Cash Register Discrepancies

This Overheads code records the cost of cash register discrepancies incurred in running the business. As an expense account, it normally carries a debit balance: debit entries increase the balance (recording new costs) and credit entries decrease it (for example, correcting an error or a refund received).

Real-world examples

Retail or hospitality (till-based business)

A café's till is £12 short at the end of a busy Saturday — a common, low-value discrepancy from giving incorrect change or a miscounted float, rather than anything suspicious. The entry is a debit of £12 to 8206 (Cash Register Discrepancies) and a credit of £12 to 1200 (Bank), reducing recorded cash to match what was actually banked. Because tills are counted daily, small discrepancies tend to net out over a month, but a persistent one-directional pattern — always short, never over — is worth investigating.

Most other businesses

A business that takes payment only by bank transfer, card or invoice — most professional services, wholesalers, manufacturers and online-only retailers — has no cash register at all, so this code has nothing to post to. It's part of the default Sage chart of accounts because that template is built around a general trading business, not because every business needs it.

Commonly confused with

Because code 8205 (Refreshments) sits right next to this one in Overheads & Depreciation, it's a common mis-posting target. Code 8206 is specifically for cash register discrepancies, while 8205 covers refreshments — similar in nature, but keeping them separate is what makes the overheads & depreciation section of your management accounts meaningful rather than a single lumped total.

What a mis-posting here costs you

An error posting to Cash Register Discrepancies won't change total overhead spend, but it will distort the overheads breakdown that's usually reviewed line by line each month to spot cost creep.

Other codes in Overheads & Depreciation