Manage your Business
Use POS Reports to Manage your Business by Nathan Lewis
If you do have a computerized POS system then look at the
reports. Don’t just pass them off or throw them in the
trash. POS systems are designed to slow or stop employee
theft. Manage your business through these reports. Look for
holes and places where your money is going.
Balance Sales to Deposits
If the sale is recorded then there should be a corresponding
deposit at the bank. It is just that simple. However, this
is overlooked by the vast majority of business owners. Too
many dont take the time to balance the 2 totals.
If a sale is recorded then the tender should be in the
drawer. If not, someone should be held accountable for the
difference.
Most restaurants that have servers have found a good method
of accomplishing this through Server Banking. In this method
of doing business the server brings their own starting bank
and makes change out of this bank. At the end of the shift
the POS system will produce a report that shows credit card
sales and a Cash Due amount. It is this Cash Due amount that
the restaurant owner is interested in. The server produces
this report, produces the credit card slips and then the
exact amount owed the restaurant based upon the Cash Due
amount. The rest of the cash they keep as their tips. The
restaurant owner is never short when using this method.
In retail operations where there is a cashier use the blind
balance routine in most systems to identify employees who
commonly steal from your cash drawer. This module will
calculate exactly how much cash should be in the drawer and
ask the cashier to count and blindly enter the amount of
cash that is in the drawer. The report shows instantly the
over/short of the drawer and will not allow the cashier to
re-enter a new cash amount.
Use the non-resetable totals in the system like you would an
odometer in your car. This is exactly what you would do if
you loaned your car to your teenager. You would look at the
odometer before and after the night out to see just how far
they drove the car. The non-resetable totals in a POS system
work the same way.
Using server banking, blind balance routines and
non-resetable totals are 3 great ways to match sales to
deposits. By controlling your cash and charges you will see
more of them actually reaching the bank.
Identify you Best Sellers
Use item and product movement reports to spotlight your top
selling items. You should know almost daily what your best
movers are and then make sure that you are never out of
them.
To miss a sale is a terrible thing. Being out of your top
selling items will cost you sales and profits. Stay on top
of your best sellers to make sure that you dont ever miss a
sale.
Just the opposite of this is knowing what is not selling in
your business. All businesses work on turns of inventory.
You should know what turns are expected in your vertical
market. If you have product that is historically not meeting
your turn expectations you should re-evaluate if you should
continue stocking the item.
What is worse is an item that is not selling at all. In
restaurants it does not pay to continue to stock an item
that is not selling or restock an item because you threw the
last case out.
In a retail store if you have to continue to knock the dust
off of an item or if it has been on the shelf so long the
packaging is starting to dry rot then you have a problem
item.
Know what items are not selling, reduce them for quick sell
and then do not restock them. You are much better off
pouring this money into items that do sell or draw new
customers into your business.
About the Author
Nathan Lewis has earned a solid reputation helping small to
medium sized businesses expand their reach through niche
market websites such as My POS Printer. New receipt printers
from Star Micronics Receipt Printers.
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