Operational - Activity Log
Updated Tue 27 Oct 2026
Running the report
Report options
Select your start date
The first trading day to include. The default is today. Only the date matters: the report starts at the beginning of that trading day for your store.
end date
The last trading day to include. The default is today. The whole of that trading day is included, up to the moment your trading day ends.
Select your preferred grouping
How the list of activities is laid out. The default is Activity.
With Activity the list is split by what was done, then by who did it. With Employee it is split by who did it, then by what they did. With Chronological (No Grouping) every activity is listed in the order it happened.
Show periods with no activity for more than x minutes
The length of a quiet spell, in minutes, before it is listed on the last page. The default is 180, which is three hours. Use a smaller number to find shorter gaps.
The report at a glance
The dates show the first and last moment included, in your store's local time. If your trading day ends at a time other than midnight, the end shows that time on the following day and a * appears after it, explained in a note at the bottom of every page.
Under the header a Selected parameters panel repeats your grouping and your quiet-period setting, so a printed copy shows how it was run.
- Chart and summary: a bar chart of how often each activity happened, and the five activities most worth watching, as a count and as a percentage of invoices.
- Activity details: every activity with the date and time, who authorised it, what it was and which POS it was done on.
- Periods with no activity: stretches of the trading day when nothing happened for longer than your setting.
Chart and summary
The Number of activities performed chart is a bar for each kind of activity in the period, so you can see at a glance which ones happen most. Below it, Summary of potentially suspicious activities picks out five activities that are worth watching.
| Summary of potentially suspicious activities | Number of activities 1 | Percent of invoices 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Abandoned invoices | 8 | 2.0% |
| Authorised discounts | 20 | 5.0% |
| Opened cash drawer | 36 | 9.0% |
| Reprinted invoices | 12 | 3.0% |
| Voided invoices | 6 | 1.5% |
In this example 400 invoices were completed in the period.
1 # of activities
How many times that activity was logged in the period.
2 % of invoices
The count divided by the number of completed invoices in the same period. Invoices that were cancelled are not counted. If there were no invoices in the period, every percentage shows 0.0%.
Activity details
This is the main list. The columns are the same in every grouping: Date and time, Authorised by, Activity name and POS name (POS #). Dates and times are in your store's local time, for example Tue 20 Oct 26 14:12.
In the Activity and Employee groupings the lines can be expanded and collapsed: click the + to show the rows underneath.
Grouped by Activity
Each activity gets its own block. Inside it, each employee has a line saying how many times they did it, with their rows underneath, and the block ends with a total.
| To void an invoice | |||
| Date and time | Authorised by | Activity name | POS name (POS #) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Jones performed this activity 4 times 1 | |||
| Mon 19 Oct 26 12:41 | Sam Jones | To Void An Invoice | Front counter (1) |
| Tue 20 Oct 26 18:05 | Sam Jones | To Void An Invoice | Front counter (1) |
| Thu 22 Oct 26 13:30 | Sam Jones | To Void An Invoice | Front counter (1) |
| Sat 24 Oct 26 20:15 | Sam Jones | To Void An Invoice | Patio (2) |
| Alex Smith performed this activity 2 times | |||
| Wed 21 Oct 26 11:10 | Alex Smith | To Void An Invoice | Front counter (1) |
| Fri 23 Oct 26 19:48 | Alex Smith | To Void An Invoice | Patio (2) |
| To void an invoice total: 2 | 6 activities performed | ||
1 Employee line
Shows who did the activity and how many times. If the person cannot be identified the name shows as Unknown.
2 Total
The number of times that activity was logged for the whole period. It matches the count in the summary for the five watched activities.
Grouped by Employee
The same rows, split the other way round. Each employee gets a block, with a line per activity saying how many times they did it, and a total for the employee at the end. Use this to see everything one person has authorised.
Chronological (No Grouping)
One continuous list from the oldest activity to the newest, with no blocks or totals. Use this to follow what happened on a particular day or at a particular time.
- Authorised by
- The person whose permission was used for the activity. If their short name differs from their name it is shown in brackets after it, for example
Sam Jones (SJ). - POS name (POS #)
- The POS the activity was done on, with its number in brackets. A POS that is no longer linked to your store shows as Unknown POS (0).
Periods with no activity
The last page lists stretches of the trading day when nothing was logged for longer than the minutes you set. It always starts on a new page. If nothing was quiet for that long, the page is left out.
| Extended periods with no activity for more than 180 minutes | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous Activity | Minutes Elapsed | Next Activity |
| 19 October 2026 11:05 | 195 | 19 October 2026 14:20 |
| 21 October 2026 15:40 | 230 | 21 October 2026 19:30 |
Previous Activity is the last thing logged before the quiet spell and Next Activity is the first thing logged after it. Minutes Elapsed is the gap between them.
Watch the video
A short walkthrough of the Activity log report and how to read it.
Can't see the video? Watch it on YouTube.
Frequently asked questions
Why does someone show as "Unknown" in Authorised by?
The report could not find a name for the person who authorised the activity. This can happen if the employee was removed from your system after the activity was logged. The activity is still counted and listed.
Why do the times differ from the clock on my POS?
Every date and time is shown in your store's local time. The activities are grouped by trading day, so something done after midnight but before your trading day ends belongs to the previous trading day, as explained in the note at the bottom of the page.
Why is "Opened cash drawer" higher than I expect?
The drawer can be opened without a sale, for example to give change, so its count is often higher than the number of invoices. The percentage can even be above 100%. Look at who opened it and when, rather than at the percentage alone.
Why do I see "Unknown POS (0)"?
The activity was done on a POS that is no longer linked to your store, for example one that was moved to another store. The activity is still listed and counted.
Why is there no page for periods with no activity?
No quiet spell was longer than the minutes you set, or all of them ran from one trading day into the next. Try a smaller number in Show periods with no activity for more than x minutes.
Why does every percentage show 0.0%?
There were no completed invoices in the period you chose, so there is nothing to compare the activities against. The counts are still correct.
Does this report change anything on my POS?
No. It only reports what was already logged. It does not show sales amounts, only which activities were done, by whom and when.
Glossary
- Abandoned invoice
- An invoice that was started on the POS and then dropped without being paid or completed.
- Activity
- A controlled action on the POS that needs a person's permission, such as opening the cash drawer, voiding an invoice or authorising a discount.
- Authorised by
- The person whose permission was used for an activity.
- Chronological
- In date and time order, oldest first, with no grouping.
- Completed invoice
- An invoice that was finished and not cancelled. The percentages in the summary are measured against these.
- No activity period
- A stretch of the trading day, longer than the minutes you set, in which no activity was logged.
- POS
- A point of sale, the till or device where orders are rung up.
- Reprinted invoice
- An invoice or receipt printed again after the first print.
- Trading day
- Your store's business day. It starts and ends at your end of day time, so late-night activity counts towards the day that began before it.
- Voided invoice
- An invoice that was cancelled after it was started.