What is Cash Drawer?
Cash Drawer tracks physical cash at a location from open to close. Start with a balance, and Renterra automatically logs all cash payments and refunds during the session. At close, count your cash and compare it to what Renterra expects.
Common Use Cases
End-of-Day Closeout — Open a drawer in the morning, process orders, then close and count to verify everything lines up.
Shift Handoff — Close the drawer at shift end so the next person can open fresh. The previous ending balance auto-fills as the default starting amount.
Non-Order Cash Movement — Use Paid In/Out for bank deposits, petty cash, or cash brought in from another source.
Enabling Cash Drawer
Cash Drawer is an optional feature that needs to be turned on before use.
Navigate to Admin Settings > Features
Toggle on Cash Drawer
When enabled, a Cash Drawer button appears on the Invoices & Bills page.
Using Cash Drawer
Opening a Cash Drawer
Each location can have one open drawer at a time.
Go to Invoices & Bills > click Cash Drawer
The Location will use whatever you have selected in the Location dropdown
Enter your Starting Cash — the amount of physical cash currently in the register
Click Start Drawer
The starting cash defaults to the previous drawer's ending balance for that location, so you don't have to look it up.
If the location you select already has an open drawer, Renterra will redirect you to that drawer instead of creating a new one.
Working with an Open Drawer
Once a drawer is open, the Cash Drawer page shows two sections: the Cash Transactions list and the Drawer Summary.
Drawer Summary
The summary card displays a real-time breakdown of your drawer:
Location and Drawer Open Time
Starting Cash — the balance you entered when opening
Cash Payments — total cash payments collected in Renterra during this session
Cash Refunds — total cash refunds issued during this session
Paid In/Out — net total of manual paid in/out entries
Expected in Drawer — the amount that should be in your register, calculated as:
Expected = Starting Cash + Cash Payments − Cash Refunds + Paid In − Paid Out
Cash Transactions
The transactions list shows every cash event in chronological order, including both Renterra payments and manual Paid In/Out entries. Each entry shows the amount, running balance, timestamp, user, and any notes.
Recording Paid In/Out
Use Paid In/Out to record cash that moves in or out of the register outside of normal Renterra payments — like bank deposits, petty cash purchases, or cash added from another source.
Click + Paid In/Out in the Cash Transactions section
Select Paid In or Paid Out
Enter the Amount
Add an optional Note describing the reason
Click Save
The entry appears immediately in your transactions list and updates the expected drawer total.
Closing a Drawer
When you're ready to reconcile, close the drawer by counting your actual cash and entering the total.
Click End Drawer in the Drawer Summary section
Add an optional Description for the closing
Enter your actual cash using Enter Total or Count Cash (by denomination)
Review the expected vs. actual difference
Click Close Drawer
A notification is sent to location staff showing who closed, the expected amount, and the actual amount. See below for more details.
Viewing Past Drawer History
Review past cash drawer sessions from the Drawer History tab.
From the Cash Drawer page, click Drawer History
Use the filters to narrow results by Location and Date Range
Click any row to see the full transaction detail.
Cash Drawer Closed Notifications
You can configure notifications for when a drawer is closed at your branch.
Navigate to your Notification Preferences
Under Payments & Invoices, find Cash Drawer Closed
Choose your preference: My Branch, All, or None
The notification includes who closed the drawer, the expected amount, and the actual closing amount — so you can quickly spot any discrepancies.
Looking for additional help? Get support directly from the Renterra team! Chat with us directly or email us at [email protected].