Cash Drawer Setup
Where this lives: Dashboard > TORO Configuration > Set Up System > Setup tab > Set Up Cash Drawer
Looking for how to tell TORO what kind of drawer you own, or why the drawer isn't popping open? That's a different screen — see Choosing Your Cash Drawer Type.
Your cash drawer is the nerve center of daily cash handling. TORO can manage the whole lifecycle — opening counts, closing counts, cash drops, over/short tracking — or it can step back entirely and let you handle the drawer yourself. This article covers both scenarios and everything in between.
Does TORO Need to Manage Your Drawer?
That depends on your setup. Most stores want TORO managing the drawer because it gives you accountability: every dollar in and out gets tracked, discrepancies get flagged, and your daily reports tell you exactly where the cash went.
But some stores use a separate cash management system, or their drawer is tied to another device, or they simply prefer to handle cash their own way. If that's you, turn off TORO's drawer management and the system won't prompt you to open or close the drawer at all.
Turning Drawer Management On or Off
From the main screen, tap Dashboard
Click the TORO Configuration tab on the left, then click the Set Up System card. (Can't find it? Type "setup" in the search box at the top right.)
On the Setup tab, click Set Up Cash Drawer
Check or uncheck the box that begins "TORO will manage your cash drawer." (It's under the Manage Drawer Opening/Closing heading.)
Click Save
When enabled (checked): Employees must count cash at the start and end of each day. TORO tracks all cash movement — sales, refunds, drops, inserts — and calculates expected vs. actual at closing.
When disabled (unchecked): No opening or closing prompts. No cash counting screens. No drawer-related reports. TORO processes sales normally but doesn't track what's physically in the drawer. The Open Drawer option disappears from the menu entirely.
Either way, the drawer still pops open on a cash sale if you have one connected. Managing the drawer is about counting the money, not about opening the drawer.
The Open/Close Drawer Menu
Everything you do with the drawer during the day lives under one menu on the main POS screen: Open/Close Drawer.
| Menu item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open Drawer… | Count your starting cash for the day. Only appears when TORO is managing your drawer. |
| Close Drawer… | Count everything down at end of day and see your over/short. |
| Shift Change Tool | Hand the drawer off between cashiers mid-day. |
| Drawer Transaction… | Record a cash drop, a cash insert, or a paid-out expense. Drops and expenses require a reason and print a slip to go with the cash. |
TORO turns these on and off as appropriate: you can't close a drawer that isn't open, and you can't open one that's already open. If the register has no drawer attached, the whole menu is disabled and reads [NO CASH DRAWER].
Drawer Transaction… is available on every store — recording one takes a manager-level PIN. It's also on the Dashboard under the Transactions tab as Drawer - Add/Remove Cash, so you can reach it without the legacy menu.
Opening the Drawer
When drawer management is on, TORO prompts the first employee who logs in each day to open the drawer. You'll count your starting cash by denomination — bills, coins, and rolled coins. This establishes the baseline for the day.
If you skip the prompt, TORO will remind you before your first sale. You can also open the drawer anytime from Open/Close Drawer > Open Drawer….
See Opening Up for the Day for the full walkthrough.
Closing the Drawer
At the end of the day, go to Open/Close Drawer > Close Drawer…. TORO walks you through counting everything in the drawer. It then compares your count against what it expected based on the day's transactions and shows you the difference — your over/short amount.
The Difference field is color-coded so you can read it at a glance:
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green | The drawer balances exactly (or a manager approved the difference). |
| Yellow | The drawer is short, but within the tolerance you set. |
| Red | The drawer is short by more than your tolerance. TORO won't let you close until you recount, make up the difference, or get a manager to click Allow Difference. |
| Purple | There's more cash than expected. Pull the surplus out, set it aside, and mark it "Surplus Cash." |
See Closing Out at the End of the Day for the full walkthrough.
Over/Short Thresholds
You can set how big a shortage TORO will tolerate before it refuses to let you close. On the Set Up Cash Drawer screen, under the Drawer Closing heading, you set two numbers:
- a percentage of cash sales, and
- a maximum dollar amount.
TORO uses whichever is smaller, so both act as a ceiling. On a $1,000 cash-sales day with a 2% / $5 setting, 2% works out to $20 but the $5 cap is smaller — so $5 is your limit. On a $100 day, 2% is only $2, so $2 is the limit. The tighter of the two always wins.
Set it too tight and you'll get flagged over a few pennies. Set it too loose and real problems slip through. Most stores keep the dollar amount modest — around $1 to $5 — depending on volume.
If you leave both at zero, the drawer must balance to the penny.
A shortage past the limit stops the close with "The drawer is missing $X.XX." A manager with the right access can click Allow Difference to override and record it.
There's a ? button beside the Difference field on the closing screen that shows you today's exact tolerance in dollars, so a cashier never has to guess.
Cash Drops and Inserts
Even with drawer management on, you'll move cash during the day. Cash drops (removing cash to the safe) and cash inserts (adding change or restocking bills) are both recorded through Open/Close Drawer > Drawer Transaction…, which also handles safe expenses. TORO factors these into the expected cash calculation at closing.
See Cash Drops and Safe Management for details.
Change Thresholds
Under Cash Drawer Threshold Notifications you can tell TORO the ideal quantity of each denomination to keep in the drawer — how many rolls of quarters, how many fives, and so on — and have it notify management when the drawer runs low. Handy if you keep running out of ones on Saturday afternoon.
The Cash Drop Alert
At the bottom of the Set Up Cash Drawer screen is the Cash Drop Alert. Enter a dollar amount and TORO reminds the cashier to do a cash drop whenever the cash in the drawer climbs that far above the opening amount — the reminder pops right after the cash sale that crosses the line, shows exactly how much extra is in the drawer, and offers a Do Cash Drop Now button that goes straight into recording the drop. Remind Me Later quiets it for 30 minutes. Enter 0 to turn the alert off (it ships off).
See Cash Drops and Safe Management for the full cash drop workflow.
Forcing Cash Sales to the Safe
Also under Drawer Closing is a checkbox: "At drawer closing, force all cash sales for day to safe." With it on, the amount you move to the safe at close must exactly equal the day's net cash. Leave it off if you like leaving the day's cash in the drawer.
Things to Know
The counting rules are store-wide. Drawer management, thresholds, and tolerances apply everywhere in your store.
The drawer hardware is per register. Each station has its own drawer type. See Choosing Your Cash Drawer Type.
Tolerances and thresholds take effect immediately. No restart needed after changing them.
Turning drawer management on or off needs a restart before the Open Drawer… menu item appears or disappears. Close TORO and open it again.
Disabling drawer management means no drawer reports for that period. If you turn it off for a week and turn it back on, that week has no cash tracking data.
The drawer pops for cash, not for cards. TORO opens the drawer on cash payments, employee comps, and store comps — not on credit card sales.
Manually opening the drawer is tracked. A cashier has to be clocked in, and TORO asks why — the reason is logged against their name. If they're not clocked in, the drawer stays shut and management gets notified of the attempt. Admin users can open it without being clocked in.
"When closing the drawer, check for any open tabs." is a separate setting that has TORO check for unsettled tabs before you close out the day, so nothing gets forgotten. You'll find it under the Tab Setup heading on the Set Up Transactions & Tabs screen (Dashboard > TORO Configuration > Set Up System > Set Up Transactions & Tabs).