Closing the Counter: A ₹150 Shortage, a Void Bill and an Overcharged Customer
At 9:40 pm a cashier at a Pune supermarket closes the counter. The opening float was ₹3,000 and the drawer now holds ₹11,750. The POS reports cash sales of ₹8,900 and UPI receipts of ₹4,200. A bill of ₹640 was voided after the customer had paid cash; the cashier says the cash was returned, but no void slip was signed. A customer returns with a bill showing ₹499 for a 1 kg pack of a sweet, while the shelf tag still says ₹449; the cashier had billed the MRP printed on the pack. One more customer is waiting at the counter to pay for a milk pouch. The supervisor, busy counting, tells the cashier to put the difference in tomorrow morning and not to make a scene in front of customers.
1. Reconcile the counter. State the expected cash, the actual cash and the variance, and explain how you would treat the voided bill.
Read the worked answer
Reconcile first, then explain.
- Expected cash = opening float + cash sales = ₹3,000 + ₹8,900 = ₹11,900.
- Actual cash = ₹11,750.
- Difference = ₹150 short.
- UPI of ₹4,200 is not part of the cash count; verify it separately against the POS UPI report and the settlement app.
The voided ₹640 bill: if the cash was genuinely returned, it should not be in the drawer, and it does not explain the ₹150. If it was not returned, the drawer would be higher, not lower. So the void is a separate control failure - no void slip, no customer signature, no supervisor approval - and must be investigated on its own. Do not assume the shortage is explained by it.
Correct action:
- Count again with the supervisor, in front of the cashier, and sign the closing sheet.
- Record ₹150 in the cash short/over register with date, counter, cashier and explanation, or state that there is none.
- Do not put the difference in tomorrow morning. That hides the variance and mixes two days' cash.
- Preserve the void bill and check CCTV to confirm whether the customer was actually refunded.
- If shortages repeat, review the cashier's transactions and retrain.
2. How would you handle the customer who was charged ₹499 when the shelf tag says ₹449?
Read the worked answer
Honour the displayed price.
- The shelf tag of ₹449 is the price the store offered. The MRP of ₹499 is the maximum retail price, not a mandate to charge it, and a retailer may not charge above MRP. Here the customer was charged the MRP while the shelf showed less; the customer is entitled to the lower displayed price.
- Apologise, refund the ₹50 difference, and give a receipt or note for the correction.
- Correct the shelf tag immediately and check other packs and nearby shelves for the same mismatch. A tag error is a recurring loss and a legal-metrology risk if prices are not displayed correctly.
- Record the incident so the category manager knows whether the MRP changed and the tag was not updated.
Communication: do it at the counter politely and quickly; do not argue about the MRP. The amount is small; the trust and legal risk are not.
3. The supervisor instructs the cashier to put the difference in tomorrow morning. How should the cashier respond, and what should happen to the waiting customer?
Read the worked answer
Refuse the instruction politely but clearly, and give the reason.
- Putting the difference in tomorrow morning conceals a cash variance and breaks day-wise reconciliation. It becomes impossible to tell whether the ₹150 is a counting error, a refund error or a shortage.
- It mixes one day's cash with another's and can look like tampering in an audit.
- A supervisor's verbal instruction is not a substitute for a written short/over record.
What to do: ask the supervisor to complete the count and sign the sheet now; record the shortage; keep the drawer and the void bill aside; inform the manager the next morning. If the supervisor insists, note the instruction on the closing sheet and escalate.
On the queue: the waiting customer paying for a milk pouch should be billed by another staff member or by the supervisor, not left standing while the count is argued. Customer service and cash control are not alternatives; both are part of closing the counter properly.