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Cashier balancing [1] or cashing up is the process of a cashier counting the money in a cash register at the end of a business day or working shift. The process is usually conducted in businesses such as grocery stores, restaurants and banks, and makes the cashier responsible for the money in their cash register.
The closing contents of the cash drawer must match the number expected on the X-report or Z-report, or "Cashier Closeoff" or "Signoff Report" generated by the cash register, usually within a certain allowed variance.
The procedure may vary drastically from store to store. For example, most modern retailers remove only larger bills for deposit, leaving smaller bills or coins in the cash drawer to be used as change. In many retailers, the "starting amount" or "float" will fluctuate from shift to shift depending on the change left in the till. In some variants, credit or debit chits will be added like cash to the total contents of the cash drawer.
In order to balance (or settle) the cash drawer, first, the manager (or sometimes the cashier) prepares to count the money in the register. The drawer is removed from the register and often taken to a back office for counting. Then, any large bills, checks, and coupons are removed and put to the side. Next, the person counting the money counts it back to its "starting amount" (the amount of money that was in the drawer at the beginning of the shift). In the process, other bills and change will taken to the side and put with the larger bills. Once the drawer is reset back to its starting amount for the next cashier's shift, it is either placed in the safe or given to the next shift.
"Drops" or "pickups" or "deposits" may happen during a shift if the cashier or the manager sees there is too much cash in the drawer. This is to limit the risk of robbery.
Cash back on debit transactions is a similar concept to a deposit as the cash in the drawer is replaced by money directly placed into the store's bank account and offers the customer the advantage of not having to make a separate transaction at an ATM. In this way, Cash back is generally beneficial to both the customer and the retailer, and offers the customer the ability request change or other denominations not generally available from ATMs.
Some POS systems will prompt the cashier to make a deposit. Procedures will vary from retailer to retailer, but in general the large bills are removed from the till and are either manually counted by the cashier or by a manager and are "dropped" into an inaccessible safe. The deposit will be recorded in the cashier's POS and will therefore no longer be expected in the cashier's drawer at the end of his or her shift, but will remain part of the final accountability at the end of the cashier's shift.
Now, the bills and change that were put off to the side get counted, along with the checks from the cashier's drawer. This is what makes up the cashier's sales deposit. Most cash registers can print up a sales slip and money tendering slip that tells how much money the cashier made in sales and how much money the cashier is accounted for. The manager refers to this slip when counting the cashier's sales money. If the money counted does not match what is on the balancing slip, the cashier may be over or short (in cash). Whenever a discrepancy such as overages or shortages occur, the money is usually counted again to ensure that the amount is correct. The over/short can always be calculated by subtracting the amount of money in the drawer (exclude the "starting amount") from the amount printed on the cashier tendering slip, or balancing slip.
Depending on the amount of over/short and circumstances involved, disciplinary actions may vary. Cashiers often lose their jobs to cash overages/shortages, either for repeated violations or for large overages or shortages. In most establishments, termination on the first offense is usually for $100.00 over/short or more, and can result in criminal charges against the cashier.[ citation needed ]
Shortages usually result from bills sticking together or from the cashier giving back too much change, or maybe even "pocketing" some money from the register. "Quick Change" scams are common, as a dishonest customer attempts to defraud a cashier by saying verbally, "And I'll pay with a $50" but only passing the cashier a smaller bill hoping the cashier will provide change as for a larger bill, or doing other things to attempt to confuse the cashier. In any instance of an unusual transaction, the cashier should print and save a duplicate receipt in order that the store's Loss Prevention may investigate the transaction should the till not balance.
Overages occur from taking too much money from customers, not entering the tender correctly other otherwise issuing incorrect change, or not entering items in the point of sale terminal properly.
Honesty and accuracy are paramount.
Cash overages/shortages are usually expressed in several ways. This example shows how it is expressed in writing and how a register printout would show them.
Overage $12.34: is written as +12.34; is printed out as: $12.34 or +$12.34.
Shortage $12.34 is written as: -12.34; is printed out as: ($12.34) or -$12.34.
Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions, and is part of the process of accounting in business and other organizations. It involves preparing source documents for all transactions, operations, and other events of a business. Transactions include purchases, sales, receipts and payments by an individual person, organization or corporation. There are several standard methods of bookkeeping, including the single-entry and double-entry bookkeeping systems. While these may be viewed as "real" bookkeeping, any process for recording financial transactions is a bookkeeping process.
A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a drawer for storing cash and other valuables. A modern cash register is usually attached to a printer that can print out receipts for record-keeping purposes.
In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.
The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice for the customer, and indicates the options for the customer to make payment. It is also the point at which a customer makes a payment to the merchant in exchange for goods or after provision of a service. After receiving payment, the merchant may issue a receipt, as proof of transaction, which is usually printed but can also be dispensed with or sent electronically.
