Count the denominations, not just the total
Use the small bills and coins you actually plan to bring. Then rehearse a sequence of possible purchases using your own final prices and assumed customer payments. This is an exercise, not a prediction of who will buy or a recommendation for how much cash to carry.
A fictional two-sale example
Start with two $5 bills and five $1 bills: $15 in total. A buyer pays $20 for a $12 item. Return one $5 and three $1 bills as the $8 change.
Your drawer now contains one $20, one $5 and two $1 bills. It is worth $27, but only $7 is available in small bills. Another $12 purchase paid with a $20 bill needs $8 back. That replay stops at the second sale; the blocked transaction is not added to your receipts.
Try a different mix
For illustration, start with four $5 bills and ten $1 bills, worth $30. Three $12 purchases, each paid with one $20 bill, can each receive one $5 and three $1 bills in change. The final drawer holds three $20 bills, a $5 and a $1: $66.
The $36 increase equals the three completed purchases. It is not profit. The $30 opening mix is a teaching example, not a universal float recommendation.
Use your own practice sequence
- Open the free tool and load the fictional example to see the stop.
- Enter your opening count for each denomination.
- Add final amounts due after any applicable taxes, discounts or cash rounding. The tool does not calculate those.
- Enter what each practice buyer hands over, in order, and run the test.
- Inspect the chosen change and the remaining mix. Adjust your assumptions and rerun from the opening float.
Save a scenario before you close it
The tool does not save automatically. Save inputs downloads a JSON file you can reopen in the tool. Download replay saves a text report. To use it offline, download and extract the toolkit, then open the HTML file in a desktop browser with JavaScript enabled.
What a completed replay means
It covers only the sequence and change choices displayed. Incoming cash is available before change is returned. Different earlier change choices or transaction order may change the outcome. This is not a till, sales forecast, tax calculator or guarantee that your float will last all day.
This version supports 1–20 sales. Each buyer tenders one denomination, possibly several bills or coins, up to $500 total. Mixed-denomination tender, refunds, cash drops, tips and card transactions are not included. Keep real sales records and count actual cash separately.
Prefer paper?
The free one-page checklist includes the worked example and room for a three-sale manual rehearsal. It works with the plan you already use.
The offline tool was checked in Linux Chromium, including saving, reopening and downloading scenarios. Desktop and narrow-screen renders were inspected. Native Windows/Mac, physical mobile devices, printers and real vendor use have not been independently tested.