Compare three numbers, not five
Sales recorded, cash counted, M-Pesa statement total. If those three agree, the day is closed. Everything else is detail.
Do it before you lock up
A variance found at 9pm can be investigated. The same variance found on Monday morning is a mystery you will absorb as a loss.
Watch the split payments
The most common reconciliation error is a sale where part was M-Pesa and part cash, recorded as one method. The totals still balance but neither channel does.
Keep a written variance log
Even one line a day. Three weeks of "short by 200" tells you something that one bad day never will.