The safe

Barform can keep a running figure of what should be in your venue's safe: the cash each close takes out of the drawer, plus the money you put in, minus the money you take out, starting from the safe's last count. You read it, count the safe and record money in and out in the back office, on Reports › Safe, right under Shift closes (Z) in the sidebar. The iPad only moves cash between the drawer and the safe (see Move cash between the drawer and the safe), and it never shows what the safe holds. What a close takes out is decided at the close (see Closing the day).

The safe is optional: not every bar keeps its safe in Barform. An admin turns it on or off for each bar with Use the safe, and a new bar starts with it off (see Turn the safe on or off). The rest of this page is for a bar that uses it.

Who can do this: admins and managers, on every plan — everyone who can sign in to the back office. Voiding a mistake, editing the reason lists and turning the safe on or off are for admins.

Turn the safe on or off

Use the safe is one switch for everything about the safe at your bar. It's on the End of day card, with the close's own settings.

Who can do this: admins. A manager sees the switch greyed out.

1. In the back office, go to Settings › Venue › iPads and service.
2. On the End of day card, turn Use the safe on or off. Under its name: "Turns on Reports › Safe, and From the safe and To the safe on the iPad's Cash In / Out. Off, all of that is hidden and nothing recorded is lost. Back on, count the safe: closes made while it was off still count in the figure."
3. It saves at once. The sidebar and Today follow straight away, with no reload. Each iPad follows the next time someone signs in on it.

A new bar starts with the switch off, and so does a bar that never counted its safe or recorded money in or out of it. A bar that had already done either stays on.

With the switch off

• Reports › Safe leaves the sidebar, and its address opens Reports › Sales.
• Today lists no safe lines (see What Today shows).
• The iPad's Cash In / Out has no From the safe or To the safe. Its other reasons work as usual. An iPad that read the switch before it went off still offers them until its next sign-in: trying one there says "This bar doesn't use the safe, so nothing was recorded." and the option goes away at once.
• Ask Barform says your bar doesn't use the safe and where an admin turns it on.
• Nothing about the safe can be saved. A page left open answers "This bar doesn't use the safe. An admin can turn it on in Settings › Venue › iPads and service."
• The close doesn't change. Stays in the drawer, the opening count and the Z work the same, neither the close screen nor the Z names the safe, and what each close took out is still recorded on the drawer.
• Nothing recorded is lost. A line already on a Z or on Reports › Shift closes (Z) keeps its words: "Cash in: From the safe" still reads that way.

Turn it back on

The page and its history come back, and Today lists again any difference no manager explained. Then count the safe (see Count the safe):

• Closes made while the switch was off still count in the figure, each at the moment it closed.
• Cash that went in or out of the safe while the switch was off isn't on the page, so the next count shows it as a difference.

What should be in the safe

Should be in the safe is one figure for your venue:

• the last count of the safe,
• plus the cash each close has taken out of the drawer since,
• plus the money put into the safe since,
• minus the money taken out of it since.

To read it:

1. In the back office, open Reports › Safe.
2. Read Should be in the safe and the figure under it.
3. Under the figure, read when the safe was last counted and by whom — for example "Last counted Fri, Oct 23 · 1:00 PM by Ana" — and how that count compared: "It matched what should have been there." in green, "It was $250.00 short of what should have been there." in red, "It was $250.00 over what should have been there." in amber, "The first count — the starting point." or "Not compared: a close before it didn't record what it left in the drawer." When a manager has explained the difference, a line adds who and when, for example "Explained by Ana on Sat, Oct 24."
4. On the right, How it's worked out adds it up line by line: "Counted" with the time of the count and its amount, then Taken out at 3 closes since, Money in since, Money out since, and Should be in the safe.

The figure is what your records say should be in the safe, not what is in it: only a count tells you that.

Where the taken-out cash comes from

At the end of the night the closer counts the drawer and types what Stays in the drawer for the next opening. The rest of the count is taken out, and all of it goes into the safe. The Safe page adds it at the moment of the close:

• taken out = the cash counted at the close − what stays in the drawer;
• a close that counted $0.00 took out $0.00.

How the close works is in Closing the day.

