Handling, tracking, and reporting cash in a retail store is tedious and time-consuming without the right tools. Even worse, old-school cash handling processes can put stores at risk for shrinkage and outside criminal attacks. However, real-time cash management reporting systems are quickly revolutionizing how retail businesses handle their cash. Here are 3 key reasons real-time tracking improves retail cash management and security.
Real-Time Tracking Reduces Time Spent on Manually Handling Cash
Collecting, counting, reconciling, and depositing cash is incredibly labor-intensive for retail stores. Employees often spend hours a week counting out their registers. Meanwhile, managers rack up time tallying receipts, auditing register counts, filling out deposit slips, and generating reports. However, these manual cash management processes waste valuable manhours and are prone to human errors.
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Cash management systems with real-time tracking, like Cash Depot’s BANK IN A BOX, eliminate both of these issues. Cash deposited into the system is instantly counted and recorded into the web-based portal. Employees are able to simply drop their register cash into the machine to receive an automated tally of their register’s end-of-shift bills, complete with a printed receipt of the completed deposit.
Managers have 24/7 access to up-to-the-minute transaction records to quickly match up cash deposits to store transactions. In addition to daily accounting, managers and corporate accountants can quickly view real-time store deposit levels or even analyze activity over time by location and down to the individual employee. By automating cash handling and utilizing real-time tracking and reporting, retail stores can significantly reduce the amount of operational time spent on daily cash management.
Real-Time Insights Streamline Reporting and Reconciliation
Without real-time tracking, management can take hours to generate manual cash reports. Meanwhile, corporate offices are left waiting to receive daily information and deposits from each store. This makes cash flow reconciliation and financial reporting extremely difficult – with corporate offices never having direct insight into true store cash levels.
Real-time cash management systems like BANK IN A BOX completely transform the cash reporting landscape. With every deposit transaction instantly recorded and sent to the web-based portal system, both managers and corporate have up-to-date cash balance visibility at all times. This allows for continuous reconciliation as opposed to waiting for batch reporting. The finance team can generate real-time reports on demand instead of chasing down daily spreadsheets or documentation from each store. This streamlined reporting and reconciliation enables better cash flow management across the entire business.
Real-Time Accountability Improves Employee Oversight
When cash handling processes are manual, there is limited employee accountability and too many hands on the cash throughout the day. With minimal oversight and plenty of opportunity, it is easy for cash to be mishandled or stolen. Real-time cash management systems like BANK IN A BOX add much-needed visibility into these cash handling activities.
With real-time, integrated reporting cash deposits are automatically counted, verified, and by the system – significantly reducing the time cash is in employee hands. Then each transaction is tied directly back to the employee who initiated it. This process creates accountability around all cash activity while deterring fraud and theft. The real-time data also makes it easy to identify suspicious transactions indicative of internal theft. By creating this accountability, retail stores can significantly reduce loss from mishandled or stolen cash.
Enhanced Security Safeguards Against External Theft
In addition to minimizing internal theft, real-time cash management improves security against external robbery. Manual cash handling makes stores vulnerable, with large amounts of cash openly accessible in registers or in back-office safes throughout the day.
Real-time cash management tracking systems like BANK IN A BOX can help remove excess cash from register, automatically log the cash allotment, and remove responsibility of the funds away from the store as soon as the money is inserted into the system. Recorded cash is then tallied and direct-deposited into the store’s bank account the following day. Once cash is deposited, employees no longer have access, reducing the risk of loss at the register or from the back-office should an attempted robbery occur.
With real-time tracking cash management systems, retail stores gain better control, visibility, and security over their cash. These automated processes and reports save management time while reducing the risks of human error and theft. Real-time tracking and accountability result in optimized cash handling operations across the entire business – making systems like BANK IN A BOX critical for any retailer looking to improve their cash management processes and security.
