Bar Opening & Closing Checklist Template

What the Bar Opening & Closing Checklist Covers

1. 1
   Phase 1

   Phase 1: Set Up the Trading Day

   4 tasks

   Answer which rules apply first; it adds the matching licensing notes to the tasks. Opening tasks count back from the time the doors open, and closing tasks count on from the time alcohol sales end today.

   • Record the bar, today’s trading times and the duty team — the premises, the time the doors open, the time alcohol sales end today under the licence, the duty manager who signs the day off and the lead bartender
   • Read the last close’s handover note — faults, items running short, kegs or gas to change, and any refusals or incidents the team should watch for tonight
   • Check today’s bookings, events and staffing — private hire, live sport or music, door staff if booked, and enough staff on each shift who know the age verification policy
   • Confirm who authorises alcohol sales today — the personal licence holder or manager responsible, how to reach them, and that everyone serving alcohol has been authorised to do so
2. 2
   Phase 2 — Opening

   Phase 2: Building, Safety & Cellar

   7 tasks

   Walk the building before anyone else arrives, then the cellar. The line-clean task appears only on days a clean is due.

   • Disarm the alarm and walk the bar, toilets and outside areas — signs of a break-in, leaks, broken glass, power or cooling failures, and anything left out from last night
   • Check fire exits, escape routes and the first aid kit — every exit unlocked and clear before customers arrive, extinguishers in place and the first aid kit stocked
   • Check the cellar gas alarm before going down — where the cellar has one, it is on and showing normal; if it is sounding, stay out and follow your gas procedure
   • Check the gas cylinders and connections — cylinders upright and secured, regulators and pipes undamaged with no hissing, enough gas for the day and spares in stock
   • Check the cellar temperature and the kegs and casks on the line — cellar cooling running and the reading recorded, nothing leaking, and the next keg or cask ready for each line
   • Check when the beer lines were last cleaned — from the line-cleaning record; if a clean is due today, the line-clean task appears
   • Clean the beer lines — following the line cleaner’s instructions, with the lines flushed with water until clear of cleaner before any beer is pulled; shown only on line-cleaning days
3. 3
   Phase 3 — Opening

   Phase 3: Bar Set-Up & Stock

   7 tasks

   Set the bar up for the day’s trade: glasses, ice, taps, garnishes and stock to par, then the till floats.

   • Start and check the glass washer — detergent and rinse aid topped up, filter and arms clean, and the wash and rinse temperatures shown on the machine as its maker sets out
   • Check the ice machine and the ice well — the machine clean and making ice, the well clean and filled, and the scoop kept in its holder, never a glass
   • Pull through and check every tap — each beer and cider clear, cold and tasting right after standing overnight, with what was pulled off recorded as waste
   • Prepare garnishes, mixers and juices — fruit washed, cut, covered and dated, chilled mixers and juices in date, and anything left from yesterday checked or thrown away
   • Check stock against par levels — spirits, bottled drinks, wine and mixers counted against the par sheet, gaps filled from the store and shortfalls ordered
   • Check optics, measures and pourers — measures and thimbles clean and in place, pourers fitted, and no spirit bottle refilled or topped up
   • Count the till floats and test the card terminals — each float counted with a second person and recorded per till, and each terminal checked for tampering and a test payment run
4. 4
   Phase 4 — Opening

   Phase 4: Licence, Briefing & Open the Doors

   6 tasks

   The licence on show, the team briefed and the duty manager’s approval before the doors open. Nothing after the approval can be completed until it is given.

   • Check the licence summary and notices are on display — the premises licence summary and the notice naming who keeps the licence, plus any notices your licence conditions require
   • Check the price list shows the measures you sell — menus and price lists up to date, including the small measures where your rules require them, and prices for any promotions
   • Brief the team on the age verification policy and refusals — the age the policy checks to, which ID is accepted, how to refuse politely and when to call the duty manager
   • Brief the team on today’s events, promotions and free water — what is on, any drinks promotion checked against your rules, and drinking water free on request
   • Duty manager approves the bar to open — every opening check done or its corrective action written down; nothing after this can be completed until it is given
   • Open the doors and record the time — a late opening is noted with its reason so the pattern shows over time
5. 5
   Phase 5 — Service

   Phase 5: During Service

   7 tasks

   Kept open all session and completed when alcohol sales end. The refusals table and the incident follow-up appear only when there is something to record.

   • Apply the age verification policy at every serve — ID asked for from anyone who looks under the policy age, only accepted ID taken, and no drink handed over until the check is done
   • Record every refusal in the refusals log — the time, the reason, a short description of the customer and who refused, whether for age, no ID or drunkenness
   • Refuse service to anyone who is drunk — stop serving, offer water, tell the duty manager and make sure the customer leaves safely
   • Collect glasses and check the floor and toilets on a set round — broken glass cleared at once, spills dried and signed, and toilets checked and recorded at each round
   • Log every incident as it happens — fights, injuries, ejections, police called, lost property and complaints, with the time, what happened and who saw it
   • Follow up injuries and serious incidents — the accident book filled in, any CCTV kept, and the duty manager decides who else must be told; shown only when an incident is logged
   • Record waste and breakages as they happen — pull-throughs, spillages, returned drinks and broken bottles on the waste sheet, so the closing count adds up
6. 6
   Phase 6 — Closing

   Phase 6: Last Orders, Clearing & Cleaning

   7 tasks

   From last orders to an empty, clean bar. No alcohol is sold after the time the licence allows.

   • Call last orders before the licensed end of sales — early enough that every drink is served before the time on the licence, and announced the same way every night
   • Stop serving at the end of sales and clear drinks by closing — no alcohol sold after the licensed time, drinking-up only as the licence allows, and glasses collected from every table
   • Check the premises are clear of customers — toilets, smoking area, beer garden and quiet corners, with customers asked to leave quietly
   • Clean the bar, taps and drip trays — drip trays emptied and washed, tap nozzles soaked, surfaces and bar mats cleaned and sanitised
   • Drain the glass washer and empty the ice well — the washer drained, its filter cleaned and the door left open, and the ice well emptied, cleaned and dried
   • Store garnishes and perishables or throw them away — cut fruit covered and dated or discarded, milk, cream and juices back in the fridge, and the discards on the waste sheet
   • Take out the empties, glass and waste — bottles to recycling, glass bins emptied quietly where neighbours are close, bins lidded and the bin store locked
7. 7
   Phase 7 — Closing

   Phase 7: Stock, Cash-Up & Lock-Up

   7 tasks

   Stock, cash and the building, then the handover and the duty manager’s sign-off of the day’s record.

   • Count closing stock and total the waste — spirits and bottles against par, the waste sheet totalled, and shortfalls added to the next order
   • Cash up each till against the point-of-sale report — two people count, and the variance, voids, refunds and card totals are recorded per till
   • Bag the takings for banking and lock them in the safe — bag numbers and amounts recorded with two signatures, floats set aside for tomorrow, and the bags ready for the banking handoff
   • Shut down the cellar for the night — gas turned off at the cylinders where your procedure says so, cooling left running, and the cellar door locked
   • Write the handover note for tomorrow’s opener — faults, low stock, kegs or gas to change, refusals and incidents to watch for, and anything booked
   • Walk the building, lock up and set the alarm — toilets, stores and fire exits checked, lights off, and the last two staff leaving together
   • Duty manager signs off the trading day — every check done or its action written down, refusals and incidents reviewed, and the cash-up checked