Key points
- Rule out the ordinary causes first: wrong change, a tip in the drawer, the starting float, purchases with no receipt, a mixed-up payment method, and unpaid or cancelled orders.
- Trace it before the cashier goes home: check Unpaid orders, count again, check the float, match totals per payment method and cancellations, then calmly ask the cashier.
- Log every shift, including the ones that match, then sum it up per cashier after a few weeks and compare cashiers with similar schedules. The summary shows which shifts to check more closely.
- Kazeer shows totals per payment method and per cashier shift, but it doesn't record who cancelled an order. You still need a cancellation book, because an unrecorded cash payment followed by a cancelled order leaves no difference in the drawer.
Picture this: in one week your cash drawer is off three times. Monday it's Rp15,000 short, Thursday Rp3,000 over, Saturday Rp35,000 short. Each time you count again, can't find the cause, and let it go. The next week it happens again, and you start to suspect the cashier on duty.
Before you suspect anyone, rule out the innocent explanations. How to count the drawer and work out the difference is in the guide to the end-of-day cash-up.
Ordinary causes to rule out first
The direction of the difference is your first clue. A drawer that's over usually means money came in without being recorded, or a customer got too little change. A drawer that's short usually means money went out, or a payment was recorded as cash when the money never reached the drawer.
| Cause | Cash drawer | Where it shows |
|---|
| Wrong change | Short if too much, over if too little | Only in the cashier's memory |
| Customer left the change, or a tip went into the drawer | Over | Only in the cashier's memory |
| Starting float miscounted at opening | Short or over | That morning's cash book |
| Drawer money spent on a purchase with no receipt | Short | No receipt |
| Payment method mixed up, such as QRIS recorded as cash | Short or over, with QRIS or card off by the same amount the other way | The QRIS transaction list and the card machine's summary |
| Customer paid cash, payment not recorded yet | Over | The order is still Unpaid |
| Order cancelled after the money went into the drawer | Over | A cancelled order in the records |
| Payment recorded on another order | Short or over by the difference between the two totals | The paying customer's order is still Unpaid |
Trace it before the cashier goes home
While the cashier still remembers who paid with large notes and the purchase receipts haven't been thrown away, check in this order:
- Check the Unpaid orders first. If the customer did pay and the shift is still open, record the payment on that order now. In Kazeer, a shift can be closed with unpaid orders, and those orders show as Unpaid in the shift details.
- Count again with a second person until your totals match. A difference the size of one note, such as Rp10,000, looks more like a note that slipped out of place or wrong change.
- Check the starting float in the morning's cash book: the amount, who handed it over, and whether it was counted together.
- Open the totals per payment method (cash, QRIS, card) and per cashier shift in Kazeer. Compare QRIS with the list of incoming transactions, and card with the card machine's summary. If cash is Rp22,000 short and QRIS is Rp22,000 over, look for an order of that amount on that shift.
- Match each cancelled order against the cancellation book (see the rules below), especially any worth the same as the difference. Did any money change hands?
- Only then, ask the cashier.
Asking without accusing
Start from what you've already checked: "The drawer is Rp40,000 short. QRIS and card match, and there are no Unpaid orders. Was any drawer money used to buy something today?" A question like "Where did the money go?" makes people defensive, and they stop trying to remember. Write the cashier's answer in the difference log, even if it's "I don't know."
Log every shift, including the ones that match
Write one line for every shift, including the ones that match, so you know whether three differences came from 10 shifts or 40. Use the same words for the cause every time so you can count them: wrong change, tip, starting float, purchase without receipt, wrong payment method, unpaid, cancellation, wrong order, or not found.
A drawer that matches isn't always clean: a cash payment that's never recorded, followed by cancelling the order, leaves no difference. So read the cancellation book shift by shift alongside this log (see the article on the NOT PAID receipt).