Cash In and Cash Out on the iPad move cash in and out of the drawer, not the safe, so they don't change this figure. The exceptions are From the safe and To the safe, two options on that same sheet that move both (see Move cash between the drawer and the safe).

When the figure may be off

• A close that didn't record what it left. What it took out isn't known, so it's left out of the figure — it is never counted as $0.00. The page says so in amber: "A close didn't record what it left in the drawer — the figure may be off; count the safe." (or "3 closes didn't record what they left in the drawer — …"), with "A close made on an iPad with Barform older than 1.2.1 doesn't record it. What it took out is left out of the figure — it isn't counted as $0.00." Count the safe: the figure then starts again from your count. Taken out at N closes since only counts the closes that recorded what they left.
• A figure below $0.00. It turns red, with "More has gone out than should have been there — check the entries below, then count the safe."
• Money that moved without being recorded. Cash that goes in or out of the safe without an entry, or that is recorded only after a count it came before, shows up as a difference at the next count. Record money as it moves.

Count the safe

Count all the cash in the safe and type the total. Barform compares it with what should have been there and keeps both, with the difference. From then on, what should be in the safe starts from this count.

1. Record any money in or out first, so the count is compared with the right figure (see Record money out or money in).
2. Click Count the safe. The dialog says "Count all the cash in the safe and type the total. It's compared with what should be there." and "Record any money in or out first, so the count is compared with the right figure."
3. Type the total in Cash in the safe: whole pesos, with the centavos after the point (14100.50). 14,100.50 and 14100,50 work too. For an empty safe, type 0.
4. Optional: type a note in Note (optional).
5. Click Save count. The dialog shows what you counted — for example "Count saved: $14,100.00." — and how it compared (see What the answer means).
6. Click Done.

To leave without counting, click Cancel.

The first count

Until the safe has been counted once, nothing is expected. Reports › Safe shows the card The safe hasn't been counted yet: "Count it to set the starting point. From then on, the cash each close takes out of the drawer and every money in and out are added up, so you can see what should be in it." and "Nothing is expected yet."

1. Count all the cash in the safe.
2. Click Count the safe on the card. The dialog says "This first count sets the starting point: from now on, what should be in the safe is worked out from it."
3. Type the total in Cash in the safe and click Save count. The answer reads, for example, "The starting point is set: $10,000.00."
4. Click Done.

Until the first count, the list shows the last seven nights' closes and what each took out of the drawer, with no running figure.

What the answer means

A difference of $100.00 or more adds "Today lists the difference until a manager explains it on this page." (see What Today shows).

Rules for counts

• Each count keeps what was counted, what should have been in the safe at that moment, the difference (counted − what should have been there), the note, who counted and when. Its figures never change.
• A count is never edited. A mistaken count can be voided by an admin while it is the latest one (see Void a mistake); then count again.
• $0.00 is a count: an empty safe. A count can be up to $10,000,000.00. If what you type doesn't read as an amount, the dialog says "Type what's in the safe — $0.00 or more."; above the limit, "That amount is too large." Save count stays disabled until the figure is right.
• The note can be up to 500 characters.
• If the answer doesn't arrive and you click Save count again, with the dialog still open, the count isn't recorded twice.

Record money out or money in

Record cash that leaves the safe — a bank deposit, the owner's withdrawal, paying a supplier — with Money out. Record cash that goes into the safe and isn't from a close — change from the bank, say — with Money in. The cash each close takes out of the drawer is added by itself: never record it here. Cash moved between the drawer and the safe during the night is recorded on the iPad, which records both sides (see Move cash between the drawer and the safe): don't record it here as well, or it counts twice.

1. Click Money out or Money in. The dialog is Money out of the safe — "Record cash taken out of the safe — to the bank, to the owner, to a supplier." — or Money into the safe: "Record cash put into the safe that isn't from a close — change from the bank, say. What each close takes out of the drawer is added by itself." Under those words, a hint says to use the iPad for cash moved between the drawer and the safe: "Moving cash to the drawer? Use Cash In on the iPad, From the safe: it records both." on Money out, and "Moving cash from the drawer? Use Cash Out on the iPad, To the safe: it records both." on Money in.
2. Type the Amount.
3. Under Reason, click one of your venue's reasons. Or click Other… and type the reason ("Type the reason").
4. Optional: type a note in Note (optional) — "e.g. the deposit slip's number".
5. Click Record money out or Record money in. The notice says "Recorded."

