Safe drops, loans and deposits: a daily routine

On this page

1. Safe drops
2. Loans to the drawer
3. Count the safe every day
4. Bank deposits
5. Who holds which key
6. The routine on one page

Plenty of cash problems never touch the register. They happen in the gaps: a drop nobody logged, a stack of ones taken from the safe for the drawer with no note, a deposit counted by one person and carried by another. A good routine closes those gaps. Every movement of cash gets a record, and every record has a name and a time on it.

Safe drops

A safe drop moves cash from the drawer into the safe during the shift. It keeps the drawer small, which limits what can be lost to a robbery or a mistake.

When to drop

• Set a drawer limit. When the cash in the drawer goes over it, the clerk drops. Choose the limit with your insurance, your safe and your location in mind.
• Drop at set times too. A drop at the start of the rush and another before shift change keep the drawer from creeping up while the clerk is busy.
• Drop the big bills. Fifties, hundreds and extra twenties go in the safe. Keep the smaller bills for making change.

For example, if your limit is $300 over the starting bank and the drawer reaches $480 over by mid-afternoon, the clerk drops $400 in twenties and larger and keeps the small bills for change.

How to drop

1. Count the drop and write the amount, the date, the time and the clerk’s name on the envelope.
2. Record the drop on the register (most have a safe drop or pickup key) and on the drop log.
3. Put it in the drop safe right away. “I’ll drop it at the end of the shift” defeats the point.
4. Keep the clerk out of the main safe. A one-way drop slot means the clerk never handles what’s inside, which also keeps them clear of suspicion.

Whatever kind of safe you use, the log is the record. When the envelope, the register and the log all agree, the drop is easy to prove.

Loans to the drawer

A loan moves cash the other way, from the safe into the drawer, usually for change. Some registers call it a loan and some call it a paid-in. Use whatever your register calls it, but always record it.

An unrecorded loan creates two problems on paper and no actual loss. For example, the clerk runs low on ones, and the manager brings $100 in ones and fives from the safe. If nobody records it, the drawer comes out $100 over at close and the safe comes out $100 short. Someone spends an hour hunting money that was never lost.

Every loan needs:

• The amount, broken down by bills and coins
• Who took it out of the safe and who received it
• The time
• An entry on the register and on the safe log

Keep a change fund in the safe so loans don’t come out of the deposit, and buy rolled coin and small bills from the bank as needed.

Count the safe every day

The safe holds two kinds of money: a fixed change fund and drops waiting for the bank. Count it at the same time every day, with two people if you can.

The math is simple. Yesterday’s safe count, plus today’s drops, minus loans to drawers, minus what went to the bank, should equal today’s count. Keep a safe log and have each line initialed. If the count is off, check the drop log and the loans before anything else.

Bank deposits

Prepare it with two people

One person builds the deposit from the drops. A second person counts it again and checks it against the drop log. Both initial the deposit slip. Write down which business days the deposit covers.

Write a clear deposit slip

• Bills, coins and checks on separate lines
• A total that matches the drop log for those days
• Checks endorsed “for deposit only” with the store’s account number as soon as you accept them

Get it to the bank safely

• Deposit every day if you can. Cash that sits in the safe for days is a bigger target.
• Change the time and route of your bank runs, and don’t carry an obvious bank bag.
• If your cash volume is large, ask about armored car pickup.

Match the bank receipt

Keep the bank’s receipt and match it to the deposit slip the next day. Then match the deposit to your bank statement when it posts. Banks sometimes adjust a deposit after counting it, for a miscount or a counterfeit bill, and send a notice. Catch it while you still remember the deposit.

One legal point

Banks are required to report large cash deposits to the federal government. That’s routine. Splitting deposits into smaller amounts to avoid that report, though, is a federal crime called structuring, even when the money is completely legitimate. Deposit what you have, and ask your bank if you have questions about the rules.

Who holds which key

Person	Access
Clerk	Drop slot only
Shift lead	Change fund, if you allow it
Manager or owner	Main safe and deposits

Change the safe combination when anyone with access leaves. Put a camera on the safe and on wherever the counting happens. The camera protects the people counting as much as the money.

The routine on one page

Each morning

• Count the safe with two people and fill in the safe log
• Prepare the deposit from yesterday’s drops and initial the slip
• Take the deposit to the bank and keep the receipt

During each shift

• Drop whenever the drawer goes over the limit, and at the set times
• Log every drop on the register, the envelope and the drop log
• Record every loan from the safe, at both ends

At shift close

• Make a last drop and log it
• List all drops and loans on the shift record

The next day

• Match the bank receipt to the deposit slip
• Check the deposit on the bank statement when it posts

In Advantage, safe drops, loans and bank deposits each have their own entry, recorded at the store by the clerk on shift.