Free bar opening and closing checklist template
This free bar opening and closing checklist template — printable PDF or editable Excel — runs from cellar and gas through to till reconciliation and lock-up, with initials and time columns on every task.
Free. No email address, no sign-up — the bar opening & closing checklist downloads straight away.
A bar close is where the two most expensive kinds of loss meet: stock that walks and cash that does not reconcile. A checklist that ends with a counted till and a locked spirit rail is worth more than one that lists forty cleaning tasks and stops there.
The opening section front-loads the things with lead times — cellar temperature, gas pressure, glasswasher up to temperature, ice bins filled, fridges pulling down. If those are not started first, the bar opens with warm bottles and no ice, which no amount of later tidying fixes.
The closing section separates tasks that must happen while customers are still in — last orders, glass collection, cleaning down what is finished with — from the final lock-up, which one named person does alone with the sheet in hand. Splitting it that way is what stops the last twenty minutes turning into six people doing the same three jobs.
Line cleaning is referenced here but recorded separately. A checklist row proves you thought about it; a dated line cleaning log proves you did it, which is the record you actually want when a beer quality issue comes up.
What's on the sheet
Checklist — pre-printed tasks in sections · Portrait A4 · PDF, Excel and CSV
Header fields
Venue / site · Date · Opening bartender · Closing / duty manager
Columns
- Task
- Done — Initials
- Time — hh:mm
- Issue found / action
Opening — cellar and equipment
- ·Cellar temperature checked and recorded
- ·Gas cylinders checked, spare connected and in date
- ·Keg and cask levels checked, next kegs moved into position
- ·All lines pulled through and tasted, first pint poured to waste
- ·Glasswasher on, detergent and rinse aid topped up
- ·Ice machine checked and ice bins filled
- ·Bottle fridges reading in range and fully stocked
- ·Post-mix and syrups checked and connected
Opening — bar setup
- ·Till opened, float counted and signed for by two people
- ·Card terminals on, connected and test transaction cleared
- ·Garnish prepped, dated and covered
- ·Spirit rail stocked, optics fitted and free-pour measures checked
- ·Glassware polished and stocked to par at every station
- ·Bar mats, drip trays and speed rails clean and in place
- ·Wine list and drinks specials board correct for today
- ·Age verification signage displayed, refusals log to hand
Closing — with customers still in
- ·Last orders called at the required time and logged
- ·Glasses collected and run through the glasswasher
- ·Bottle bins emptied and glass taken out
- ·Garnish binned or covered and dated
- ·Post-mix guns soaked and nozzles cleaned
- ·Fridges restocked for tomorrow, rotating oldest to the front
Closing — lock-up by one named person
- ·Till cashed up, takings reconciled against the report and any variance noted
- ·Cash bagged and put in the safe; float set for tomorrow
- ·Spirits and premium stock locked away or rail secured
- ·Taps pulled clean, nozzles removed and soaked
- ·Cellar door and outside doors locked, gas turned off if policy
- ·Glasswasher drained and left open, ice bins emptied
- ·Bar surfaces, sinks and floor cleaned; drains flushed
- ·Fire exits clear and alarm set
- ·Lights, TVs, music and heaters off
- ·Keys accounted for and building secured
What you get
- ✓Printable PDF, portrait A4, four sections split by open, setup, service-end and lock-up
- ✓Excel (.xlsx) version you can edit for your own bar layout and dispense setup
- ✓CSV version for import
- ✓Cellar, gas, line and glasswasher checks in the opening block
- ✓Till float and takings reconciliation rows with variance space
- ✓Initials, time and issue columns on every task
How to use it
- 1
Print one sheet per trading day and keep it behind the bar on a clipboard.
- 2
Start the cellar and equipment section first — cellar temperature, gas, lines, glasswasher and ice all have lead times.
- 3
Count the float with a second person and both sign for it before the first sale.
- 4
Work the with-customers-in section during the last hour of trade so the close does not overrun.
- 5
One named person does the lock-up section alone, initialling and timing each row.
- 6
Reconcile the till, write down any variance, and leave the sheet for the manager to review.
Questions
What should be on a bar closing checklist?
Cash reconciled and secured, spirits and premium stock locked, taps and nozzles cleaned, fridges restocked and rotated, glasswasher drained, cellar and outside doors locked, fire exits clear, alarm set. Cleaning tasks matter, but cash and stock security are the ones that cost you if skipped.
How often should beer lines be cleaned?
Every seven days is the interval most breweries and dispense equipment suppliers specify, with some allowing longer on certain systems. Follow your supplier's guidance for your own setup and record every clean with a date and initials in a separate line cleaning log.
Should the same person open and close the bar?
No — separate the roles and have each sign their own section. Opening and closing checks done by the same person on the same sheet remove the second pair of eyes that catches what was missed.
How do we handle a till variance at close?
Write it on the sheet the same night with the amount, who counted and who witnessed. A variance recorded immediately is an operational issue; a variance found days later during a paperwork review is an investigation.
Or stop printing it altogether
Rotahr does this check on a phone — timestamped, with the person who did it attached, reminders when one is due, and a PDF export when somebody asks for a month of records. Same job, no folder to search through.
Templates that go with it
Cellar check & line cleaning log
This free cellar check and beer line cleaning log template — printable PDF or editable Excel — records daily cellar temperature and gas checks alongside every line clean, with the date, lines cleaned, chemical used and initials.
Kitchen opening & closing checklist
This free kitchen opening and closing checklist template — printable PDF or editable Excel — lists the open and close tasks in the order you actually do them, with initials and time columns so the last hour of the night is never guesswork.
Daily takings sheet
This free daily takings sheet template — printable PDF or editable Excel — reconciles counted cash and card settlements against the till report for one trading day, showing the variance, the float carried forward and what was banked.
Free to print, copy and use in your venue — no attribution required. Written for an international audience: where a threshold is a widely used figure it is printed as one, but food safety and employment rules differ by country and change. Check yours before relying on this sheet.
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