How to Run Bus Counter Sales and Daily Closing

A bus counter earns money in a hurry. Between four and eight in the evening, a staff member may sell dozens of tickets, answer phone calls, handle cancellations and take cash from impatient customers. A clear routine protects both the passenger and the company. This guide sets out the daily process, whether you use a ticket book or software.

Before opening: prepare the departures

List the day\'s departures with route, time, bus number, driver, conductor and seat layout. Check that each bus is assigned and block any seats reserved for staff, owners or special arrangements. If a bus changes, update the layout at once; a seat number that exists on a 2x2 bus may not exist on a hiace, and mismatches cause arguments at boarding.

Selling a ticket properly

1. Ask the passenger for the destination, date and boarding point.
2. Show the seat map and let them choose or confirm a seat.
3. Record name and a working phone number. This helps if the departure time changes.
4. Confirm the fare, including any seat type or boarding point difference.
5. Take payment and record the mode: cash, QR or bank.
6. Issue the ticket by print or message, with seat, bus, time and boarding point.

Never write a seat on a scrap of paper and promise to enter it later. Late entries are the main cause of double sales.

Phone bookings and holds

Customers often ring first. Hold the seat for a fixed period, say until the evening before departure or for a few hours, and record the caller\'s name and number. When the hold expires, release the seat. If holds are never released, buses leave with empty seats that were never sold. State the hold rule to the customer in your first message.

Cancellations and changes

Define your own policy in writing: who can cancel, up to what time and what happens to the fare. Staff should not decide this on the spot for each passenger. When a cancellation happens, record the reason, the time and the amount returned, and release the seat immediately so another customer can buy it. Rescheduling to another departure should link to the original ticket so the history is clear.

Agents and partner counters

Item	Why record it
Seats allocated to an agent	Prevents the head office from selling the same seats
Seats sold and their fare	Basis of the agent\'s settlement
Commission rule	Avoids disputes at month end
Payments received from the agent	Shows balance owed
Unsold seats returned	Frees inventory before departure

Departure time: the manifest

Thirty to sixty minutes before departure, print the passenger manifest with seat numbers, names, phone numbers and boarding points. Give a copy to the conductor and keep one at the counter. Call the passengers who have not arrived. Seats unsold at the last moment can be offered at the counter, with the manifest updated. After the bus leaves, record the final count.

Closing the counter

At the end of each shift, run a closing report for the counter showing tickets sold, tickets cancelled, amounts by payment mode and the expected cash. Count the cash with a second person present, compare with the report and record any difference with the reason. The staff member then hands in the cash and the report to the accountant or owner. Any shortfall should be visible the same day, not discovered at month end.

Weekly checks

• Compare seat occupancy by route and time to see which departures are consistently empty.
• Review cancellations by staff member for unusual patterns.
• Settle agent balances and chase overdue dues.
• Check trip expenses such as fuel and tolls against income.

How software supports the routine

The WebsNP bus ticketing system builds this routine into the screens: shared seat map, timed holds, cancellation rules, agent ledgers, printable manifests and counter closing reports. For ticket-day queues at the counter itself, see our queue and token software.

Next step

For one week, enforce a rule: no seat is promised unless it is on the seat map, and every counter produces a closing report. Count the differences you uncover. Then message WebsNP on WhatsApp at +977 9846280400 to see this working on screen.

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