Change in practice
Especially in quick service and retail, change is one of the most sensitive moments in the sales process. It takes place under time pressure, involves cash and is perceived immediately by the guest. Small deviations often remain invisible in the daily financial statements, but immediately have a confidence-reducing effect on the individual guest. This makes it all the more important to ensure that this area is properly secured in terms of technology, organisation and employee behaviour.
Best practice: Handling change securely in Quick Service
A customer monitor should be used at all Quick Service locations, regardless of whether a receipt is issued. This is not only used to display the change, but also enables the guest to actively track the items and amounts entered. This creates a shared view of the process - and at the same time an additional check for completeness.
The change is calculated using the change function. If overpayments are deliberately booked as tips, the technique described in the section POS with cash register function POS with cash register function Book remaining amount as tip must be used. It is important to make a clear distinction between change and voluntary tips - both technically and communicatively.
In Quick Service and retail, there is an increased need for control when handing out change. Mistakes here are caused less by intention than by stress, routine or distraction. As only the total difference is visible at the end of the day, it is almost impossible to draw conclusions about individual incorrect returns. However, every discrepancy is relevant for the individual guest. Only some of the customers check their change immediately, and only a few give back money they have received in excess. Although these effects can be partially offset by tips or non-bookings, they often initially lead to visible differences with improved controlling. This is not a step backwards, but a sign of increasing accuracy.
The consistent use of the customer monitor in combination with the change calculation is recommended as a safeguard. The security function "Forced change" is also available at the POS. This forces you to enter the given amount - even if you have paid the correct amount. In practice, this has been shown to significantly reduce the error rate, as the operator no longer has to do the calculations himself. The minimal additional expense is negligible compared to the security gained.
A frequent conflict arises when the customer and employee disagree on the amount given. This can be prevented by a simple but effective behaviour: the amount of money received is not immediately sorted into the cash drawer. Experienced operators hold the banknotes visibly between their fingers, state the amount, make eye contact and only then sort the money. Alternatively, the notes can be placed on the cash drawer so that they are visible to the customer or fixed in the cash clips provided until the process is complete. In this way, the amount is consciously recognised by both sides - misunderstandings can be almost completely avoided.
In addition, the macro system of the Hypersoft POS can be used to set up fixed keys for frequent amounts, such as "€10 given", including transaction completion and optional receipt printing. In the multi-payment dialogue, the corresponding buttons - especially for foreign currencies - are even displayed as an image. This speeds up the process and further reduces input errors.
In connection with change, we also recommend reading Best Practice with cash drawers, as the two topics are closely linked in practice.
Further topics: Directory: Best Practice
Further topics:
Best practice: Fraud prevention with cash drawers
Back to the overarching topic: Hypersoft POS Cash Handling