If reserve is the issue, request CIT top-up before opening the branch. |
| Variance shows even after careful recount | A repayment was posted to a different till in error, or a void did not reverse the cash leg | Run the Till Movement Report filtered by date and till. Look for transactions that should not be there. Reverse via the original posting wizard, not by manual journal. |
| Till session shows transactions from yesterday | Previous session was never properly closed (force-closed in panic at EOD) | Branch manager opens the orphan session, runs Pre-close → Reconcile → Close on the old session, then teller can open a fresh session. |
See also
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