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Closing · Cafés

Café closing checklist — 28 tasks step by step, signed with a PIN

Closing sets how the café opens the next day: skip the espresso backflush and the first shot tastes of stale oil; leave the display ajar and product drifts above 4 °C overnight. This is the complete, ordered, digitisable routine.

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30-90 min closing Verified technical data Cash close + HACCP

Quick summary

What does a barista do when closing the café?

Closing a café in Spain takes 30 to 45 minutes in a neighbourhood spot (1 person) and 60-90 minutes in a specialty or high-volume venue (2 people: one on the machine/grinder, one on the floor/cash). The critical block is the espresso machine: skip the daily backflush and coffee oils polymerise in the group's solenoid valve — tomorrow's first shot tastes metallic and bitter.

The routine splits into 7 blocks: last-service close, machine and grinder, display and perishables, bar/floor/restrooms, cash and POS, HACCP log, and physical close-up. Each block has verifiable parameters: detergent backflush with 3 g in a blind disc (10 s ON / 10 s OFF × 5 cycles + 4-5 water rinses), refrigerated display kept ON overnight at 2-8 °C for HACCP, opened products labelled with opening date (milk 3 days, cream 5 days, pastry cream 48 h at ≤7 °C).

Three legal frames apply: Regulation (EC) 852/2004 and the AESAN guide on HACCP logging (minimum: open + close, kept for 1 year), Spain's Law 1/2025 on food-waste prevention (in force since April 2025, requires a prevention plan and prioritises donation of surplus) and the local waste ordinance (in Madrid, coffee grounds go in the brown organic bin). On paper, all of this is lost by week one. With Timlup each entry is signed with exact time and barista.

Full checklist

The 28 closing tasks, ordered by block

Total time 30-45 min for neighbourhood spots · 60-90 min for specialty. Machine cleaning and cash close can run in parallel with two people.

Last-service close

5 min
  1. 1 Last call 15 minutes before close; stop taking new orders 1 min
  2. 2 Bring in outdoor furniture, close terrace, take down daily menus 3 min
  3. 3 Collect remaining orders and wipe tables as they free up 1 min

Espresso machine and grinder

15-20 min — the most critical block
  1. 1 Water backflush (blind disc): 5 cycles per group to flush coffee oils 3 min
  2. 2 Detergent backflush with Cafiza/Puly Caff (3 g · ½ tsp in blind disc): 10 s ON / 10 s OFF × 5 cycles — daily in specialty, weekly in neighbourhood spots 4 min
  3. 3 Water rinse: 4-5 cycles per group until water runs clean 2 min
  4. 4 Remove portafilters and baskets; soak overnight in detergent solution 1 min
  5. 5 Brush shower screens with group brush; full disassembly is monthly 1 min
  6. 6 Steam wands: final purge, hot cloth, remove tips and soak in hot water + dedicated cleaner (30 ml / 500 ml water) 2 min
  7. 7 Turn off machine (eco/standby preserves boiler for next morning; full off saves energy but extends warm-up) 1 min
  8. 8 Grinder: empty hopper (exposed beans oxidise in 8-12 h) 1 min
  9. 9 Vacuum fines from grinder (chamber and burr area) with vac or brush 2 min
  10. 10 Internal cleaning with Grindz/Urnex (35-40 g treated like coffee + 2 purge doses): weekly in neighbourhood spots, daily in intensive specialty 3 min

Display, pastries and perishables

5-10 min — Law 1/2025 applies
  1. 1 Hot pastry display: power off and clean inside; surplus pastries to discard, donate (Law 1/2025) or staff 2 min
  2. 2 Refrigerated display (cream/dairy): KEEP ON overnight at 2-8 °C for HACCP; cover with night curtain if fitted 1 min
  3. 3 Label opened products with name and opening date (milk 3 d · cream 5 d · pastry cream 48 h at ≤7 °C) 2 min
  4. 4 Move what doesn't fit in display back to the main cold room; check expiry and FIFO 2 min
  5. 5 Log donated/discarded units in the food-waste prevention plan (Law 1/2025) 1 min

Bar, floor and restrooms

10-15 min — daily must-do
  1. 1 Clean bar, drip tray and drinks station with food-safe degreaser 3 min
  2. 2 Sweep and mop the floor; chairs up on tables for a full wash 5 min
  3. 3 Restroom clean: toilet, sink, floor, refill paper/soap 3 min
  4. 4 Empty bins (floor + restroom); coffee grounds go to organic (in Madrid: brown bin) 2 min

Cash, POS and card reader

10-15 min — can run in parallel if two staff
  1. 1 POS Z report: print day totals (sales, items sold, VAT) 1 min
  2. 2 Physical cash count: separate float (€100-200) from day's takings 5 min
  3. 3 Reconcile: counted cash vs POS Z — log discrepancy with reason if any (unlogged discrepancies add up to €3,000+/year) 2 min
  4. 4 Card reader close: print Z and reconcile with POS card sales 2 min
  5. 5 Lock excess in venue safe (or next-day bank deposit); leave float in the drawer 2 min

HACCP closing log

5 min — second mandatory log of the day
  1. 1 Log final temperature of main cold room (≤4 °C) 1 min
  2. 2 Log final temperature of refrigerated display (≤4 °C / pastry 2-8 °C) 1 min
  3. 3 Log final temperature of freezer (≤−18 °C) 1 min
  4. 4 Verify opened-product labels and log incidents (failures, withdrawals, training). Records kept for 1 year. 2 min

Physical close-up

5 min — order matters
  1. 1 Turn off extractor hood 10-15 min after the last cooking equipment (purge fumes) 1 min
  2. 2 Check taps closed and gas main valve if applicable 1 min
  3. 3 Turn off floor lights (leave pilot/emergency). NEVER turn off fridges, refrigerated displays or freezers. 1 min
  4. 4 Lower exterior shutters/security grilles 1 min
  5. 5 Arm alarm as the very last action; verify front door is locked 1 min
Barista view

This simple on their bar tablet

The closing barista enters with a PIN, sees only the closing tasks and signs at the end. Inspections and the owner see the log in real time.