To leave without recording, click Cancel.

• The amount must be above $0.00 and a reason is required: the button stays disabled until both are there. An amount that isn't above $0.00 shows "Type an amount above $0.00."; an amount can be up to $10,000,000.00.
• A reason can be up to 120 characters, and the note up to 500.
• Money out that is more than should be in the safe isn't refused — the figure may be off, or an entry may still be missing — but the dialog warns you in amber, for example "That's more than should be in the safe ($14,350.00)."
• The entry gets the time you record it; there's no time to type. Record money as it moves, before the next count.
• An entry is never edited. While no count has come after it, an admin can void it (see Void a mistake).
• If the answer doesn't arrive and you click again, with the dialog still open, the entry isn't recorded twice.

Set the money in and out reasons

The reasons offered in the dialog: one list for money out, one for money in. Other… still lets anyone type a reason that isn't on the list.

Who can do this: admins. The Reasons button only shows for admins.

1. On Reports › Safe, click Reasons. The dialog is Money in and out reasons: "The choices offered when someone records money in or out of the safe. Other… still lets them type any reason. Changes save as you make them."
2. To add a reason, click in the box under Money out reasons or Money in reasons and type it ("Add a reason…"). Press Enter, type a comma, click outside the box, or click +. It saves at once.
3. To remove a reason, click the × on it, or press Backspace in the empty box to remove the last one. It saves at once.
4. Click Done.

• Until an admin changes them, the lists are Barform's own, in your back office's language (Admin portal language, in Settings › Venue). In English: money out Bank deposit, Owner withdrawal, Paid a supplier and Tips paid out; money in Change from the bank. A list your venue already saved keeps what it holds.
• Up to 20 reasons a list ("List is full (20 max)"), each up to 120 characters. Repeats are ignored; capitals and extra spaces don't make a difference.
• If you remove every reason from a list, it goes back to Barform's reasons instead of staying empty.
• Each entry keeps the reason it was recorded with. Changing the lists never changes past entries.
• These lists are the safe's own. The drawer's Cash In reasons and Cash Out reasons, for the iPad, are in Settings › Venue › iPads and service (see Cash drawer).

Move cash between the drawer and the safe

When cash moves between the drawer and the safe during the night, record it once, on the iPad. One Record changes what the drawer should hold and what should be in the safe by the same amount: the cash moved, and nothing was gained or lost.

Who can do this: admins and managers, from the Register on a paired iPad, with Barform 1.2.3 or later. It can't be done from the back office.

1. On the iPad, tap ···, then Register, then Cash In / Out. If nobody has counted tonight's drawer yet, the opening count comes first (see Cash drawer).
2. Choose Cash In for cash coming from the safe, or Cash Out for cash going to it.
3. Type the amount on the pad.
4. Under Reason, tap the first option: From the safe on Cash In, To the safe on Cash Out. A line under the reasons says "This amount also comes out of the safe." or "This amount also goes into the safe."
5. Tap Record. The drawer opens and the notice says "Movement recorded — drawer opened."
6. Put the cash in the drawer, or take it out and put it in the safe.

• On How it's worked out, cash from the drawer counts in Money in since and cash to the drawer in Money out since, from the moment it moved.
• The iPad never shows how much the safe holds, and Barform doesn't stop a move bigger than what should be in it. The Safe page flags a figure below $0.00.
• Only these two options move the safe. A reason of your own with the same words moves only the drawer.
• On the drawer's side it's a cash in or out like any other: it counts in the expected cash, and the close screen, the Z and Reports › Shift closes (Z) list it under the option's name, in the iPad's language. It's never income.
• If the answer doesn't arrive and you tap Record again, with the sheet still open and the same direction, amount and option, the cash doesn't move twice. Picking or dropping the option makes it a new movement: if a plain cash in or out failed without a clear answer and did land, picking the option and tapping Record puts both on the drawer.
• It's refused whenever a Cash In / Out would be — offline, with no open drawer or without an active manager — and nothing moves on either side (see Cash drawer).
• On a long list of reasons, the sheet scrolls down to that line and the amount scrolls off. Scroll back up to see it.

