3 Ways Your Staff Is Stealing From Your Restaurant

Every year restaurants loose millions of dollars to theft. Unfortunately, those that are contributing the most to the shrinkage are workers, and it can occur in many forms. In this article, we’ve highlighted three ways your staff is stealing from your restaurant, and how you can utilize your point-of-sale (POS) system to stop it.

Skimming the Register

Skimming the register is one of the oldest tricks in the book. That’s where employees take a $10 bill here, and a $20 bill there from the register. If you’re not tracking your sales daily, employees know. It can be tempting to steal; if they know it’s probable they won’t get caught.

Prevent this by putting a solid sales tracking system in place. First, start by training your employees to know how you track. A lot of times, when they know they are being watched, it deters them. Talk to them about how sophisticated your POS system is, and that daily sales reports help you to see if there are any mismatches in what is counted at the end of the night and what the software actually recorded.

Eating and Giving Away Free Food/Beverages

It can be difficult to work around food all day and not eat it. However, ‘complimentary’ chips, bread, sandwiches, etc. can add up. Additionally, alcohol is a big theft factor. Bartenders are tempted to throw in a round for their friends in an effort to get bigger tips.

Prevent this by setting up guidelines for what and when employees can eat. Perhaps, make a rule that all food must come through the POS. Give employees a discount, or meal if they work a certain amount of time in a shift. Additionally, consider inventory management with your POS. Each piece of inventory can be linked to a bartender so you know who is pouring too much. That way you can pinpoint exactly where costs don’t add up. And if your staff knows that you are keeping track of your alcohol through a sophisticated means like your POS, it will deter them from trying to take it.

Implementing the Short Ring

The short ring is a common occurrence in bars and nightclubs, but can also happen in environments where cash is being rung into a register. You’ve probably heard of it, the customer orders an $8 vodka tonic with shelf liquor. The bartender rings it up as a well drink at $6, but still pours the high-end Sky vodka. At the end of the night the bartender pockets his extra cash.

If you’re keeping track of your inventory, you’ll see this happening. One way to prevent short ringing is to implement a blind closeout process through your POS software. This requires employees to reconcile cash at the end of their shift without notifying them of the exact amount they are expected to return. They don’t know the total sales, and are just required to report what is in the drawer.

There are many other ways that employees can and do commit fraud through their employer, but the key is training them to know how you keep track of inventory and sales, and that your POS has ‘eyes.’ Let them know what the consequences are too. It will deter them from even thinking about stealing while on the clock.

Give Bepoz a call to discuss other anti-theft features through their POS systems.