Debits and credits in double-entry bookkeeping are entries made in account ledgers to record changes in value resulting from business transactions. A debit entry in an account represents a transfer of value to that account, and a credit entry represents a transfer from the account. Each transaction transfers value from credited accounts to debited accounts. For example, a tenant who writes a rent cheque to a landlord would enter a credit for the bank account on which the cheque is drawn, and a debit in a rent expense account. Similarly, the landlord would enter a credit in the rent income account associated with the tenant and a debit for the bank account where the cheque is deposited.
Accounts receivable, abbreviated as AR or A/R, are legally enforceable claims for payment held by a business for goods supplied or services rendered that customers have ordered but not paid for. The accounts receivable process involves customer onboarding, invoicing, collections, deductions, exception management, and finally, cash posting after the payment is collected.
A transaction account, also called a checking account, chequing account, current account, demand deposit account, or share account at credit unions, is a deposit account or bank account held at a bank or other financial institution. It is available to the account owner "on demand" and is available for frequent and immediate access by the account owner or to others as the account owner may direct. Access may be in a variety of ways, such as cash withdrawals, use of debit cards, cheques and electronic transfer. In economic terms, the funds held in a transaction account are regarded as liquid funds. In accounting terms, they are considered as cash.
A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the context of accountancy for the person responsible for receiving and disbursing money or within branch banking in the United Kingdom for the job known in the United States as a bank teller.
A receipt is a document acknowledging that a person has received money or property in payment following a sale or other transfer of goods or provision of a service. All receipts must have the date of purchase on them. If the recipient of the payment is legally required to collect sales tax or VAT from the customer, the amount would be added to the receipt, and the collection would be deemed to have been on behalf of the relevant tax authority. In many countries, a retailer is required to include the sales tax or VAT in the displayed price of goods sold, from which the tax amount would be calculated at the point of sale and remitted to the tax authorities in due course. Similarly, amounts may be deducted from amounts payable, as in the case of taxes withheld from wages. On the other hand, tips or other gratuities that are given by a customer, for example in a restaurant, would not form part of the payment amount or appear on the receipt.
A passbook or bankbook is a paper book used to record bank or building society transactions on a deposit account.
A cheque is a document that orders a bank, building society to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing the cheque, known as the drawer, has a transaction banking account where the money is held. The drawer writes various details including the monetary amount, date, and a payee on the cheque, and signs it, ordering their bank, known as the drawee, to pay the amount of money stated to the payee.
A cashier's check is a check guaranteed by a bank, drawn on the bank's own funds and signed by a bank employee. Cashier's checks are treated as guaranteed funds because the bank, rather than the purchaser, is both the drawee and drawer and is responsible for paying the amount. They are commonly required for real estate and brokerage transactions.
Cash management refers to a broad area of finance involving the collection, handling, and usage of cash. It involves assessing market liquidity, cash flow, and investments.
Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer with a payment terminal and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names, including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards.
Debit card cashback is a service offered to retail customers whereby an amount is added to the total purchase price of a transaction paid by debit card and the customer receives that amount in cash along with the purchase. For example, a customer purchasing $18.99 worth of goods at a supermarket might ask for twenty dollars cashback. The customer would approve a debit payment of $38.99 to the store, and the cashier would then give the customer $20 in cash.
A banker's draft is a cheque provided to a customer of a bank or acquired from a bank for remittance purposes, that is drawn by the bank, and drawn on another bank or payable through or at a bank. In Canada, the term "bank draft" includes both this kind of check and, in practice almost always, the instrument known elsewhere as a cashier's check.
Automated cash handling refers to the process of dispensing, counting, and tracking cash within various business environments using software and hardware devices such as banknote processing. Automated cash handling is used by banks, retail stores, check-cashing outlets, payday loan/advance providers, casinos, and more. This process is facilitated through the use of specially designed hardware and software, with the primary goals of preventing loss, deterring theft, and reducing the need for constant manual oversight of cash operations.
A credit card is a payment card, usually issued by a bank, allowing its users to purchase goods or services, or withdraw cash, on credit. Using the card thus accrues debt that has to be repaid later. Credit cards are one of the most widely used forms of payment across the world.
A banking agent is a retail or postal outlet contracted by a financial institution or a mobile network operator to process clients’ transactions. Rather than a branch teller, it is the owner or an employee of the retail outlet who conducts the transaction and lets clients deposit, withdraw, transfer funds, pay their bills, inquire about an account balance, or receive government benefits or a direct deposit from their employer. Banking agents can be pharmacies, supermarkets, convenience stores, lottery outlets, post offices, and more.
A deposit account is a bank account maintained by a financial institution in which a customer can deposit and withdraw money. Deposit accounts can be savings accounts, current accounts or any of several other types of accounts explained below.