Summary
Introduction to Session Management
For any brick and mortar business, it is imperative to implement some kind of organization with a clear flow and function. Imagine an employee not tracking their work hours or losing the register cash. Apart from the confusions it would cause, it would also demand a lot of time and work. This is where sessions come in to play. Sessions refer to the accurate tracking of the day's activities, log-in hours, and the transactions that took place in that day. That business day of the employee is referred to as one session.
Scenario
Imagine you own an apparel store where employees work in different shifts. Some work in the morning from 9 AM to 3 PM, while others work in the evening from 3 PM to 9 PM. With different people handling sales throughout the day, it becomes challenging to keep track of the sales activities at the counter. Without proper tracking, there’s a higher risk of errors or discrepancies. In these scenarios, sessions help you monitor each salesperson's billing hours and sales activities during their shift, giving you greater visibility and control over daily operations.
Enable Sessions
To use sessions, you need to enable them under Sales Channels. Users with access to the Sales Channel configuration can enable sessions.
Navigate to Sales Channels > Customization and select Preferences under Point of Sale.
Click the checkbox next to Enable sessions and cash tracking.
Click Save.
Sessions Customizations
Once you enable sessions, you can customize their functions to suit your business requirement.
Customize account mapping
You can modify the accounts mapped to Cash in, Excess amount discrepancy, Cash out, and Shortage amount discrepancy based on your requirements for better tracking and accuracy.
Navigate to Sales Channel > Customization > Preferences and select Sessions.
Click Customize Account Mapping under Enable sessions & cash tracking.
Change the accounts based on your requirement and click Update.
Session report mailer
Sessions help you monitor the day's sales activities at your storefront. To ensure accurate and timely monitoring, it’s important that the session report reaches the right person without delay. Zoho POS offers an option to automate this process by sending a detailed session summary via email to designated users as soon as a session is closed.
Note
The first admin user is mapped by default and cannot be removed from the recipient list.
Navigate to Sales Channel > Customization > Preferences and select Sessions.
Click the checkbox next to the Send email session report automatically at the end of every session to the following users.
Click Modify under Send email session report automatically at the end of every session to the following users.
Click the checkbox next to the user to add them and click Update.
Enable and customize cash denomination
To record denominations, you should first enable it in the POS preferences. You can also add new denominations or customize existing ones based on your requirement. For instance, if your government introduces a new currency denomination, you can simply add it to the list and start accepting payments without any hassle.
To enable cash denomination
Navigate to Sales Channel > Customization > Preferences and select Sessions.
Click the checkbox next to Enable cash denomination.
Click Save.
To add/customize the cash denomination
Navigate to Sales Channel > Customization > Preferences and select Sessions.
Click Customize Denomination under Enable cash denomination.
Click + Add New and enter required details to add a new denomination.
Alternatively, click the existing denomination fields to make changes to them.
Click Update.
Default Opening Cash
You can set a default opening cash amount, which will be pre-filled in the opening cash field when a user starts a new session. User can choose to start the session with this pre-filled value or even change it and start the session.
Navigate to Sales Channel > Customization > Preferences and select Sessions.
Add the value underDefault opening cash.
Click Save.
Sessions in Windows application
Let's see how one can run their daily operations with the help of Sessions in Zoho POS Windows application.
Opening a session
Opening a session marks the start of a user’s business day. Each session begins with an opening cash amount, which is either the remaining balance from the previous day or the cash added to the register at the start of the day. This process helps manage and track all over-the-counter transactions accurately.
Upon enabling a session in the web application, open the Zoho POS desktop application.
Log in to your Zoho POS account.
Click Open Session.
Enter the Counted Opening Cash and click Open Session.
Cash In/Out transactions
The beginning of a business session will have some loose cash that will be handed over to the employee at the register. This amount not being tallied or getting misplaced is prevalent in an everyday register top business. In order to tackle this issue, sessions in Zoho POS have a Cash In/Out option. This option takes note of the money at the beginning of the session and at the end. If there are any discrepancies, the session summary will automatically point them out.
