Having worked in a handful of restaurants (Red Robin, Longhorn Steakhouse,
Olive Garden, a local pizza place, Sonic) during undergrad, I saw theft of
cash/theft of inventory left and right. The larger chain restaurants had POS
(point of sale) computers but the local pizza place did not. b b At the chain
places, I witnessed several times where the servers friends would come to eat,
the server would just go tell the cook what to make, and food was never
entered into the POS (or very little food was entered to make the bill cheap). b
The servers friends gave them maybe $10/$20, which was cheap per person if
they all pitched in, and the server pocketed the cash. b Servers that had been
working there for a while knew which cooks they could push around like that
and which cooks wouldn't make any food unless an order came through on the
POS system. b At the local pizza place, we did have to write down orders, there
was not a computer system, but the owner didn't request that we turn in like a
carbon copy or keep up with orders or anything. b He was never there so I
honestly don't know how he kept from being robbed blind by his employees. b
But, he's not in business anymore so perhaps that was part of his demise. b
When I worked for Sonic, as a shift manager I would have to count down
employees cash before they could clock out. b They had cards that were
assigned to them and every time they scanned on a order to take out to a
customer, the information would be stored on their card and then reconciled at
the end of their shift. Sadly, if they were short on cash, they'd have to take
money out of their tips to make up the difference. b That was our store policy
because we honestly had no way of knowing whether they were stealing cash
or just bad at counting back change (or lost the cash). b I had a couple of
employees do this habitually and I had to spend more time training them on
proper cash handling and cash management. b
I think that having pre-numbered checks is a great way to ensure the majority
of checks/orders are being accounted for. b I think there is still room for theft if
someone really wanted to get away with it. b If it's possible to procure,
something like a report to say how many tables a server had per shift bumped
against how many checks they turned in. b I would expect the number of checks
to be equal to, if not more, than the number of tables the server had for the
shift (because sometimes there could be multiple checks per table if people
were paying separately or something). I think the pre-numbered check system
helps control cash receipts by expecting the servers to follow a policy and for
them to know there will be consequences should the policy not be adhered to. b
Sometimes, just the formality of a policy will garner high compliance. b I do
think the POS system is a much better system that having things hand-written,
but it's not without it's flaws too. b I think having management walking around
during a shift keeping an eye on things too helps keep people honest. I
wouldn't say "spying" on their employees, just keep an eye for nefarious
behaviors or patterns. b Also, an anonymous theft tip line would be helpful too. b
Maybe a little box outside the manager's door or something where a server
could slip a little note if they notice something. b b 100% control of cash I don't
think is realistic, sadly. b Getting to know your employees and their
patterns/behaviors while at work, having policies in place, and keeping a
watchful eye out, will help get to that 100%.
References
Julian, Jeremy. "10 Tips to Stop Your Employees From Stealing." The
Restaurant Technology Guys, https://restauranttechnologyguys.com/10-tips-
to-stop-your-employees-from-stealing/. Accessed 4 Dec. 2022.
Wells, Joseph T. "Protect Small Business." Journal of Accountancy,
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2003/mar/protectsmallbusines
s.html. Accessed 4 Dec. 2022.
