Restaurant point of sale systems have loads of features that POS salespeople love to talk. Some are glamorous, others are flashy and some are unique to their product. When showing these new features fantasies too often these sellers forget the basics and why cash registers were invented in the first place.

Prevent theft.
This is the purpose of a cash register. Ring elements and safe storage of cash if the fundamental philosophy that has created a multi-billion now known as the POS industry.

Why do so many point of sales companies, software manufacturers and vendors of POS forget the fundamentals that are still valid in today’s business environment? The answer escapes and frustrates me because valuable benefits disappear by not using these features basic and important.

It is a series of articles on the basic features that every business should use to stop employee theft, increase sales and increase your profits.

Cash In Drawer (CID)
This feature has been around since the business started. POS salespeople fail to talk about this for over a decade and it is not used in your business you open yourself for theft and possibly armed theft of your company.

All cash registers and point of sale systems to track sales and offers. They all know how much money, checks, gift cards, credit cards and other payment methods are in each drawer.

Most cash registers and some point of sale software have the ability to set a limit on how much money should be in each drawern. When this limit is reached, the cashier is notified and can then inform management to pull a cash drawer. Some systems go as far as sending a message via the management’s mobile which is greater than the cash limit.

Management can then go to the shooter, withdraw money, count and enter the amount withdrawn as a pull cash. This amount is then removed from the money drawer amount and lowers the overall responsibility for the case.

Remember that each time the drawer opens at all the money is exposed to view and the temptation to everyone. Not only money becomes available to your cash, it is also accessible to customers everywhere who have been known to lean on when the cashier was not looking.

What could be worse is the fact that when the cash drawer opens, potential thieves are able to estimate and determine if your operation is a return value for a large-scale theft.

With this feature cashiers are allowed to reduce the amount of money which they are responsible of, as the money is withdrawn it is deducted from their overall cash responsibility. Cashiers also like the fact that if there is less money in the drawer, they are less likely to have a gun in their face.

Check your current point of sale system to see if the money based on the spool is even offered. If you look at a new point of sale you should make sure that the money in the drawer function is offered.

Do not let technology dazzle you until you have forgotten the basic functionality you need to stop theft and increase your profits. The features that have been around for decades are still valid today.