Best Cash Management Tips for Retail Stores

While the advent of digital payments and their widespread reach is growing faster than ever, cash is still one of the most popular modes of transactions. As of the third quarter of 2023, 64% of transactions at Point-of-Sale (POS) were cash payments. The sheer volume of cash transactions prevalent in the market makes effective cash management a top retail priority.

Benefits of Robust Cash Management

When a business invests in mechanisms to ensure proper handling of cash, it ensures confidence in cash flow and cash holding. With accurate accounting, growth forecasting becomes effortless. By managing cash efficiently, businesses can ensure they are sufficiently liquid to meet the growing operational costs, invest in new opportunities, and tide over unforeseen expenses.

Cash management entails proper documentation and tracking of cash transactions. Thus, apart from bringing in the profit with each transaction, proper cash handling also ensures compliance with reporting requirements, taxation laws, and internal control procedures. When cash is managed well, it reduces the risk of penalties or legal issues.

In this blog, we will discuss how retail industry players can manage cash effectively and the role of retail management tools such as Ginesys POS in that endeavour.

Discover how to manage cash in your retail outlet.

 

How to Ensure the Optimum Tracking of Cash in Retail Stores

Here are some of the retail cash management best practices:

Employee training for proper cash handling

Employees, especially those who man the billing counter, are the first line of control when it comes to cash management in retail. To ensure that the employees handle cash well, it is important to groom them in the following:

• Cash counting: This skill enables the employee to make sure that the amount paid, and the change disbursed are counted swiftly and accurately. From the business perspective, thorough counting of cash is necessary not just for maintaining profitability and error-free transaction history, which is necessary for compliance. Cash counting skills are also needed to manage an efficient billing counter. On the other hand, when it comes to handing over the change, accuracy and efficacy are key factors contributing to a robust Customer Experience (CX).
• Detecting counterfeits: Counterfeits bills are more than just compliance hazards. They burn a hole in the company’s profitability. This is why it is important to empower the retail staff to quickly detect fake bills. It is worth noting that while there are cash counting and counterfeit detecting machines available in the market, they primarily are used for large transactions to ensure efficiency at the billing counter. Also, if the machines are out of order, the staff skills become indispensable.
• Using cash management tools: For the end user, i.e., the employee to be able to store cash securely, it is important that they are comfortable using cash management tools. These tools include Point-of-sale software and machine, the cash register, etc. The ability to use these tools streamlines operations, leaving more time for proactive customer service.

The training sessions also offer an opportunity to foster a culture of diligence and responsibility among one’s workforce.

Software-powered cash collection process

An unmanned process is prone to theft. Therefore, it is important to digitize or at least put in place a digital check-and-balance mechanism to counter any mishandling of cash. To improve tracking and visibility of cash movement, retailers can begin using cash-in, cash-out, cash deposit, and inter-till transfer transactions in POS.

It is worth noting that tracking cash deposits are key for minimizing the risk of loss or theft. A cash deposit entry occurs when cash is deposited to the bank from the store.

On the other hand, inter-till transfers allow redistribution of cash to maintain optimal cash float levels at each register, which is necessary for seamless customer service. The store owners should regularly audit credit and deposit notes to ensure the effective use of cash and prevent any suspicious transactions. Effective retail cash management also involves monitoring accounts receivable from any local credit customers.

Recording petty cash use in the POS

Registering the use of petty cash in the billing and accounting software is another safety measure against the misappropriation of funds. This centralized mechanism records transactions accurately, empowering retailers to budget their expenses better. From a compliance perspective, documenting business costs on a real-time basis digitally makes audits simple and tax calculations error-free and transparent. POS-controlled petty cash use also makes sure that the stakeholders are accountable while incurring business expenses. If the POS software supports this, there will be an option to record the daily petty expenses at the shops like courier, electricity, generator, advances to staff etc.

Achieve better cash flow management and financial clarity with Ginesys One.

