Monday morning, the weekend’s takings do not match what Stripe paid out, and nobody knows why. End-of-day reconciliation puts each day’s sales, refunds and card payments in one record and lists the card payments that have not settled, so you know what to chase.
End-of-day reconciliation for venues that sell more than one thing
A venue is rarely one business. A Saturday can include heat sales, party deposits, a pro shop order, a gift card, a refund and a Stripe payout that arrives after the day is over. Putting those together at month end is detective work.
End-of-day reconciliation turns it into a daily habit. VenueChief’s daily close gathers the day into one record, and then it matches the day’s card payments to the payouts Stripe reports and lists any that have not settled.
What is new: a close that does the adding up
Open Daily Close and press close for the day. The record shows:
- Gross sales by type: bookings, heats, goods, food and drink, gift cards and the rest.
- Payments by method, and refunds.
- Processor fees, discounts, tax and the change in gift card liability, which is the value of gift cards sold minus the value redeemed that day.
- Unsettled card payments.
- Cash expected against the cash you counted and typed in, with over or short shown before you close.
Closing emails the owner a summary and creates a cash deposit batch. A closed day is never edited. If you correct something, closing again adds revision 2 and revision 1 stays. You can print the close from your browser.
Book a demo and we will walk one day from first sale to the exceptions list.
Stripe payout reconciliation, without the spreadsheet
Card payments run through Stripe, online at checkout and in person on the card readers at the desk, the kiosk and the food and drink register. Stripe tells VenueChief about payments, refunds, disputes and payouts. When a payout lands, VenueChief matches it to the sales it covered and stamps the settlement, the fee and the net onto each payment. That is Stripe payout reconciliation you do not do by hand.
Card refunds go back to the card that paid, stamped with the staff member’s name and the reason. Cash is settled by hand, and gift card or pass value returns to the gift card or pass. A disputed payment leaves the reconciled totals until it is resolved.
The exceptions list: what needs attention
The Exceptions tab lists what does not add up: payments with no order, refunds with no order, card rows that have not settled, disputes and bookings missing an order record. Resolve each with a short note. When the list is empty, it reads “All reconciled through” and the date. Owners also get Daily Pulse tiles on the landing page and a weekly digest email.
What about QuickBooks Online?
Your bookkeeper will ask. The QuickBooks Online account mapping lets you assign your income accounts by sale type, plus fees, tax, gift card liability, payout bank and dispute fees. Preview a day then shows the debit and credit lines a journal would carry for that day, and warns when an account is unmapped or the lines do not balance. It is a way to check your mapping and your numbers with your bookkeeper before anything is posted.
Live posting to QuickBooks Online is not available today. There is no journal or file export either, so for now the preview is a check, not a feed.
A Monday morning, walked through
The owner opens Daily Close and sees Sunday’s record: sales by type, payments by method, refunds and the cash they counted. The Daily Pulse tiles on the landing page show today’s sales and refunds, whether yesterday was closed, how many items need attention and the next payout. The exceptions list has two items: a refund with no order and a card payment that has not settled. They add a note to each and resolve them. The tab then reads “All reconciled through Sunday”. There is nothing to chase and no detective work. That is end-of-day reconciliation as a habit, not a month-end project.
Who it suits
Every venue that takes cards: karting tracks, sim racing centers, golf bays, escape rooms and entertainment centers. If your Monday starts with “why is Stripe off by a few hundred dollars?”, this is for you.
What it changes on a busy day
- Closing the day starts from totals that are already there.
- Refunds show in the day’s totals, and disputes show on the exceptions list.
- Your bookkeeper gets a day with its totals and open items already listed.
Availability and fine print
Daily close is included on every plan, with access from venue owner level. Card processing is through Stripe. See pricing.
VenueChief does not drive cash drawers or receipt printers today. The cash count is typed in, and it is a visible count rather than a blind one. Discounts and comps are totaled together.