A Guide for Managing Your Cash Register

Having a modern POS system does not mean that you need to have a process to store cash receipts. This internal activity is crucial to minimise mishandling of money and protect the business’s value from being lost or stolen.

Performing internal practice enhances operational efficiency and keeps a record of everything needed for filing taxes. One of the most common reasons for the loss of your retail business is the bad practices of handling the cash and lack of proper controls. 

A strong cash management system requires strict store policies. Most POS systems have step-by-step instructions for balancing cash drawers in today’s world.

A retail store manager or a cashier can check out the sales report at any time during the off-peak hours. By combining the daily sales figure with the amount of cash left in the beginning, a retailer will know how much cash should be left in the cash drawer at a particular time.

There Are Many Reasons Which Tell Why It Is Useful:

•    It prevents the salesperson to keep excess cash on the sales floor
•    It protects against huge loss of money if the store is robbed
•    Avoids the chance of having a shortage of change
•    It helps to inform you about shortages or overages for a specific cashier

Assigning Separate Duties

You can consider employing two people to balance the cash drawer to avoid any confusion. You can authorise one person to check the drawer and make a daily cash report, while the other person may be told to deposit the money in the bank. Both the staff engaged in balancing the cash drawer should be responsible for the figures they have derived.

If you run a small retail store, you may have probably worked with a single register. The manager of the retail stores should order each cashier to take responsibility for their cash drawer. At the beginning of the shift, the cashier recounts the cash in the drawer to determine the beginning balance. In a small store, most of the cash remains in the drawer for the entire night.

No matter what procedure you practice, there will be some human error. Therefore, it is advisable to add discrepancies when auditing. This is a way of auditing your profit and loss statements.

How to Implement

At the end of the business hours, the cash register is balanced so that you can know how much revenue has been collected. Next, the cash drawer is shifted to a secure place for preparing the report. After balancing the cash register make sure that you have turned off the floor lights and check whether the door is properly locked or not. At the time of leaving, most salespeople are in a hurry and tend to close the store before the actual time, which is not a rightful act. However, if your retail store has several employees, it is easy to close one of the registers.

When found, any kind of shortages or overages should not be entertained further. Human nature can be an important factor for small mistakes and errors. But when you notice a frequent loss of assets, it might be a sign of employee theft. When this kind of circumstance happens in your store, you should consider arranging special training for the cashier.

Some part of the cash is kept aside and stored for the evening, while the other half is deposited in the bank. You can attach all the terminal reports, credit card slips and other register receipts to the cash drawer daily report.

Cashiers in Small Businesses

A cashier in a retail store such as a boutique clothing store, small grocery store or nail salon performs like a clerk, customer service representative or secretary. It is essential to check whether the same person is assigned the responsibility of handling cash and other office duties. If this is the case, then you should employ each person for executing these roles. This is an essential step you need to check to ensure good accounting.

Cashiers in Medium-Sized Businesses

In a retail store, the main task of the cashier is associated with the volume of cash and cash transactions. All these cash transactions are audited at the end of the day. The person must do counting and auditing tasks to minimise human error. But in a medium-sized business, the cashier acts as a customer representative since most of the cashier sits at the retail store entrance. He is the sole person for maintaining good accounting checks and balances.

Cashiers in Large Businesses

A person in a large retail store manages cash and cash transactions. The perfect place for executing this task is in a separate accounting department. In a big store, this job is assigned to a qualified person.

Every hospitality or retail sector, such as a major departmental store, large hotels or restaurants, assign a dedicated person for handling and managing the cash. These cashiers have experience working with hotel guests, in-house lawyers, staff members and shoppers, and they are different from other cashiers who manipulate the cash transaction records. This kind of position requires both mathematical and computer skills. In other words, the cashier acts as an accountant to some extent.

The main function is to receive the payment from the customer and provide change like any other financial establishment such as home improvement or grocery stores. Cashiers are requested to process credit and debit card transactions with the general public.  

The cashier needs to have experience working with credit card terminals, cash registers or scanners. Moreover, an auditing mechanism is needed to ensure the integrity of the accounting system. That said, most retail owners absorb honest people.

If you want to purchase authentic cash drawers or other point of sale equipment for your retail unit, then consider visiting POS central. They have an exclusive collection of POS equipment that will help to streamline your business process and cash transaction. All their POS products are tested before delivering to the customer so that you get the best product for your business.