Cash Theft QuickGuide

Are 4% Of Your Revenues Disappearing Every Year?

Cash theft can occur any time an employee has an opportunity to handle cash. It happens with both large and small amounts of money, and it can happen at any time of day, and day of the week…even with a manager present. Together with product theft, cash theft accounts for a 4% hit to your top line revenues every year. Even if you eliminate 1% of that top line hit, that still results in an increase in profits by 1% of your top line revenues. If, like most quick serve restaurant operators, your annual net profits are 5%, that’s an increase of 20%!

How To Discover Cash Theft

The most pervasive cash theft happens during transactions at cash registers, when patrons hand over payment for products to employees. This is known as “skimming”, which refers to cash theft that occurs even before the cash enters the register or accounting. To find cash theft at the register, there are a few key indicators that typically suggest that it is occurring. These are as follows:

Excessive Transaction Modifications

These include modifications such as voids, refunds and cancellations. In each case, the employee is taking an opportunity to modify the amount of cash that the register expects. For instance, suppose a patron orders two hamburgers that cost $1 each, for a total bill of $2. The employee receives $2 from the customer, but tells the register later that the customer received a refund for one hamburger that they didn’t want. Therefore, the register only expects $1 from the transaction, with the other $1 going directly into the employee’s pocket. Whenever an unusually large number of these transaction modifications occur, it makes sense to scrutinize why so many are occurring to determine if cash theft is occurring.

Excessive Inventory Depletion

Sometimes, employees won’t even enter an item into the register at all. If you notice that your inventory of ingredients and product depletes faster than usual, without an increase in sales, there is a possibility that employees at the register and in the kitchen may be “selling direct” to customers by bypassing the cash register altogether.

Look For Counting Mechanisms Present

Employees have devised a number of ways to keep track of how much cash they are stealing during a particular shift. One of the most common is to use inconspicuous counting mechanisms as a reminder. For example, some employees will place change on the ledge of the cash register representing how many dollars to pull out of the cash drawer before the end of their shift. A nickel and three pennies (8 cents total) may serve as a reminder to the employee to remove $8 from the cash drawer. A post-it note with tally marks on it can serve the same purpose.

RETEL TECHNOLOGIES