Use of change
Fundamentals for practice, controlling and legal certainty
The use of change is part of everyday life in every catering and retail business. In practice, however, it has been shown that the actual handling of this depends heavily on the respective operating concept, established routines and the individual behaviour of employees.
For this very reason, it is worth taking a conscious look at the topic not only from a practical point of view, but also from a controlling and legal perspective.
The following recommendations are based on a theoretically sound standard that has proven itself in practice and should be audit-proof. If your current handling differs from this, you can use these instructions as a guide to establish a solution that is suitable for your company but as close as possible.
Best practice: using change in a structured and traceable way
The change required for ongoing operations should be kept entirely in-house. This includes both the defined starting change balance and any replenishments during the day's business.
At the end of the business, it must be possible to clearly separate this change from revenue and tips - even if cashless payments, cash replacement vouchers or mixed forms are used.
From a technical point of view, the consistent use of change specifications in conjunction with Wallet-Control is recommended, as both functions are precisely harmonised and enable traceable billing.
Legal framework and organisational clarity
Since 2020 at the latest (at least in Germany):
As soon as money is exchanged using external sources - such as the owner's or employees' private wallets - these amounts must be included in the cash balance.
Employees must therefore be prohibited from bringing in private change or making change from their own stock. Otherwise, it will no longer be possible to settle the cash register.
Operators with their own tips - a critical practice
If operators bring their own cash or change, this must be booked as income at the start of the shift and as an expense at the end of the shift. If this is not done, there will inevitably be a lack of clarity - regardless of the legal assessment.
From a controlling perspective, this practice is particularly problematic:
Unbooked sales regularly lead to cash surpluses that remain uncontrolled with the operator. This creates an automatism that indirectly "rewards" incorrect bookings and at the same time removes revenue from the company.
As a result, not only are tax principles weakened - employee management also finds itself in a contradictory situation, as correct accounting is effectively penalised.
Random samples in average companies show that this can result in surpluses of €5 to €50 per day shift. If these amounts are consistently identified and subsequently posted, they are available for sales again.
Understanding change as an opportunity
Whether this handling was consciously or unconsciously part of your standard is of secondary importance in retrospect. It is crucial to define a clear best practice for the future.
If organisational improvements are met with resistance, this is a serious signal. This is often precisely where controlling improvements have an impact - and where adjustments to remuneration or processes should be discussed fairly.
Experience has shown that such changes lead to greater transparency, higher turnover and better audit security in the long term. Audits generally assess comprehensible improvements in controlling favourably, without necessarily triggering retroactive consequences.
How much change should be in stock?
Change "only" represents a cash flow commitment and a security risk. Once these have been mastered organisationally, the stock should be large enough to cover every realistic situation in day-to-day business.
Unavoidable exceptions should be documented so that they can be plausibly explained during spontaneous checks.
We also recommend using Fraud Protection with Wallet Control to keep change, receipts and differences transparent at all times.
Further topics:
Best practice: Cash shortage through cashless tips
Best practice: Automating change with wallet control
Wallet-Control is a programme integrated into Hypersoft POS that significantly simplifies and secures the recording of change, cash and payment receipts. When used correctly, change is no longer "carried along", but neatly integrated into the billing process - transparently, verifiably and consistently.
Correctly display change - without accounting ballast
In principle, change can be entered at the beginning of a shift or a day as change received and taken out again at the end as change given.
This method is technically correct, but not ideal, as such incoming and outgoing payments also appear in the accounting export and generate additional clarification work there.
For businesses with regular operations and clear processes, we therefore expressly recommend that change is not managed using traditional deposits and withdrawals, but using the tools provided for this purpose.
(Note: Details on deposits and withdrawals can be found in the chapter Post incoming and outgoing payments)
Change specifications - the clean way in practice
The use of change presets in conjunction with Wallet-Control is much more elegant.
The expected amount of change per shift or exchange is defined by the system and automatically taken into account during accounting - without additional postings, without accounting effects and without room for interpretation.
This method is best practice, especially when working with wallets, inserts or money boxes ("money bombs"), as it:
creates clear expectations
Makes deviations immediately visible
Separate change cleanly from receipts and tips
accelerates and simplifies the billing process
The change presets can also be used without wallet control, but they really come into their own in combination with single-sort recording.
Further details can be found in the chapter Change specifications.
Conclusion
With Wallet-Control and the Change processing, change is transformed from a risk factor into a controlled constant.
They reduce accounting errors, avoid unnecessary accounting movements and create a reliable basis for clean accounting - day after day, shift after shift.
Further topics: Directory: Best Practice
Further topics:
Back to the overarching topic: Hypersoft POS Cash Handling