As you plan your food service business, you will face tasks such as designing the layout, stocking the kitchen and planning a menu. All of this is vital to the success of your business. What you may not think of during this time is the financial aspect that goes beyond income and expenses. Many businesses run into problems with money for the simple reason that they have not planned for controlling the cash that will come in throughout the day. With many employees, it is imperative that you establish a method for controlling cash long before you have anyone handling the cash.

The first thing you need to do is establish your cash handling policies. You want to be clear and concise with how the cash and credit card transactions are going to be handled by your employees. This should include any transaction your employee is likely to encounter including refunds, pay outs to vendors, taking payment and even mistakes that they may make. The more strict you are with your policies, the easier it will be when your employees face an unexpected transaction.

As a part of your policies, you want to provide proper forms for your employees to fill out and sign with each transaction. There should be a form that is filled out when you have to give a refund to a customer and one that is completed whenever there is a mistake made handling cash or credit cards. There will also be times that cash must be paid out to vendors when they make a delivery. There should be the proper forms available for that as well. At the beginning and end of a shift, the manager should go over the money with the employee and complete a form that the employee will sign. The proper forms play a vital role in successfully controlling your cash.

Logging the money is also integral to controlling the cash flow of your business. You will want to log the cash and credit that comes into your business each day. It is also important to keep a log of any money that goes out of your business each day. Knowing what you are earning and what you are spending will help you keep track of how much you should be depositing in the bank.

One way to control the cash and prevent the problems that can arise is to set up regular procedures for what you will do with your money each day. There should be at least one deposit into the safe during each shift to prevent the drawers from holding too much money. At the end of each day, the manager should make a deposit to the bank with all of the excess cash from the day. The manager should follow up on each deposit with the bank to ensure that it was credited properly and is in the account as planned.

Many food service business owners find themselves the victims of theft, whether it be from an outside source or from an employee. The best way to prevent this from happening is to establish a method to control the cash and make sure that each employee adheres strictly to the policies that are set up.

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