 

Integrating POS with cash drawer

When billing software is connected to the cash register, users can open the drawer only when the bill is printed. This practice enhances the security around the fund as it minimizes access, thus reducing the risk of theft or mishandling of cash.

Another advantage of this integration is the reduction in errors or discrepancies in retail cash handling. Let’s consider this scenario that often occurs at stores. A customer keeps adding and removing items from the bill at the POS counter but has already handed in a certain amount of cash. At this point, to complete the transaction quickly, the staff is likely to fumble constantly with the change, leading to mistakes in the amount returned. This is exactly the kind of error that this POS integration prevents. The retail cash management mechanism also boosts accountability by providing a clear audit trail of cash transactions tied to specific sales.

Multiple modes of payment

The primary benefit of accommodating multiple modes of payment is that the store can cater to a wide range of customers, regardless of their preferred payment method. As the diversity of payment methods accounts for convenience for customers, it can lead to increased sales and customer satisfaction.

Reducing the reliance on cash implies fewer instances of theft and human error associated with cash handling in retail. Digital transactions also simplify the accounting process because reconciling digital transactions is very easy because they leave a clear digital trail. Lastly, promoting digital payments can be cost-efficient as the costs around cash handling and its security measures are minimized. A key step in encoring more digital transactions is integrating EDC (Electronic Data Capture) machines with the POS.

Reducing the reliance on cash implies fewer instances of theft and human error associated with cash handling in retail. Digital transactions also simplify the accounting process because reconciling digital transactions is very easy because they leave a clear digital trail. Lastly, promoting digital payments can be cost-efficient as the costs around cash handling and its security measures are minimized. A key step in encoring more digital transactions is integrating EDC (Electronic Data Capture) machines with the POS.

Retailers who are seeking a potent cash management device, in other words, comprehensive point of sale software with robust cash management features, should note that Ginesys POS is one of the sought-after solutions in the market. In the next section of the blog, we will discuss more about how Ginesys can help retailers handle cash better.

Experience the difference with our robust POS for cash management and other transactions.

 

Leveraging Cash Management with Ginesys

Ginesys cloud and desktop POS system is focused on offering a comprehensive cash management solution which has robust modules for both cash inflows and outflows, including terminal cash transfers. Keeping in mind the needs of the retailer, our industry-specific POS also enables the reconciliation of payment drops to banks against the bank POS report.

To empower retailers to reach a wide bracket of buyers, our POS seamlessly integrates with popular payment modes such as debit cards, credit cards and UPI. Apart from facilitating smooth transactions for both retailers and customers, we also have enabled security measures to provide optimum user experience.

In addition to handling sales transactions, POS empowers retail staff to manage shop expenses efficiently. So, employees can enter expenses, such as courier charges and electricity bills, directly into the system, enabling better tracking and control over expenditures. In the case of a franchise business, the transparency in transactions offered by our POS makes proving accountability, leading to easy reimbursement of write-offs from the head office. This is because the tool can reconcile bill payment entries and track the balance cash in the till.

Overall, the Ginesys POS offers a robust and user-friendly solution for retailers, providing comprehensive cash management capabilities along with seamless integration with popular payment modes. With its emphasis on security, transparency, and efficiency, the system enables retailers to streamline operations, enhance customer experience, and drive business growth effectively.

Key Takeaways

• Train staff in cash handling procedures: Ensure accurate cash counting and counterfeit detection skills.
• Use cash management tools: Employ Point-of-sale software and cash registers for secure cash storage.
• Implement software-powered cash collection: Utilize cash-in, cash-out, deposits, and inter-till transfers for transparency.
• Record petty cash use in POS: Centralize transactions for better budgeting and compliance.
• Integrate POS with cash drawer: Enhance security by opening the drawer only after printing bills.
• Offer multiple payment modes: Cater to diverse customer payment method preferences and enjoy the efficiency of digital payments
• Encourage digital payments: Reduce reliance on cash, simplify accounting, and minimize cash management costs.

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