Retail Associate Training: Cash, Cheques, Credit and Debit Cards

Cashier Procedures and Cash Handling Policies
Every retail operation has its own cash handling policy or set of procedures which cashiers are expected to follow. This part of your job will be very important, as it is part of the sales transactions and money aspect of the store. Your employer will want to make sure that employees are reliable, honest, and ethical people. On a typical day a cashier’s duties will include the following:
-  Be assigned to a register at the beginning of her/his shift and given a drawer containing money
-  Count her/his float to ensure that it contains the correct amount of money and adequate supplies of change and small bills
-  Either manually enter into a cash register the price of each item or use a scanner connected to a computer
-  Count the drawer’s contents and compare the total with sales data at the end of the shift
-  Separate and total change forms, return slips, coupons, and other non-cash items
-  Handle returns and exchanges
-  Enter charges for all items and subtract the value of any coupons or special discounts
-  Request additional identification from the customer or call in for an authorization for cheques
-  Verify the age of customers purchasing alcohol or tobacco
-  Issue a receipt to the customer and return the appropriate change

-  Wrap or bag the purchase
 

A cashier’s duties will vary depending on the store. The following are examples of different retail operational responsibilities:
-  A supermarket cashier might be responsible for weighing produce and bulk items and returning unwanted items
-  A convenience store cashier might use a variety of machines other than cash registers and fill out orders according to the store’s needs
-  A movie theater or ticket agency cashier might operate ticket-dispensing machines and answer a lot of movie related questions
-  Gaming change people and booth cashiers in casinos exchange coins and tokens. They may also operate a booth in the slot-machine area and supply change persons with money at the start of the shift, or count and audit money in drawers
-  A bookseller cashier may be responsible for selling a discount card
-  A department store cashier may not be responsible for processing any returns or exchanges. This may occur in a separate area by other staff.

The general process for the cashier in retail during the point of sale (POS) transaction is the following:
-  Greet the customer in a friendly manner when they are approaching the cash register area
-  Make sure that the customer is satisfied with his/her experience at the store.

One way that many retailers do this is by having employees ask the customer a question such as, “Have you found everything you were looking for today?”
-  Process the sale which generally involves the following steps:
-  identify the price of the goods, services, or admissions using calculator, cash register, or optical price scanner devices
-  calculate the total sale and tell the customer the total bill
-  receive the form of payment, i.e. cash, cheque, credit or debit card
-  finalize the transaction by returning to the customer the correct change or credit card and their receipt
-  wrap or place merchandise in bags
-  provide any relevant information to the customer; for example, specific return or exchange policies or an upcoming sale in the store

Every retailer will have very particular guidelines for cashier procedures. This is a very important part of the job. The following points are general guidelines that will most likely be a part of what is expected from you in a retail business:
-  Only assigned associates may operate the cash register during specific shifts.
The assigned associate is totally responsible for the cash drawer.
-  If you are assigned to the cash, you must count your cash drawer before the shift to verify the correct float amount.
-  You must count your cash drawer after your shift in order to balance the cash accurately. Another associate or supervisor will verify the amounts in the cash drawer with you at the end of your shift by checking your calculations.
-  At the end of your shift, calculate total payments received and verify this with your total sales.
-  For your safety, it is important that you always keep your cash register drawer closed, except when making cash transactions.
-  It is important that you always complete each sale separately and close the cash drawer after each transaction. This will decrease errors with your cash transactions.
-  It is very important that you always complete each sale immediately. Do not put money aside to be entered at a later time and never combine sales transactions.
-  Never make change from the cash drawer for yourself.
-  Never cash your own or another associate’s pay cheque of any kind.
-  Never use personal credit cards or debit cards in exchange for cash from the employer’s funds.
-  U.S. money collected from customers becomes the property of the employer and must be deposited into the bank. Associates cannot sell, buy, or exchange U.S. money for their personal gain.
-  During particularly busy times, make frequent drawer skims/pick-ups. Your employer will specify an amount that your cash drawer should not exceed. For example, you should never have any more than $400 in your cash drawer unless a different amount has been authorized.
-  Your cash must balance to plus or minus $2 at the end of your shift.
Most retail stores will train cashiers on the job. New employees may spend their first day observing other employees and seeing how the store generally operates.
The store manager will then assign trainees to a register with an employee. This employee will guide and show the new employee the different components of the cash register system.

A cash register tape is used as a record of sales and transactions. Here you will prove that your cash amounts match with the register tape.

If your cash balances, the difference will be zero. When the amount is more than the cash register tape, you are over. When your difference is less than the cash register tape, you are short.

Deposit Slips
Cheques received by businesses will go into a chequing account. To deposit money, you must first fill out a deposit slip. 

Parts of a Cheque

1. Name, address, and phone number of person writing cheque

2. Name of person (or place) to whom cheque is being written

3. Month, day, and year on which cheque was written

4. Bank identification number

5. Cheque number

6. Name and Address of bank

7. What cheque was written for

8. Amount of cheque (written out in words)

9. Signature of person writing cheque

10. Amount of cheque in numbers

Credit and Debit Cards
The Reason Why Credit and Debit Cards are Used
In today’s marketplace, customers expect to have the option of using credit or debit cards when they purchase goods and services. This option allows the customer to make purchases without carrying around large sums of money. A store that does not offer these methods of payment risks losing sales to other retailers that do provide this service. Staying competitive with other stores, avoiding bad cheques, and not having large amounts of cash on hand are benefits to the store.

The Difference Between Credit and Debit Cards
Banks issue debit cards. They are directly linked to the customer’s bank account.
When customers use their debit card, their payment is automatically deducted from their bank account and moved to the store’s bank account. The debit card is swiped through a reader; the customer enters the relevant information on the card reader keyboard. The customer is not required to sign any transaction. The sales transaction will not be completed if the funds are not available in the customer’s account.

Credit card companies issue credit cards. VISA, MASTERCARD, and AMERICAN EXPRESS are just a few of the credit cards that are available. As well, there are special credit cards that can only be used in particular stores. This method of payment allows the customer to have a “pay later” option. The credit card company will bill the customer directly for the payment. Interest charges will be applied if the customer does not pay within a certain time limit. The customer is required to sign the transaction when using a credit card.

The Transaction

Debit Card

1. Cashier or customer swipes the debit card through a reader.

2. The cashier enters the sales information.

3. The customer uses the card reader keyboard to enter required information.

4. The transaction is either approved or denied.

5. If the transaction is approved, a receipt is given to the customer.

Credit Card

1. Cashier swipes the credit card through a reader.

2. The reader automatically dials an authorization centre.

3. The transaction is either approved or denied.

4. If the transaction is approved, the customer will sign the credit card transaction receipt.