Example: The difference log of an outlet with a morning and an evening shift. All numbers in this article are examples only.
| Date | Shift | Cashier | Difference | Cause |
|---|
| 1 Sep | Morning | Cashier A | Matched | |
| 1 Sep | Evening | Cashier B | Rp22,000 short | Wrong payment method |
| 2 Sep | Morning | Cashier A | Rp5,000 over | Wrong change |
| 2 Sep | Evening | Cashier C | Rp40,000 short | Purchase without receipt |
| 3 Sep | Morning | Cashier A | Matched | |
| 3 Sep | Evening | Cashier C | Rp25,000 short | Not found |
Reading the log after four weeks
Example: The same log after four weeks, summed up per cashier. Cashier A usually works mornings, and Cashiers B and C take turns on the evening shift.
| Cashier | Shifts | With a difference | Cause found | Not found |
|---|
| Cashier A | 24 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Cashier B | 16 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Cashier C | 16 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
- Differences with a known cause show you what needs practice. Three of Cashier B's four differences were the wrong payment method, so build the habit of checking the method before finishing a payment. Two of Cashier A's three were wrong change, and there's practice for that in the guide to training a new cashier.
- Compare cashiers with similar schedules. Cashiers B and C each worked 16 shifts, nearly all of them evenings. Unexplained differences: one for Cashier B and four for Cashier C, and those four add up to Rp125,000 short (Rp25,000 + Rp20,000 + Rp30,000 + Rp50,000).
- Before you draw conclusions about a person, look for what else those shifts have in common. Were they all the busiest weekend evenings? Was the drawer handed over without a count, or held by someone else while Cashier C was on break? If so, fix the process first, then read the next two weeks of the log.
Drawer rules for all your cashiers
If you're only bringing in these rules now, start them for every cashier on the same date, so no one feels singled out. Go through the reasons with all your cashiers, then post the rules near the counter.
- Each cashier keeps their own drawer for the shift and uses their own login. In Kazeer, each staff member's access is set per task and per outlet (guide to staff access). Don't lend out logins, the owner account included.
- The cashier leaving and the cashier starting count the drawer together at every handover, and both sign the cash book. When a cashier takes a break, the drawer stays locked, or the person covering counts with them before and after.
- The starting float is always the same amount (there's a sample breakdown in the cash-up guide).
- Whoever takes money from the drawer gets a receipt and writes it in the cash book straight away: the amount, what it was for, and their name. Petty cash for last-minute purchases is best kept separate from the drawer.
- Tips, including change a customer leaves behind, go in a separate jar.
- You or the shift lead approve each cancellation (how, in the article on the NOT PAID receipt), and the cashier writes it in the cancellation book: the date and time, the table or customer name, the order total, the reason, and who approved it. If the kitchen needs to cancel an order, say because an ingredient ran out, the kitchen tells the cashier first.
These rules leave out wage deductions and penalties on purpose. If you want rules on those, ask someone who knows employment law first.
What Kazeer records, and what it doesn't
Cancelled orders stay visible in Kazeer's records. Unpaid orders can be cancelled by the cashier and the store admin, and from the kitchen screen, while paid orders can't be cancelled. Kazeer doesn't ask for a reason and doesn't record who cancelled, only the time the order was last changed. Cancellations aren't in the audit log either, so you still need the cancellation book.
The customer receipt can only be printed once the order is paid, so if a customer gets a receipt, their payment is on record.
When the pattern points to one person
The log tells you which shifts to check more closely. Deciding who's at fault takes more than that. A fair way forward:
- Rule out causes in the process first, then gather what you have: the difference log, that shift's totals per payment method, the Unpaid orders, the cancellations matched against the book, and camera footage if you have it.
- Talk in private, away from customers and other staff. Show the records, then ask for an explanation: "In four weeks there have been four differences on your shifts that we couldn't explain. I want to figure this out with you. Was anything different on those shifts?" Listen to the answer: there may be something the records don't show, such as a coworker who often takes money from the drawer.
- Agree on next steps and a time frame, such as two weeks with you or the shift lead as the second counter at the start and end of each of their shifts. Write the agreement down, and both of you sign it.
- After two weeks, read the log again. If the differences stop, note what changed. If they continue, you have a written record for the next step. For decisions about someone's employment, get advice from someone who knows employment law first.