Sun Café · Bar

Closing — Machine

due 23:30
3 / 5
  • Water backflush (5 cycles per group)
  • Detergent backflush (3 g · 5 cycles)
  • Water rinse (4-5 cycles)
  • Portafilters soaking in detergent
  • Steam wands: purge, cloth, remove tips
Tick all 5 tasks to sign and close the block
Why Timlup

Paperless closing — no discrepancies, no missed HACCP

Three levers that change what happens when you pull the shutter down.

Signed backflush, not assumed

Every night the detergent backflush is logged — with time and barista. Your machine lasts years longer and the first shot tastes the same every morning.

Cash close with traceable discrepancies

Z report, cash count and card-reader reconcile are saved to the cloud. If something doesn't match, you know which shift and who.

HACCP and Law 1/2025 up to date

Closing temperatures, opened-product labels and donated units (food-waste law) all PIN-signed. Health inspections close in 10 minutes.

FAQ

Common closing questions

What owners and baristas ask us most about closing the café well.

How long does it take to close a café?
Between 30 and 45 minutes in a neighbourhood café with 1 person, and 60-90 minutes in a specialty or high-volume venue with 2 people (one on machine/grinder, one on floor/cash). The bottleneck is usually the machine clean and the cash close if there are discrepancies.
What does a barista do when closing the café?
Tasks split into 7 blocks: last-service close (5 min), machine and grinder (15-20 min), display and perishables (10 min), bar/floor/restrooms (10-15 min), cash and POS (10-15 min), HACCP closing log (5 min) and physical close-up (5 min). Total 28 concrete tasks with verifiable parameters.
Do you backflush the espresso machine every day?
Water backflush (blind disc, no detergent): yes, every close, 5 cycles per group. Detergent backflush (Cafiza, Puly Caff): weekly in a neighbourhood café, daily in a specialty doing 100+ cups/day. Skip it and coffee oils polymerise in the group's solenoid valve — the next morning's first shot tastes metallic.
How do you do a detergent backflush step by step?
1) Insert the blind disc in the portafilter. 2) Add 3 g (½ tsp) of espresso detergent. 3) Lock into the group and run the cycle: 10 seconds ON / 10 seconds OFF × 5 repetitions. 4) Remove, rinse the portafilter and run 4-5 water-only cycles until water comes out clean and foam-free.
Do you switch the machine off overnight?
Two schools. Full off saves up to ~€310/year in electricity but requires 20-45 min warm-up the next day. Eco/standby (more common in specialty) preserves the boiler from thermal cycling and lets the next shift start faster. What you NEVER do is turn off fridges, refrigerated displays or freezers.
Do you empty the grinder hopper every day?
Yes. Beans exposed to air in the hopper oxidise in 8-12 hours — volatile oils degrade and the next morning's first grind tastes stale. Empty the hopper at close and vacuum the fines. Internal cleaning with Grindz/Urnex (35-40 g run like coffee + 2 purge doses) is weekly in neighbourhood spots, daily in intensive specialty.
What do you do with leftover pastries at close?
Since Spain's Law 1/2025 (in force from April 2025), cafés must run a food-waste prevention plan that prioritises: 1st donation to social entities (formal agreements), 2nd transformation, 3rd animal feed, 4th composting. Discard is only justified if nothing above is viable. Donated/discarded units are logged daily.
How long do opened perishables last in a café?
Opened milk: 3 days in the fridge at ≤4 °C (Pascual). Cream: 5 days max. Made pastry cream: 48 hours at ≤7 °C (Pascual Profesional). Every container must be labelled with product + opening date. Missing labels are a HACCP infraction at inspection.
How do you do the cash close in a café?
1) Z report on the POS (day totals). 2) Physical count of cash, separating the float (€100-200) from takings. 3) Compare counted cash with POS Z. 4) Close the card reader, print its Z, reconcile with POS card sales. 5) Log discrepancy with reason if any. Unlogged discrepancies can total over €3,000/year in a venue with two shifts.
Are closing temperatures mandatory too?
Regulation (EC) 852/2004 and the AESAN guide require a temperature-control plan; the guide recommends 2-3 logs per day. Industry practice is two: opening and closing. Records are kept for 1 year minimum. Without a signed, dated log it's a serious infraction.
Where do coffee grounds go at close?
Organic waste. In Madrid, coffee grounds go in the brown bin (organic) along with plant scraps and used napkins — not in light packaging (yellow) or general waste (grey). Separation is mandatory for hospitality under municipal ordinance.
Which cleaning products must NEVER be mixed at close?
Bleach with ammonia produces chloramine — a toxic gas causing breathing difficulty, eye irritation and nervous system damage. Bleach with vinegar or descalers produces chlorine gas. Closing with the extractor off, an accidental mix can be serious. Use one product per surface and rinse between them.
John Guerrero
Editor

John Guerrero

Founder of Timlup · Founder of ChefBusiness

15+ years working on hospitality operations and process digitisation. Behind Timlup, ChefBusiness and AI Chef Pro. This guide captures the procedures used in professional restaurants and bars across Spain.

ChefBusiness ↗ AI Chef Pro ↗

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