How to stop cash going missing from your till

A till that is a little short most days can cost a shop more than a single large theft, because nobody notices until the month’s numbers don’t add up. These controls make shortages visible the day they happen.

1. One person per till, per shift

When several people use the same drawer, a shortage belongs to nobody. Give each cashier their own till session, and have them sign in to it, so every sale and every cash movement has a name on it.

2. Count in and count out

At the start of a shift, the cashier counts the float and records it. At the end, they count the drawer again, with a manager watching for larger amounts. The difference between what the system says should be there and what was counted is the cash variance.

• Short: less cash than expected.
• Over: more cash than expected, which often means a sale was rung up for less than was taken.

Both matter. A till that is regularly over is as suspicious as one that is regularly short.

3. Don’t let cash leave without a record

Paying a supplier from the drawer, giving change for another till, or taking cash to the bank should each be recorded as a cash movement. Otherwise an honest payout looks exactly like a theft.

4. Watch refunds, voids and discounts

The most common way cash goes missing isn’t taking it from the drawer: it’s a refund to a customer who wasn’t there, a sale voided after the money was taken, or a discount the customer never got. Require a manager’s approval above a set amount, and review the refunds and discounts report every week.

5. Look at the pattern, not just the day

One short day can be a mistake. The same cashier short on most Saturdays is a pattern. A cash variance report by cashier and by till over a month shows patterns a daily check misses.

6. Make the stock agree too

If stock leaves without a sale, the drawer can balance perfectly. Regular stock takes on your most-stolen items, with adjustments recorded with a reason, close that gap.

Doing it in Achabs

Achabs’s Retail & Point of Sale module opens and closes each till session with a count, records every sale, refund and cash movement against the cashier, and reports cash variance by till and by session. With Inventory, each sale moves stock straight away, and stock takes show what has gone missing between counts.