AIBU to think when dealing with cash, mistakes will happen?

[Cussler]

In my job as a receptionist, I have to take card payments, cheques and sometimes a small amount of cash. And, we keep a small float for change, but we don't use a till.

I am well educated, but don't have a good head for numbers at all. I easily make mistakes, even when I double check.

Twice now, the float has been down by £10. I know I haven't stolen it, and there's very little opportunity for anyone else to steal it. I know it's probably that I have made a simple mistake while adding up the float, because while I'm cashing up I've often got people asking me questions, or the phone ringing etc.

But I have a horrible feeling my Boss suspects me of stealing He doesn't believe that I can make mistakes handling only small amounts of cash, when I am well educated.

I feel really upset that I've obviously made a mistake, when it's only something very simple. I mean I do have GCSE Maths FFS, and I can actually add up. My DH insists that even very numerate people can make mistakes when dealing with cash, and that no one will get it 100% right 100% of the time.

But not sure how to solve the situation at work

Lemon I suppose I just assume it's me because I've always got easily confused when adding up numbers. Give me a column of figures and I'll often get a different total if I add them up twice

I sometimes work out my monthly hours wrong, too

But I would have thought that even I could handle giving £8 change for a £10 note, or £12 change from a £20 note?

I suppose I would prefer to think I was just crap with cash, than think other people would steal

Fruity the teenage girl started work the same day I did.

I've just emailed my Boss suggesting the other receptionist does the cashing up the following morning. But, that won't stop me having to handle some cash payments though.

I can very easily see myself giving someone £1K too much, when changing from 20s to 10s. It's exactly the sort of thing that would confuse me

if you make it known your not confident on the till its a perfect cover for someone else to steal.

can you till up at certain times of the day so that at least you know up to say 11am everything was ok so it happened between 11am and 1pm when you did till again.

is there no place little crevice any notes can fall behind?

You can't have more than one person handling the same cash till. Agree with the others that £10 sounds like someone's stealing.

Perhaps suggest that each of you has their own specific cash tin? Then each of you is only responsible for their own cash.

You are setting yourself up here!! 3 people have access to the money, whole notes are going missing and you are putting yourself forward as the culprit for no reason whatsoever! It sounds like theft not a mistake. A tenner both times is not a likely mistake scenario. So please stop telling your boss you are not good with numbers and start talking about keys, security or a till

But I simply cannot believe either of them would steal

I have worked with cash - huge complicated cash floats all my life. Yes, mistakes happen - but the first thing you learn is to cover your own arse. £10 or £100 or £1000 or more (my largest float was over £30,000) - there's always someone willing to steal some of it and happily let you take the blame. And I'd say someone is stealing this from you. Although it's a small float you need to do a witnessed float check every time anyone except yourself has access to the money. You wouldn't believe the people I've seen caught nicking when they look like butter wouldn't melt. Remember - protect yourself first.

Definitely hand over the cash so it is counted and accounted for each time a new person is near it. I have handled money in a lot of jobs and am completely obsessed with getting it correct. I very, very rarely made mistakes and would stay late to account for it if there were issues. You can tell when it is a calculating error and when it is theft. In your case, two lots of a tenner = theft.

You can't have more than one person with access to the same till thats asking for trouble.
Everywhere I have worked you punch in your code to work on the till and it's yours for the day, if anyone else uses it, they have to punch in their own code. If three of you have access then it could be anyone.

Could it be that you've accidentally given someone change for a £20 when they only gave you a tenner.
I've done it in the past- absent mindedly handed someone the note that they paid with as well as their change Luckily they were very honest and handed it back.

Our petty cash at work never balances....ever!!

I deal with the petty cash and I have tried off loading the job onto someone else as I used to think they would think I was nicking it.......people just take money out without putting slips in, then it gets forgotten etc etc

I hate petty cash!!

The best way round this would be for each receptionist to have his/her own float and cash box. At the end if their shift they cash up what they have taken.

It could be errors. I can imagine someone mixing up banknotes, for example.

But it does sound exactly like impulsive theft, too. You need to Cover Your Arse here.

I would suggest if it just a mistake, then the mistake isn't at the cashing up stage, but at the paying change stage - it's easier to make a mistake then when you are busy. I would agree, you put the change out on the counter and take time about it, if you are giving change in 10ps or 20ps, then put them in little piles on the counter of £1s. Also suggest to your boss that through the day your colleague bags up the small change into bags of £1s or £5s, so it will be easier for you to cash up (this means if the mistake is there, it's clearly not yours). As the things you sell are rounded up to the nearest pound, there is no reason for you to keep 10ps and 20ps in your float if you can avoid it, they can be bagged up ASAP through the day. also remember, there are 3 of you doing change through the day, so it doesn't follow that all the mistakes are yours.

If it's not a mistake, then it could quite easily be someone taking £10 here or there, that's quite easy to do, and more likely to be one of the other 2 who have regular access (assuming they never leave the desk empty so someone else can take it). Does the box get locked away overnight? If it isn't then it could be your cleaners taking a tenner in the evening so you are starting the next day with an incorrect float. If it's not locked overnight, start insisting it is. Also make sure in the morning before you start that the box contains the same amount it did when you left for the night before.

I agree checking before you go on lunch would be good, just making a note of what's in there before you go (esp good if you have already bagged up the bulk of the coins so it's really easy to say how much) then check again that the amount is at least the same when you come back - it should only increase over your lunchtime, there's no reason it would decrease. (Not to say your colleagues are thieves, but they might be the ones making the mistake, esp if they think they are good with money)

It's not a question of maths ability, it's about using a proper system. I used to be a checkout supervisor and in my experience if a round number was missing it was either a mistake giving change, a mistake recording the amount, or someone had stolen a note.

The larger the amount, the less likely it was to be actually missing. I had to call in the regional security manager once because £50 had gone missing. He eventually found, after turning my safe upside down and counting every penny in the supermarket, that I had read a very faint receipt as £100 when it actually said £150. I was relieved but also very .

I agree with TheCrackFox You should each have your own cash boxes and write down every sale. Otherwise you cannot be held accountable for missing money. They can't blame you if it's possible for other people to help themselves.

It's been exactly £10 down twice...?

I think someone is stealing.