Scenario
Imagine you run a supermarket where you offer door delivery to your customers. At the beginning of the day, a delivery person collects a certain amount of cash from the cashier to cover transportation expenses. This amount should be recorded as Cash Out, with the reason and the delivery person’s name mentioned in the Note (e.g., “Fuel advance – John”). After completing deliveries and collecting payments from customers, the delivery person returns the collected cash along with any unspent amount. This return is recorded as Cash In, and the Note should include relevant details such as the person’s name and purpose (e.g., “Delivery cash return – John"). When the Cashier closes the session with the proper denomination from the cash drawer, the session summary will point out Discrepancies or Excess Amount.
To Record Cash In and Cash Out
Open the Zoho POS Windows application.
Click on the profile in the side bar.
In the top section, click Cash In/Out.
Specify the cash type, amount, and optionally add a reason in the Notes.
Click Add Cash.
Closing a session
At the end of the sales day, the billing staff should count the cash in the drawer and close the session by entering the closing cash amount along with the appropriate denominations.
In the Zoho POS Windows application, click on the profile on the side bar.
In the first section, click Close Session.
In the pop-up, enter the money left on the register according to the denomination.
Click Close Session.
Sessions Summary
Handing the data of a session is a crucial part of a business. At the end of a session, you will be able to identify the amount of cash left in the register, the total transaction that took place, and more. However, finding out the amount of cash that was supposed to be in the register and the discrepancies around it, if any, makes the end of the workday hassle free.
Session summary in Zoho POS includes:
- The total sales that happened in one session, including order/invoices count
- Total order value
- Discrepancies
- Total returns
- Discount offered by the business
- Amount collected at the start
- The medium of sale and the amount in each medium, including refunds
- Cash In/Out
- Amount counted in the cash drawer
- Expected amount in the cash drawer
- Denominations of the cash entered
- Date and time of when the session was opened and closed
- The name of the employee who opened the session
- The register in which the session was enabled
- A graph of the sales summary with their medium of sale
To open session summary
Navigate to your profile in the sidebar and click Sessions.
Select a session.
Other Actions
Cash Activity
You can get the detailed view of the cash in/cash out activities like time, amount, and reason under cash activity.
Navigate to Sessions.
Select a session and click Cash Activity.
Print session summary
You can also print your session summary and utilize it for accounting and auditing purposes.
Navigate to Sessions.
Select a session and click Print.
Sessions in the Zoho POS web
Session summary
Log in to the Zoho POS account.
Navigate to Business > Sales and select Sessions.
Select a session.
Live session summary
You can also check register wise live session summary through Zoho POS web. This live data will help store owners and managers track the happenings at the registers and take immediate action if required.
To check the live session summary:
Log in to the Zoho POS web application.
Navigate to Sales Channel > Registers.
Click the drop-down icon next to the register and select View Session.
You will be redirected to the session overview page.
Session Reconciliation
To ensure accurate session records and support thorough auditing, any missed Cash In/Out transactions or adjustments to the closing cash amount can be made even after a session has closed. These actions can be performed by users with the admin role directly from the session overview page.
Modify Closing Cash
Navigate to Business > Sales and select Sessions.
Select the session.
Click Edit next to the Amount counted at the end in the Overview section.
Enter the required details and click Save.
Add missed transactions
Navigate to Business > Sales and select Sessions.
Select the session.
Click Record Transactions in the Overview section.
Enter the required details and click Save.
Sales by Session report
You can get a complete view of billing activity with the Sales by Session report. It includes session ID, start/end times, register, user, invoice count, payment modes, and more. Track key metrics like session duration, user activity, total sales, cash flow, and discrepancies. The report can be easily grouped, customized, and exported to suit your business needs.
To view the Sales by Session report:
Log in to the Zoho POS web application.
Navigate to Reports > Sales and select Sales by Session.
