How does your store handle the tills? Ours are rarely counted. If they have time they will count the till before you start your shift. They never count it when you leave. They only count the bills, not the change. I was told by the comanager that I would be responsible for any shortage of my till. When I go on break, floor supervisors use my register, or surge help will use it. There are so many hands in each till each day that I don't know how they could pin a shortage on any one employee. They used to count the till in front of the employee at the end of each shift but that doesn't happen anymore because we are so short handed these days.
This is the first job I've ever had where they don't keep an eye on the cash. I've never had a job where the till wasn't counted before and after my shift. As far as the change, they just quesstimate it.
Tills are counted every morning by the bookkeeper. The computer keeps up with everyone who signed on each till and that report is printed every morning. The bookkeeper and/or CSM looks for the person's name that is constantly on the shortage list. Till audits are also done through out the day to pinpoint when the shortage occurs.
What if you get a lot of customers who want cash back? That could cause a till shortage but it wouldn't be your fault. Or are we talking strictly about theft or carelessness here?
Side note: I once had a customer get one of those prepaid "cash only" cards and he put over $700 on it. I had four $100 bills just sitting in the register after that (the rest were $20's), and of course that caused a "CD pickup needed soon" message after every transaction that followed. That was really annoying. Not the customer's fault, but they need to fix the system so it reminds you maybe every 10 transactions, or displays a label message on the screen. Not a popup after every transaction. OK, end rant.
What if you get a lot of customers who want cash back? That could cause a till shortage but it wouldn't be your fault. Or are we talking strictly about theft or carelessness here?
Side note: I once had a customer get one of those prepaid "cash only" cards and he put over $700 on it. I had four $100 bills just sitting in the register after that (the rest were $20's), and of course that caused a "CD pickup needed soon" message after every transaction that followed. That was really annoying. Not the customer's fault, but they need to fix the system so it reminds you maybe every 10 transactions, or displays a label message on the screen. Not a popup after every transaction. OK, end rant.
You're not short because the system keeps track of the cash relative to the starting amount of the till. In accounting we can always see how much cash a till has, or should have, and whether a pickup is needed. When you get the CD message you should alert your supervisor or somebody at the desk because there's too much money in the till as determined by company standards. Now, sometimes, that happens because a till before you was pulled but not counted.
They can only hold you accounting for a shortage if you're isolated and you're clearly not isolated if supervisors and relief help are on your till. There are standards that require isolation when someone is short a certain number of times on a shared till for example.
Best practice is no more than three per till. There are ways of finding out who messed up with an investigation and camera review.
Loose change is counted once a week. The system estimates so tills that appear short or over might not be short because of loose coin.
This is the first job I've ever had where they don't keep an eye on the cash. I've never had a job where the till wasn't counted before and after my shift. As far as the change, they just quesstimate it.
You can always request a clean till. We keep an eye on cash, just not in a way you would think. You would be surprised how we pick up on patterns. We know who is short, who is good, who is sloppy and who is neat.
Anon you make it sound like Area 51 or some sort of Kroger secret spy program.
I know your intentions were good but that sort of creepy thought just makes me want to leave this company even more than I do now.
I was just wanting some information, I expect the comanager to write me up for a short till next. She likes to retaliate. The business agent from my union is coming in next week to talk to the store manager and me about her. I expect it to be a lengthy meeting - I have alot to say.
