Till Shortage, Pending UPI and a Voided Bill
At 9:40 p.m. the cashier at a readymade-garment store in Dibrugarh closes the till. The POS day-summary shows sales of ₹48,650 collected as ₹21,650 cash, ₹12,000 by card and ₹15,000 by UPI. The cash drawer, including the ₹2,000 opening float, contains ₹23,340. The cashier also reports that one UPI payment of ₹1,200 is still showing 'pending' in the app, although the customer was allowed to leave with the goods, and that a ₹900 bill was voided after the customer had already paid by cash. The owner wants to know whether the cashier is short, how to record the pending payment, and whether to deduct the difference from her salary. CCTV covers the counter but not the drawer. There is no written cash-handling policy.
1. Reconcile the till. Is the cashier short, and by how much? Show your calculation and list the items you would check before deciding.
Read the worked answer
The POS records cash sales of ₹21,650. The drawer contains ₹23,340, but ₹2,000 of that is the opening float, which is not a sale. Cash available against sales = ₹23,340 − ₹2,000 = ₹21,340.
Shortage = ₹21,650 − ₹21,340 = ₹310.
That is about 0.64% of total sales, which is within the range of a change-giving error, but it must still be investigated.
Check before deciding:
- Was the ₹2,000 float actually intact, or had change been taken from it?
- Does the ₹900 void appear in the day-summary? If the customer was refunded ₹900 in cash, the drawer would normally be short by more than ₹310, so the void may not be the cause.
- Are there unrecorded petty-cash payments, supplier payments or refunds from the drawer?
- Was change given incorrectly on a large cash bill?
- Does the CCTV show the drawer being opened without a sale?
- Was any card or UPI payment wrongly entered as cash?
The ₹1,200 pending UPI does not explain a cash shortage because it is not cash. It is a separate unsettled receivable. The ₹310 should not be deducted from salary until the void slip, refund slips, float and CCTV have been checked.
2. How should the ₹1,200 pending UPI payment and the ₹900 voided bill be recorded? What controls should the owner introduce?
Read the worked answer
Pending UPI: the sale is real, but the money is not settled. Record it as UPI awaiting confirmation / receivable, not as cash or settled bank payment. Keep the customer's name, phone number, UPI reference and the bill number. Follow up with the payment provider and the customer the next morning. If it fails, recover the amount or the goods. Do not release goods on a 'pending' screen unless the customer is a trusted regular or the amount is small and approved by a supervisor.
Voided bill: a void after payment needs a supervisor's approval, a reason code, return of the goods to stock, and a record of how the refund was made. If cash was refunded, the customer should sign a refund slip and the slip should stay in the drawer with the day's papers. If the ₹900 is not visible in the POS summary, the sales figure itself may be wrong.
Controls:
- count the drawer with two people at close, excluding the float;
- reconcile cash, card and UPI separately against the POS;
- require manager approval for voids, discounts and refunds;
- place CCTV over the drawer, not only the counter;
- bank or safe-deposit cash daily;
- introduce a written cash-handling policy and a surprise audit.
Deduction from salary should follow the employment terms and only after investigation; a single ₹310 difference is not proof of dishonesty, but a repeated pattern would justify action.