Correct a wrong one

Cash moved between the drawer and the safe can't be voided, on either side: a cash in or out can't be undone, and voiding one half would break the balance. Record the opposite option on the iPad, for the difference. A From the safe of $500.00 that should have been $300.00 is corrected with a To the safe of $200.00, and the other way round. Both stay on the record, and the figures come right on both sides.

How it counts at the close

What a close takes out is still the count minus what stays in the drawer, and nothing counts twice. To the safe lowered the expected cash, so that cash isn't in the count and isn't taken out again. From the safe raised it, so that cash is in the count and comes back with what the close takes out.

For example, the safe was counted at $9,000.00 and the drawer opened with $1,000.00. A To the safe of $120.00 and a From the safe of $300.00 make the expected cash $1,180.00 and the safe $8,820.00. The close counts $1,180.00 and leaves $1,000.00, so it takes out $180.00, and the safe should hold $9,000.00. That's $10,000.00 in all, before and after.

Read the entries

Under the buttons, In and out of the safe, oldest first lists the entries the figure is built from. The page opens with Since the last count pressed: "From the last count on: every entry the figure is built from."

Each line shows When, What, the Amount (+ into the safe, − out of it), In the safe after — what should have been in the safe after it — and Who. On a phone, each entry is a card.

• "Taken out at the close of Thu, Oct 22" — the cash a close took out of the drawer, for example +$3,700.00 in green, with who closed. Under it, the close's own figures: "Counted $5,200.00 · $1,500.00 left in the drawer". Click its title to open that drawer's row on Reports › Shift closes (Z).
• A close that didn't record what it left shows Not recorded in amber instead of an amount, with "Counted $5,200.00 — the close didn't record what it left in the drawer, so what was taken out isn't known."
• "Money in: Change from the bank", with the amount in green, and "Money out: Bank deposit", with the amount in red. The note, if one was typed, is under it in quotes.
• "To the drawer — night of Thu, Oct 22", with the amount in red, and "From the drawer — night of Thu, Oct 22", with the amount in green: cash moved between the drawer and the safe on the iPad. The night is the drawer's. Under it, how it was recorded and how to correct it: "Cash In on the iPad, From the safe. To correct it: Cash Out on the iPad, To the safe." or "Cash Out on the iPad, To the safe. To correct it: Cash In on the iPad, From the safe." Who is who recorded it. Click its title to open that drawer's row on Reports › Shift closes (Z). These lines have no Void….
• "Safe counted", or "First count — the starting point" for the first one. The amount is what was counted, with "counted" under it. Under the title, what should have been there and how it compared — "Should have been $14,350.00 · matched", "Should have been $14,350.00 · $250.00 short" or "Should have been $14,350.00 · $250.00 over" — or "Not compared: …" when a close before it didn't record what it left. The count's note is under it in quotes.
• A voided entry is struck through, with who voided it, when and why — for example "Voided by Ana on Sat, Oct 24: Recorded twice" — and no longer counts.

Look further back

1. Click a range — 7 days, 30 days, This month, Last month or This year — or set From and To.
2. To go back to the entries since the last count, click Since the last count.

• A range lists the entries made during its nights: each close at the moment it closed, each count and money in or out at the moment it was recorded. A close is named by its drawer's night, the name Shift closes (Z) gives it.
• In the safe after carries on from the count before the range, so each line still shows what should have been in the safe after it.
• Where each night starts and ends comes from Service time, under Settings › Hours & scheduling.
• Before the first count, the page opens on the last seven nights: "The safe hasn't been counted yet, so there's no running figure. These are the last seven nights' closes and what each took out of the drawer." In the safe after reads "—".
• With nothing in the range, the list says "Nothing went in or out of the safe in this range."; with nothing since the last count, "Nothing has gone in or out since the last count."
• Reasons and notes show as they were typed, in whatever language they were written. The lines for cash moved between the drawer and the safe are Barform's own words, in your back office's language.
• The page shows what was recorded when it loaded. Reload it to see an entry someone else just made.

Explain a count's difference

When a count comes out short or over and you know why — a bank deposit recorded twice, say — a manager can mark the difference as explained, with a note. The count keeps its figures. The difference shows as explained, with the note and who wrote it, and Today's Needs attention stops listing it.

Who can do this: admins and managers.

