Restaurant closing checklist: kitchen, galla and day-end report

Most money leaks and most morning problems start at closing time. A bill left open, a Swiggy order never marked delivered, a cash count done in a hurry, a fridge door left ajar. None of it is dishonest. It happens because the last person in is tired and nobody wrote down what "closed" means.

A written list fixes that. Put it on the wall near the counter, give each part an owner (kitchen, floor, counter), and have the manager tick it before the shutter comes down. The order below matters: settle orders first, count money second, write the report last, so the numbers you write down are final.

Do this before anyone touches the cash. If a table is still open when you count, the galla will never match.

• No open tables or tabs. Every dine-in table is billed and paid, or moved to udhaar with the customer's name and phone.
• No pending KOTs. Every KOT sent to the kitchen is either served or cancelled with a reason, so tomorrow's kitchen does not start with yesterday's tickets.
• Delivery app orders closed. Every Swiggy and Zomato order in the partner app is marked delivered or cancelled. If you shut earlier than your listed hours, switch the outlet off in each app so no order lands after the kitchen is cleaned.
• Your own online orders done. Pickup and delivery orders from your own shop link are handed over, and the shop shows as closed until opening time.
• Voids and discounts have reasons. Anything cancelled or discounted today carries who did it and why. Fix missing reasons now, while the staff member is still there.

• Store foodCover, label with the date and refrigerate cooked food and prepared gravies, chutneys and batters. Throw away what your own rules say cannot be kept.
• Check the coldFridge and freezer doors shut, seals clean, both running cold. Note anything that feels warm so it is fixed before the morning delivery.
• Clean and sanitiseCounters, cutting boards, tandoor and tawa area, grills, fryers and the floor under them. Empty and clean the sink traps.
• Gas and powerEvery burner off, the main gas valve closed, fryers and ovens switched off at the wall. Exhaust off after the kitchen cools.
• Waste outWet and dry waste bagged separately and taken out, bins washed.
• Tomorrow's prep listWrite what ran out or ran low, so the morning order to the vendor is right.

• Tables, chairs and menus wiped; table QR stands cleaned and back on the right tables.
• Floor swept and mopped, washrooms cleaned and stocked.
• Coffee machine, juice counter and water dispenser cleaned and switched off.
• Billing tablet, waiter phones and the delivery-app tablet put on charge.
• Enough thermal paper rolls for tomorrow's first rush, next to the printer.
• AC, lights, TV and music off; doors, windows and the shutter locked.

Count cash without looking at what the system expects. This is called a blind count. When the person counting cannot see the target, they count what is actually there, and a shortage shows up instead of quietly being "adjusted".

Then compare. The cash you should have is:

Opening float + cash sales + udhaar collected in cash − cash paid out

A worked example from an evening at Swaad Kitchen:

• Opening float in the morning: ₹2,000
• Cash sales on bills: ₹14,850
• Udhaar collected in cash: ₹400
• Paid out of the galla to the vegetable vendor: ₹600
• Expected cash: 2,000 + 14,850 + 400 − 600 = ₹16,650
• Counted cash: ₹16,450, so the galla is ₹200 short

A small gap is usually a wrong change or a cash bill that was paid by UPI. Look for it the same night: check the last few cash bills, then any bill whose payment mode was changed. Write the final difference in the report even if it is zero. Keep tomorrow's float aside and lock the rest away.

Digital payments do not sit in the galla, so they need their own check:

• UPI: compare the UPI total on your bills with the payments received in your UPI or bank app for the day. A bill marked UPI with no matching credit is a missed payment; ask about it before the customer is forgotten.
• Card: settle the card machine batch and compare its total with card bills.
• Delivery apps: these are paid later, in the weekly payout. Note today's app order count and value, and check them when the payout arrives with our Swiggy payout report guide.

The day-end report is one short page the owner can read in a minute, even from home. Write these numbers, in this order:

• SalesTotal sales, number of bills, and the split by dine-in, takeaway, delivery apps and your own online orders.
• Payment modesCash, UPI, card and udhaar, each with its total.
• Discounts, voids and cancellationsThe total of each, and the reasons for the large ones.
• UdhaarNew udhaar given today and udhaar collected.
• CashExpected, counted and the difference, with the name of the person who counted.
• ExpensesAnything paid out of the galla, with the bill or a photo of it.
• NotesStock that ran out, equipment problems, complaints.

Done by hand, this takes the longest. A billing system should hand most of it to you, because every number above already exists on today's bills.

In POSBADA restaurant billing the counter steps above are built in:

• Blind galla count at shift end, with any mismatch sent to you.
• Every void, refund and discount logged with who did it, when and why.
• Daily collections report with CSV export, and hourly and daily sales reports.
• Udhaar tracked per customer, with due dates.
• Owner alerts on Telegram as things happen at every branch, even when you are not there.

Kitchen tickets come from KOT software or the kitchen display, and orders from your own online ordering link sit in the same day's report, so there is one place to check before you lock up.