The Short Till on Saturday
At the end of a Saturday, a cashier's drawer is counted. The opening float was ₹5,000. The POS reports cash sales ₹48,600, card sales ₹31,200, UPI ₹22,400, and cash refunds ₹2,350. A petty-cash payment of ₹600 for housekeeping was authorised. A cash pick-up of ₹10,000 was recorded at 4 p.m. by the supervisor. The counted cash is ₹40,150. The cashier says a customer returned a ₹1,200 item without a bill and was given cash, but no return was entered in the POS. Separately, the POS shows a void of a ₹2,400 sale that the cashier says was a duplicate card transaction. Card and UPI settlements were verified by the accountant and matched the POS. Saturday is the highest-volume day, and the cashier has been on the till for four months. The store's policy is that all refunds must be against an invoice and entered in the POS; the till-variance tolerance is ₹50.
1. Compute the expected cash and the variance. Explain which transactions do not affect the drawer.
Read the worked answer
Expected cash = opening float + cash sales − cash refunds − petty cash − pick-ups = 5,000 + 48,600 − 2,350 − 600 − 10,000 = ₹40,650.
Counted cash = ₹40,150. Variance = counted − expected = 40,150 − 40,650 = −₹500, a shortage.
Card sales, UPI sales and the ₹2,400 card void do not affect the drawer, assuming the void was genuinely a card transaction and the settlement matches. The ₹50 tolerance is exceeded tenfold, so the variance must be investigated and documented, not written off.
2. Does the cashier's explanation reconcile? Show the arithmetic and list the checks you would make.
Read the worked answer
It does not reconcile. If the cashier had paid an unrecorded ₹1,200 cash refund, expected cash would be ₹40,650 − ₹1,200 = ₹39,450, and the counted ₹40,150 would be an overage of ₹700 - not a shortage. So either the refund was not paid in cash, was smaller, was already rung up, or cash from sales is missing. The story cannot be accepted as it stands.
Checks:
- POS journal and any refund receipt or exception slip.
- CCTV at the till around the claimed refund time.
- Pick-up slip, signature and timing at 4 p.m.
- Recount the drawer and verify the petty-cash voucher.
- Compare the void with the card settlement record.
Do not let the cashier 'make up' the difference or adjust the till without authorisation.
3. If the ₹1,200 refund is later accepted as valid and recorded, what does the adjusted variance show, and what action follows?
Read the worked answer
Adjusted expected cash = ₹40,650 − ₹1,200 = ₹39,450. Counted is ₹40,150, so the variance becomes +₹700 (overage).
An overage is also a red flag: it can mean cash sales not rung up, a pick-up not recorded, or a refund that was not actually paid. Record the refund only with the required exception approval, investigate the ₹700 separately, and apply the policy that refunds must be against a bill and entered in the POS. Retrain the cashier and supervisor, require supervisor approval for any no-bill refund with customer signature, and monitor the till daily for repeat variances.