Till training

Till training/Cash handling/Purchasing

why do we care

The purpose of all this record-keeping is so that we actually know what is happening with our money. Where is it coming from, where is it going, how much do we REALLY have?

• If we don't know something, we want to show that we don't know it rather than hiding it. (possible evidence of theft, etc.)
• Auditability

  - Why an audit? Audits verify the soundness of the process. If your methods are not sound, an audit will show that.

  • Paper trail
  • more than one person involved
  • separation of steps in the process

If we don't have good bookkeeping practices, it is possible to lose money for years and to be in debt without really knowing it.

Opening

Count the till

This is important because the till could be off for a variety of reasons and we want to catch it here. If the till is off at the end of the day and it was not counted in the morning, that greatly expands the time frame in which something can have gone wrong.

• Miscount by till preparer
• Mishaps (for example - tills spilled and not completely picked up)
• Change made from a till
• Theft

Important special transactions - paper trail during the day

• Tech support payments

  We do not need (or want) the tech support ticket. We need the yellow copy of a generic receipt form. Bu sure to mark whether it was paid with cash, check, or credit card

• IOUs

  Anytime money goes out to an individual, whether it is for a payroll advance or a purchase for FG, it is an IOU. The important thing here is who it goes to, and secondarily when and how it is expected back.

• purchase reimbursements

  When a purchase is made for FG, the important things are who is the vendor, what was purchased, and what was the business purpose of the purchase. Who did the spending is not important once the receipt has been turned in and the money settled up

  • What if there is no receipt?

    If there is no receipt, there needs to be a rational explanation of why. For example, John cleans gloves at a laundry for which he cannot get a receipt.

• IOU repay with and without a purchase involved
  • Same day
  • Different day
• vendor income
  • Batteries NW
• mileage reimbursements
• Invoice payments

  In general invoices should not be paid at the front desk, but if they are, they should be listed as "non-db" cash or credit with the associated invoice number (which should be resolved in the database)

Business Purpose

What are reasonable purposes

• Volunteer reward
• transportation
• tools
• office supplies
• etc...

Checks, what is important

We very rarely have deliberate misrepresentation on checks since we stopped taking them in the store. Problems are usually innocent oversights, such as forgetting to sign or date the check. We still can't cash the check if its wrong, however.

• Dated correctly?
• to the order of Free Geek?
• written and numeric agree? The bank honrs the written version if there is a discrepancy.
• Signed? (more than one signer required?)
• drivers license?
• "is this your current info?"
• entered into database (get CURRENT info especially if different from check) no checks without database entry.

Credit card data security (everyone who handles credit card data needs this)

• what is cardholder data
  • Anything with a full credit card number on it
• How to handle cardholder data
  • Don't write it down. If it gets written down, it must be securely locked up or securely shredded
  • Don't email it or otherwise send it electronically
• Special handling
  • when "imprint" asked for, you need proof that the card was here, so it needs to be "kerchunked"

Closing

http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Opening_and_closing_out_the_till

• "Face" the bills
• ALL cash and checks in the main box

• ALL known corrections in the boxes on the right side.
  • Cash Out
    • Purchases for FG
    • IOUs for any purpose
    • Cash refunds
    • Known problems (e.g. theft, change errors)

• • Cash In
    • IOU repayment
    • tech support payments
    • found money
    • known change errors (overcharge)
    • other income (e.g. Batteries NW which is recycling income)
    • invoice payments

• • CC out
    • Underswipes and other known errors
    • Refunds

• • CC In
    • Tech support income
    • Invoice payments
    • Overcharges

Making a purchase for Free Geek

• reimbursed
• IOU
• Credit Card

Props

• IOU/Rembursements filled out various ways
• Mileage reimbursement
• End of shift form with error
• Till worksheets