How to count money fast

Before you count: sort and face

Most counting mistakes happen before the counting starts, in a messy pile. Spend a minute on setup:

1. Clear a flat surface. Nothing else on it: no receipts, no phone, no coffee.
2. Sort by denomination. One stack each of 100s, 50s, 20s, 10s, 5s and 1s, and a separate pile for coins.
3. Face the bills. Turn every bill the same way up, portrait side facing you. Faced bills are faster to flick through, and a stuck pair, a torn note or a bill in the wrong stack stands out.
4. Count the biggest bills first. If you get interrupted, the expensive part is already done and written down.

How to count money as a cashier

Hold the stack in one hand and peel bills off with the thumb of the other, moving each one to a new pile. Then count one of two ways:

Count the bills, then multiply

Count "1, 2, 3…" and multiply at the end: 37 twenties is $740. Counting from 1 upward is easier than adding 20 at a time, and it's harder to lose your place, so it's the more reliable method for a big stack.

Count the value as you go

Say the running amount: "20, 40, 60, 80, 100…" This is quick for a few bills, like change in a till, but it's easy to lose track past a hundred or so.

Group and cross

Whichever way you count, put the bills down in groups of 10 or 25, each group crossed over the one below it. If you lose count, you only recount the last group, not the whole stack. Then count every stack a second time. If the two counts disagree, count a third time.

Bank straps and coin rolls

In the US, a bank strap holds 100 bills of one denomination. The strap color tells you the value at a glance:

Standard coin rolls work the same way. You count the rolls and multiply, without opening them:

A strap or roll from someone else is worth checking before you rely on it: count one at random every so often.

How to count a cash drawer

At the end of a shift, the goal is to find out whether the cash matches what the register says it should be:

1. Count each denomination and write it down. Use a count sheet, or a column on paper: 4 × $100, 2 × $50, 37 × $20, and so on, then the coins.
2. Add up the total. Multiply each count by its value and add the lines.
3. Subtract the starting cash. The float, or bank, you started the shift with stays in the drawer. What's left is the shift's cash takings.
4. Compare with the register report. A difference means the drawer is over or short. Recount before you record it.

Writing the count of each denomination down, not just the total, is what makes a recount quick. You can check one line instead of the whole drawer.

Adding it all up by voice

The adding up is where the last mistakes creep in, usually while you're switching between bills and calculator keys. With a voice calculator, your hands stay on the money. Here's a full drawer in Simple Voice Calculator, said in one go:

"100 times 4 plus 50 times 2 plus 20 times 37 plus 10 times 12 plus 5 times 9 plus 23 plus 0.25 times 31 plus 0.10 times 18 plus 0.05 times 12 plus 0.47 minus 150"

That's $1,428 in bills, $10.62 in coins, minus a $150 float: 1,288.62. Multiplication is done before addition, so each "times" line is worked out first, the way you'd want. You don't need to say "dollars", and it's ignored if you do.

Each part appears on screen as its own block, so you can check the counts against your sheet. If one was misheard, tap its block and fix it instead of starting over. With Pro, the total is saved to History, which helps when a manager asks about yesterday's drawer. The full list of phrases shows how to say decimals and corrections.

Mistakes to watch for

• Stuck bills. New bills cling together. Flick each one, or rub the corner, before you count it.
• A bill in the wrong stack. A 10 among the 20s costs you 10 dollars. Facing the bills first makes it stand out.
• Interruptions. Write the count down before you answer anyone. A half-counted stack is the one that gets counted twice.
• Trusting one count. Two matching counts are the minimum for anything that leaves your hands.

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