Lottery count mistakes at shift change

On this page

1. Count by ticket number, every bin, every shift
2. The math when a pack sells out mid-shift
3. Worked example: a four-bin shift
4. The mistakes to look for
5. When a bin is off and nobody knows why
6. The shift change checklist

A lottery shortage found at the end of the week is hard to explain. Nobody remembers Tuesday night. The same shortage found at shift change often takes a couple of minutes to sort out, because the cashier who made the mistake is still standing at the counter.

Below is how to count so mistakes surface right away, and the mistakes to look for. The numbers in the examples are made up.

Count by ticket number, every bin, every shift

Tickets in a pack are numbered in order. Counting by ticket number means you never count tickets by hand. You read the number on the next ticket in each bin and subtract.

Set these rules for the whole store:

• The cashier leaving and the cashier starting count together.
• Record the next ticket to be sold. Whatever rule you pick, everyone uses the same one.
• Count every bin, including the ones that look untouched.
• Record the numbers before anyone counts the drawer, so nobody is tempted to make the count fit the cash.
• Note which way each pack runs. A pack can be loaded so the numbers go up or so they go down. When they go down, subtract the other way.

The math when a pack sells out mid-shift

For a normal bin, tickets sold = ending number minus starting number.

When a pack sells out during the shift, the bin has sales from two packs:

• The rest of the old pack: the tickets that were left in it when the shift started.
• The new pack: the ending number minus the new pack’s first ticket number.

Say a $5 game has 60 tickets to a pack, numbered 0 to 59. The shift starts at ticket 52. The pack sells out, a new one goes in, and at the end of the shift the next ticket is number 6. Old pack: 60 minus 52 is 8 tickets. New pack: 6 minus 0 is 6 tickets. Total: 14 tickets, or $70.

Worked example: a four-bin shift

Bin	Price	Start	End	Tickets	Sales
1	$1	120	151	31	$31
2	$2	40	52	12	$24
3	$5	52	6, new pack	14	$70
4	$10	9	14	5	$50
Total					$175

The register shows $165 in scratch-off sales for the shift. The count says $175. There is $10 to explain, and the cashier is still in the store.

Here, the lottery terminal shows a $10 winner cashed on the game in bin 4, and the customer took a new ticket instead of cash. The cashier handed over the ticket and never rang it. The drawer is right, but the count and the register disagree.

The fix is a habit. When a winner takes tickets instead of cash, ring the tickets as a sale and the prize as a payout. Then the bins, the register and the lottery terminal all agree.

The mistakes to look for

A pack in a bin that was never activated

Winners from an inactive pack won’t cash, and the customer holding one leaves angry. At each count, check that every pack in a bin shows as active on the lottery terminal.

A pack activated but never put out

This one costs more. Where settlement runs on a clock, an activated pack sitting in the back room can be billed to you while nobody sells it. Every activated pack should be in a bin, or written down as waiting for one.

Swaps nobody recorded

Moving a game to another bin, or trading two packs between bins, is normal. Leaving it out of the records is the problem. If bin 2’s pack moves to bin 5 and nobody notes it, bin 2 looks like it sold a whole pack and bin 5’s numbers make no sense. Record every swap with the time, both bins, both packs and their ticket numbers.

The wrong price on a bin

When a new game goes into a bin, the price may change. If the count sheet still says $2 for a bin now holding a $5 game, every count from that bin is wrong. Update the bin’s game and price the moment the new pack goes in.

A sold-out pack that wasn’t recorded

If a pack sells out and the next count still subtracts from the old pack’s numbers, the result means nothing. Record the sold-out pack right away, along with the new pack’s first ticket number.

Prizes paid without validation

Every prize paid from the drawer must be validated on the lottery terminal first. A prize paid without validation is cash you won’t get back. At each shift change:

• Pull the lottery terminal’s report for the shift.
• Match its cashes with the lottery payouts rung at the register.
• Keep cashed tickets the way your state requires.
• Send prizes above the amount your state lets stores pay to the lottery’s claim office. Never pay those from the drawer.

Draw game sales and payouts

Draw game sales and payouts come from the lottery terminal, not from the bins. Match the terminal’s shift report with what the register shows for those lines.

When a bin is off and nobody knows why

Work through it in this order before anyone signs off:

1. Recount the bin, and read the number twice.
2. Check the lottery terminal for an activation or a sold-out pack during the shift.
3. Ask whether the pack was swapped or moved.
4. Look for a winner who took tickets instead of cash.
5. Check the register for a voided or refunded lottery sale.

If it is still off, write the difference on the count sheet and have both cashiers initial it. A difference written down the same night, with both names on it, is something you can follow up. One found at the end of the week usually isn’t.

The shift change checklist

1. Both cashiers at the counter.
2. Read or scan the next ticket in every bin.
3. Note sold-out packs, new activations and swaps.
4. Work out each bin’s sales and the total.
5. Compare the total with scratch-off sales at the register.
6. Match terminal cashes with register payouts.
7. Explain every difference before anyone leaves.

Keep the count sheets. When the weekly statement arrives, a stack of shift counts that each balanced makes the check quick.