1. On the count's line, click Mark as explained.
2. In Explain the difference, type what happened — "What happened? For example: the bank deposit was recorded twice." — up to 500 characters. Under the box: "The count keeps its figures. The difference stays on this page, marked as explained with your note, and Today stops listing it."
3. Click Save. The notice says "Marked as explained." Cancel closes the box without saving.

The line then reads "Explained by" with the name and the date — for example "Explained by Ana on Sat, Oct 24" — with the note under it.

To take an explanation back, click Undo on the count's line. The notice says "The difference is listed again." To change a note, undo it and explain the difference again.

• Only a count that came out short or over has a difference to explain — not the first count, a count that matched, or one that couldn't be compared.
• Any difference can be explained, small ones too. Today lists the ones of $100.00 or more (see What Today shows).
• Barform keeps every explanation, and every one taken back, with who and when. The page shows the one that stands.
• If someone changed the count in the meantime, you may see "This count has no difference to explain.", "This count was voided — there's nothing to explain." or "It was not marked as explained — there is nothing to undo." Reload the page.

Void a mistake

An admin can take back a money in, a money out or a count recorded by mistake, with a reason. The entry stays on the page, struck through, with who voided it, when and why, and stops counting in what should be in the safe.

Who can do this: admins. Void… only shows for admins, and only on the entries that can still be voided.

1. Click Void… on the entry's line.
2. Void this entry shows the entry and says "It stops counting in what should be in the safe. It stays on this page, struck through, with your reason — and in the record." For a count it adds "The count before it becomes the starting point again." — or, when there is no count before it, "With no count before it, the safe goes back to “not counted yet”."
3. Under Why is it being voided?, click Recorded twice, Wrong amount or It didn't happen. Or click Other… and type the reason.
4. Click Void. The notice says "Voided."

To leave without voiding, click Cancel.

• A money in or out can be voided only while no count has come after it: that count already measured its difference with the entry in it. To correct one, void that count first, then the entry, and count the safe again. Otherwise Barform says "A later count already settled this entry. To correct it, void that count first, then this entry, and count the safe again."
• Only the latest count can be voided ("Only the latest count can be voided."). The count before it is the starting point again.
• What a close took out is never voided here: it is the close's own figure, as on the Z.
• Cash moved between the drawer and the safe can't be voided: its line has no Void…. See Correct a wrong one.
• A void can't be undone. If an entry was voided by mistake, record it again, or count the safe again.
• The reason can be up to 200 characters.

What Today shows

A count that came out $100.00 or more short or over what should have been in the safe is a line in Today's Needs attention until a manager explains it, whatever range Today shows:

• "The safe was $250.00 short at the count on Fri, Oct 23", or "The safe was $250.00 over at the count on Fri, Oct 23". The day is the service night the count was made in: with a 4:00 PM service time, a count at 1:00 PM on Saturday is Friday's.
• Up to three counts are named, newest first. When more are waiting, the rest are counted in one line, for example "2 more safe counts with a difference".

Click a line: Reports › Safe opens on the night of the count, with the count highlighted. "N more safe counts with a difference" opens it from the oldest one's night to today. Explain the difference there (see Explain a count's difference), then go back to Today and reload it: the line is gone.

The first count, a count that couldn't be compared and a voided count never get a line. See Today.

With Use the safe off, Today lists none of these. Back on, a difference no manager explained is listed again.

Ask Barform about the safe

Ask Barform, in the back office, answers questions such as "How much should be in the safe?" or "When was the safe last counted, and did it match?" from this page's own figure: what should be in the safe right now, the last count and how it compared, whether the difference was explained, and what came and went since, including cash moved between the drawer and the safe. It always answers for right now; for older entries, open Reports › Safe and pick a range. It never sees the notes typed with a count or a money in or out. With Use the safe off, it says your bar doesn't use the safe and where an admin turns it on, with a button to that page. See Ask Barform.

Good to know

• There is one safe per venue. If you run more than one bar, each has its own safe: switch bars at the top of the sidebar.
• If Barform is paused or your subscription has ended, the page still shows the figure and its entries, but nothing can be counted or recorded, here or on the iPad.

Related

• Closing the day
• Cash drawer
• Today
• Ask Barform
• Venue settings, hours and targets