Cash Denomination Counter

Notes and Coins in Circulation (as of September 2026)

The Reserve Bank of India issues the notes and the Government of India mints the coins. This is what a till in India can legally contain today, and how each piece should be treated when it lands on the counter.

The counter above covers every denomination you are likely to meet in a till, and it works in whole rupees because 50 paise coins are too rare in daily takings to matter. The ₹2,000 row is kept for the odd note that still turns up.

A Closing-Time Cash Routine That Catches Mistakes

1. Fix an opening float. Start each day with a known amount of change (a set number of ₹10, ₹20 and ₹50 notes plus coins) and write it down. Closing cash minus the float is what you actually took in.
2. Sort before you count. Face all notes the same way and stack by denomination. Count each stack by hand, then enter the number of pieces here, not the value, so the multiplication cannot go wrong.
3. Compare with sales. Cash sales for the day should equal total billed sales minus card, UPI and credit sales. The counter total minus the float should match that figure.
4. Log the difference. Record any shortage or excess with the date, the amount and the likely reason (wrong change, an unbilled sale, a note refused as suspect). A running log shows patterns that a single day cannot.
5. Prepare the deposit. Bank pay-in slips ask for the number of notes of each denomination. The breakdown you entered above goes straight onto the slip, so fill the slip before you bundle the notes.
6. Move cash off the premises. Deposit often and keep only the next day's float overnight. Shop insurance policies usually cap the cash they cover, so check your policy schedule.

The cash handling guide covers till discipline, staff handovers and petty cash in more detail. For the day's total in words on a voucher or receipt, paste the amount into the number to words converter.

Cash Rules Every Indian Business Should Know (as of September 2026)

Income tax law limits how much business can be done in cash. These limits were set under Sections 269ST, 40A(3), 269SS and 269T of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and carry forward under the Income-tax Act, 2025, which replaced the 1961 Act from 1 April 2026 and renumbered its sections, so look up the current section number before you cite one.

These are limits, not advice. A chartered accountant can tell you how they apply to your business, and GST rules on invoicing apply to cash sales in the same way as to any other sale.

Spotting a Counterfeit Note at the Counter

The RBI publishes the security features of every denomination on its website. These are the ones you can check in a second or two without equipment:

• Watermark: hold the note to the light to see the Mahatma Gandhi portrait and the denomination numeral in the blank area.
• Security thread: a windowed thread with the words भारत and RBI runs through the note; on the higher denominations it changes colour when you tilt the note.
• See-through register: the denomination numeral is printed in halves on the two sides and forms a complete number against the light.
• Raised printing: on the higher denominations the portrait, the RBI seal and the identification mark near the edge are printed in intaglio and can be felt with a fingertip.
• Number panel: in the current series the numerals grow from small to large from left to right.
• Micro lettering: RBI and the denomination value appear in tiny letters near the portrait, visible with a magnifying glass.

Under RBI rules a bank that receives a counterfeit note impounds it, stamps it and gives you an acknowledgement; you do not get its value back. That is why checking large notes when they are tendered matters more than any check at the bank. A small UV lamp is a cheap addition to a busy counter: genuine notes have optical fibres and number panels that glow under it, and a note that stays dull deserves a closer look.

Frequently Asked Questions