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Permalink Reply by Jay Caragay on October 23, 2013 at 9:15pm

I'm not sure how cc transactions (such as Amex) affect the cash counts, but I think one of the keys is to maintain strict regulations on cash handling and management. Making staff accountable for the drawer counts is a must, as well as developing checks and balances for the money. From time to time, there may be an error in the counts - let's say, one of the counts is off by ten dollars. Usually, I'll find that ten dollars somewhere within the cash tills (we maintain 3 separate cash resources that are all counted and logged) because of simple error.

A real concern is mentioned above where staff may No Sale the drawer and steal money that way. POS systems can be set up in a manner that helps to reduce this problem. Other avenues are security cameras and camera/POS setups that allow you to view both the video feed and the on-screen transaction at the same time. Of course, careful screening of staff will help to reduce this potential risk. We also maintain a security camera system that focuses on several areas of our operations, including all money handling areas. However, this system is more for the safety and security of our staff and guests than to capture video of staff theft.

Mike - with your cc tipping system, does the staff bear the cost of the CC fees or is that a company expense?

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Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on October 23, 2013 at 9:38pm

Cost of cc clearing deducted from cc tips before cashed out. Simple math equation of total cc tips times % (actual % factor 100 minus our cc clearing %.) Just the clearing %, not transaction swipe fee or any portion of it since incured because of sale anyway which is a company cost of doing business expense. And we have since switched to using Square (field and backup) and Salevu (POS and primary cc clearing) anyway both of which have no swipe fee.

Jay Caragay said:

Mike - with your cc tipping system, does the staff bear the cost of the CC fees or is that a company expense?

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Permalink Reply by Danny Heiss on October 24, 2013 at 3:55am

Is hard to say, but ever since using the ne pos we have also been using a new credit card terminal. The new terminal is superior in every way in speed. We where going to use the pos merchant services, but somewhere in the process of mediating the gateway info from the bank to the developer...and from the developer to the bank... Basically, both parties stopped caring. Lol. Real good of me! So as frustrating as it was, things got busy and I already had a gret credit card terminal that I originally got for making gift cards. So I've been using that for credit swipes and chip reading...and it's awesome. I guess we are so new at our new location....and there are so many other large problems for me to address that fixing the slight reporting adjustment s has taken a backseat. I have determined that it is not an intentional employee error, however. I am almost certain that it is a reporting error on my part (not printing the right report to work from), or it is because my terminal is now automatically deducting its charges from my statement and its reflecting on my total credit card base. The only way I could tell is if I got all my credit slips at the end of the day and add them all up and see if it evens out, OR I could apply all the percentage charges and hidden fees to my own cc totals and serif some sense is made out of it.

But we are just super glad we are actually generating some revenue right now. When they say location location location, they aren't just saying it.

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Permalink Reply by David Myers on October 24, 2013 at 12:34pm

All our CC tips go into a pool and are distributed each pay period. Everyone pulls their weight whether it's serving customers or cleaning and stocking throughout the day. As CC becomes more and more a part of the business, it is an economic reality that customer tips pay an increasing portion of your employee wages, or a least keep it level as cash tips decline.

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Permalink Reply by zack burnett on October 24, 2013 at 4:48pm

Pool credit card tips and distribute in pay check based on percentage of total weekly labor hours worked.  Our baristas make very good money on tips and 65 - 70 percent of it is from credit.  Taking away the tip line on credit receipts would be detrimental to our baristas wages and morale.  Not to mention our regulars who pay with credit and tip every day would not be happy about the inability to leave a tip.  Like it or not, it's hard to carry cash these days.  

I'd never allow our baristas to cash out from the drawer though.  That would create WAY to many problems.  I trust every single one of my baristas or they wouldn't have a job with us but individuals cashing out after a shift, the complications with that sounds like way too much of a headache. 

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Permalink Reply by V lawhead on October 27, 2013 at 4:46am

We do the same, Zach. All tips are pooled for two weeks at a time and distributed with paychecks...separate line item....divided based on percentage of hours worked.
The CC tips are definitely the majority.

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