Cash Handling Checklist

Cashier signs accepting custody of the counted float. Dual control: both the manager-on-duty and the assigned cashier verify the count and sign before the drawer leaves the office. Disputes after this step become the cashier's variance.

The X-report is a read-only snapshot — it does not zero out the drawer. Use it to compare register-recorded cash sales against the till before the afternoon cashier takes over.

Cashier alerts the manager-on-duty when the drawer exceeds $300 in twenties and fifties. Drop into the safe in tamper-evident bag, log the drop number on the safe sheet. A held-up till at $800 is a full loss; the policy only works if the drops actually happen.

Pick one drawer at random; recount cash and tie to the X-report cash-in-drawer figure. Variance over $5 gets investigated the same shift, not deferred to close. Pattern of small shorts on one cashier is the early signal for sweethearting or refund fraud.

The Z-report closes the POS day and zeroes the running totals. Print two copies — one to the deposit bag, one to the closing binder. Once the Z is run, mid-day transactions cannot be re-attributed to today.

Each cashier counts their own drawer in the office under camera; manager recounts independently. Pull the float back to the standard start amount and bag the remainder as the day's cash sales. Coin sorters are fine; eyeballing rolled coin is not.

Most variance over $20 is a counting error, not theft. Second manager recounts in front of the original cashier before any escalation. Document each denomination on the recount sheet.

Run the POS exception report: voids, post-voids, no-sales, refunds without receipt, manager-overridden refunds. A short drawer paired with unusual refund activity from one cashier is the classic sweethearting pattern.

Identify the timestamps of the suspicious transactions from the exception report and pull register-camera footage for those windows. Save clips per the loss-prevention retention SOP — overwriting the DVR before the LP review is a common avoidable mistake.

Two managers count the deposit independently; both initial the deposit slip. Cash, checks, and any large-denomination drops go in the tamper-evident bag with the bag number recorded in the deposit log.

Use the route and timing on file with the bank — varying timing reduces predictability for would-be thieves. Two staff travel together; do not stop between store and bank. Photograph the bag in the night-drop chute as proof of deposit.