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The terms X-Out and Z-Out originated in the world of cash registers. Registers commonly had a key-operated lock with several positions: one for normal operation, one labeled “X”, and another labeled “Z.” After inserting a key (normally in a manager’s possession) and turning it to the “X” position, the register would print a running total of the activity for that register from the point it was last reset to zero, or zeroed out. The “Z” position would “zero out” the register totals at the end of a shift or business day.

QuickBooks POS uses this same terminology for 3 similar X/Z-Out reports:

the X-Out Status Report (accessed on the Reports->Cash Drawer->General – X-Out Status Report menu selection)
the Z-Out Drawer Count Report (accessed on the Reports->Cash Drawer->General – Z-Out Drawer Count Report menu selection)
the Z-Out Store Close Report (accessed on the Reports->Cash Drawer->General – Z-Out Store Close Report menu selection)

The X-Out Status Report is designed to provide an update on sales activity to that point in the day since the register was last closed by running the End of Day Procedure (on the Point of Sale->End of Day Procedure menu selection).

The Z-Out Drawer Count Report is intended to reconcile the cash drawer at the end of a business day. In a multiple workstation environment, this report is normally run before running the Z-Out Store Close Report.

Because the purpose of this report is to reconcile the cash drawer, the Z-Out Drawer Count Report can be configured to require a manual media count, or a physical count of the individual bill denominations. To set this preference, click the Sales submenu on the Edit->Preferences->Company menu selection. Check the box on the Require a manual media count for X/Z Out preference.

POS 8 Company Preferences Require Manual Media Count

With that preference enabled, you’ll be required to enter the physical count for each bill and coin type on the Media Count window, and QuickBooks will calculate the total cash on hand. This is a safeguard to reduce the chance of error when entering the amount of cash on hand in the register.

When the Count you enter matches the expected amount of currency in the register, you’re in balance – with neither a shortage (less money on hand than expected) or an overage (more money on hand than expected). You can now click Ok to display and print the Z-Out Drawer Count Report.

The Z-Out Store Close Report, as its name indicates, is run when closing the store at the end of the day. This report is designed for installations with multiple workstations. After all workstations have reconciled the cash drawer by running the Z-Out Drawer Count Report, the Z-Out Store Close Report will report on all sales activity from all workstations and all cashiers for the period since the End of Day Procedure was last run (on the Point of Sale->End of Day Procedure menu selection). This report is not designed to assist in reconciling the cash drawer, so it doesn’t include the ability to do a media count on the cash drawer.

Here are samples of all 3 reports: the X-Out Status Report, the Z-Out Drawer Count Report, and the Z-Out Store Close Report.

You can select any of these 3 reports as part of the End of Day Procedure, and you can print them on either 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper or 40 column receipt paper. This preference is managed on the Documents & Printers submenu on the Edit->Preferences->Workstation menu selection.

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Sales by affiliates are an increasingly common phenomenon, especially in online sales. Typically, these sales need to be tracked much like sales by a commissioned salesperson, both to monitor the commission to be paid to the affiliate and to track the effectiveness of that marketing channel.

We recommend using 1 of 2 methods to track affiliate sales in POS:

Define the affiliate as an employee
Enter a Promo Code for the affiliate on receipts and sales orders

Our recommended approach is to define the affiliate as an employee and enter that employee code in the Associate field on each receipt and sales order. This is analogous to recording a sales rep on a transaction. Although POS doesn’t use the Sales Rep from QuickBooks financial, software, using an employee code in this fashion serves a similar purpose.

Both of these approaches allow you to track affiliate sales by using the built-in reporting features of POS.

Method 1 – Define the Affiliate as an Employee

To track affiliate sales by defining the affiliate as an employee, keep in mind that employee data is not shared between QuickBooks financial software and POS. Also, an employee (or Associate on the New Sales Receipt window) is not the same as a Cashier. To define a new employee, click Employees->Employee List, followed by the New Employee button. Enter an employee for each affiliate whose sales you want to track.

One important consideration in using an employee code to track affiliate sales is to accurately record the Commission %. If a single affiliate gets a different Commission % for different sales, you’ll need to enter multiple employee codes for that affiliate. When you record receipts or sales orders, you’ll need to enter only those items on that receipt or order that receive that commission rate, since you can only enter one employee code (or Associate) on a receipt or sales order. Moreover, the Commission % only applies to receipts and sales orders recorded after the Commission % is recorded. If you record a Commission % of 0.00 (which is the default), POS won’t calculate any commissions on receipts or sales orders until you change it, and then it will only apply to new transactions, not those already entered. If there’s a change in the commission for your affiliate, it’s important to update the affiliate’s employee record immediately on the effective date of the change, before new transactions are entered so that your commission reports are accurate.

The commissions that POS calculates aren’t shared with QuickBooks financial software, so you’ll have to use POS reports as an aid to record commission expense in QuickBooks financial software on your own.

QuickBooks Point of Sale Employees New 2

During transaction entry, enter the employee code for the affiliate responsible for this transaction in the Associate field. Because the employee code is selected from a pre-defined pull-down menu, there’s less chance for data entry error. However, POS can’t require entry of an employee in the Associate field, so there’s some risk that all affiliate sales data won’t be captured.

QuickBooks Point of Sale Make Sale Employee

There are a variety of built-in reports showing sales by employee found on the Reports->Employees menu, and these readily lend themselves to reporting on affiliate sales. In addition to reports, POS offers a basic pie chart showing the sales contribution of employees.

QuickBooks Point of Sale Employee Sales Report

Method 2 – Enter a Promo Code for the Affiliate on Receipts and Sales Orders

To track affiliate sales by entering a Promo Code on each receipt and sales order, just enter the code for each affiliate in the Promo Code box.

QuickBooks Point of Sale Make Sale Promo Code

Optionally, to insure affiliate sales data are properly captured, consider requiring a Promo Code on receipts and sales orders by checking the Sales preference Require a Promotional Code on receipts and customer orders on the Edit->Preferences->Company menu.

QuickBooks POS 8 Company Preferences Promo Code

Using a Promo Code can be an effective way to capture and report on affiliate sales because of the availability of an off-the-shelf report on sales by Promo Code. To generate the report, click on the Reports->Sales->General Sales – Promo Code Summary menu.

QuickBooks POS 8 Reports Menu Promo Code Summary

Here’s that report:

QuickBooks POS 8 Promo Code Summary Report

The drawbacks to using a Promo Code to track affiliate sales are twofold. First, Promo Codes are not defined and selected from a list, so extra care needs to be taken to consistently use the same code and avoid data entry errors. Secondly, if a Promo Code isn’t required, there’s a chance it will be omitted from a receipt or sales order inadvertently. On the other hand, if a Promo Code is required and affiliate sales aren’t a large portion of transactions, there’s an extra step in transaction entry that otherwise wouldn’t be required on the majority of transactions.

We recommend defining each affiliate as an employee to capture affiliate sales. It’s more reliable, and there are better reporting tools. However, for firms that don’t want to include affiliates on employee lists, using a Promo Code is a workable alternative.

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