Lack of cash at the cash desk: what to do?

If an organization works with cash, a certain percentage of errors is almost inevitable. Cash discrepancies are especially frequent in companies where the cash flow is very extensive and the persons responsible for it often change, for example, in supermarkets with a large number of cash registers, large shopping centers, etc.

Let's consider what the right thing to do in such cases is for the management of the organization, which threatens the cashier who does not keep track of part of the money, and we will also reveal the features of accounting for the shortage through accounting.

Who can identify the shortage?

A shortfall is an identified negative discrepancy between financial accounting indicators and the actual amount of cash in the operating cash register.

NOTE! If there are more funds than would be due according to the documents (positive discrepancy), we are talking about surpluses going to the organization’s profit.

Who and during what procedures can detect such a discrepancy? The most common shortages are:

• the cashier-operator himself;
• an employee performing cashier functions;
• the cashier's immediate superiors;
• inventory commission;
• auditor checking the cash register;
• founders or shareholders of the company;
• senior management;
• auditors during an external audit.

All these persons have the right to reconcile accounting data and count cash in the cash desk at the required time on the basis of paragraphs 37 and 38 of the Procedure for conducting cash transactions in the Russian Federation, approved by decision of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia dated September 22, 1993 No. 40.

It's always the cashier's fault

The cashier is entrusted with storage of material assets (in this case, cash proceeds) on the basis of an employment contract concluded with him.

Art. 242 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that in such situations the employee bears full financial responsibility for compensation for lost funds. A Art. 244 stipulates the legality of concluding such an agreement with employees holding the position of cashier if they have reached the age of majority. In addition to cashiers, full financial responsibility falls on some other categories of workers provided for by Resolution of the Ministry of Labor of Russia No. 85 of December 31, 2002.

BY THE WAY! In the event of damage to the company, the cashier may be guilty not only of unlawful actions, but also of inaction, as well as negligence and dishonesty in relation to his own labor duties.

How to behave if there is a shortage?

There are disgusting employers who take advantage of the inexperience and naivety of the employee, attributing to him, by creating certain conditions, a significant shortage, and subsequently blackmailing him by contacting law enforcement agencies, intimidating him with ominous consequences and frightening punishments, and forcing him to pay damages that never happened at all.

Further, in both the first and second cases, an action-packed detective story is already turning into a chilling horror film, the nightmare of the situation increases exponentially, there is a looming fear of not only paying the shortfalls, but also criminal prosecution (if you are an employer, then read about the methods punishment of the seller for theft from a link in the blog).

Have you heard of this? I am constantly indignant that workers are often misled about their rights, threatened with various punishments, and their ignorance of the possibilities for challenging attacks is used to impute shortfalls to them, forcing them to take out a loan and cover the damage.

Let's figure out how to defend ourselves:

1. Agreement on liability . An employee who works with material assets is a responsible person with whom a corresponding agreement is drawn up.
2. The legislation provides for a certain procedure for identifying shortages . The Employer has the responsibility to establish the amount of damage caused and the reasons why this situation occurred, that is, he must conduct an inspection and establish the circumstances of the shortage (for this purpose, a commission of relevant specialists can be convened).
3. A written explanation of what happened is required from the employee . In it you set out all the arguments and facts of your position, all involvement in what happened, the possible lack of conditions for the safety of property (maybe there is not a warehouse, but a passage yard). Remember, it will serve as evidence in the future, check every word, use the help of a professional to protect your interests at the initial stage. You can also refuse this opportunity, about which the employer will draw up an act.
4. You have the right, either independently or with the help of our labor dispute lawyer and together with him, to monitor the progress of the inspection, monitor all the actions of the inspectors, get acquainted with the relevant documents on its conduct, and appeal them.
5. By order of the employer, an amount not exceeding the average monthly salary may be withheld from the employee. This can happen no later than one month after checking and establishing all the facts and extent of the shortage.
6. If a month has passed and the employee does not want to voluntarily compensate, and the amount of damage is more than average earnings, then recovery is carried out in court, where you can challenge all the employer’s attempts. If the described algorithm is not followed, then you have the right to appeal these actions in court.

USEFUL : read the material about collecting damages from an employee in court on our website, and also watch a video about a dispute with an employer

Types of liability for shortages

1. Full financial responsibility. This implies reimbursement of the entire missing amount at the expense of the cashier. If the amount that needs to be reimbursed is no more than the average monthly salary of the culprit, then he must reimburse it by order of management, issued no later than a month from the date of discovery of the shortage. Large sums can only be recovered through judicial proceedings. The employer has a year to go to court on this matter.

ATTENTION! You will have to file a claim in court if the cashier does not agree to voluntarily pay the funds, as well as after the expiration of the established month.

2. Administrative penalty. The cashier, through his action, inaction or negligence, violated the procedure for handling cash, which means he may be subject to administrative liability. Officials can pay 4–5 thousand rubles, and legal entities – 40–50 thousand rubles. - this is in addition to compensation for the amount of the shortfall itself.
3. Disciplinary action. May also be imposed by the employer, in addition to damages. A careless cashier can be reprimanded, reprimanded, and in some cases fired without mercy.
4. Criminal liability. Threatens those officials in respect of whom the intent of their actions has been proven. Such guilty actions are recognized as:
   theft - secret appropriation of someone else's property;
5. fraud - the acquisition of rights to someone else's funds due to abuse of trust or deception;
6. embezzlement – ​​theft of entrusted property or funds and subsequent sale, use, transfer to third parties;
7. misappropriation – unlawful retention of entrusted assets for one’s use.

These actions are punished, depending on the severity, the possibility of relapse and the category of the guilty employee, either by a fine, or by compulsory or correctional labor, or by restriction of freedom, arrest or prison. The specific time limits depend on the type of criminal act.

Criminal liability for lack of money in the cash register

IMPORTANT INFORMATION! For any act that provides for criminal liability, the perpetrator can be dismissed at the initiative of the employer.

The procedure for collecting shortages

1. Detection of monetary discrepancies in the cash register and in papers.
2. Request an explanation from the cashier. In case of failure to provide or direct refusal to draw it up, a special act must be written with the signature of two witnesses.
3. Issuance by management of an Order (instruction) to compensate for the shortage.
4. For a cashier who agrees to voluntary compensation, the amount of the shortfall will be written off from the next salary, or he will deposit the money into the cash register himself. You can agree on an installment plan.
5. If the cashier refuses a refund or if the amount is large, management goes to court.

NOTE! The employer may, after considering the circumstances and the cashier's explanation, completely waive the requirement for compensation at any stage, partially or in full.

The company's procedure for identifying a shortage at the cash desk

If a shortage of cash is detected in the cash register and this was not done during the inventory, the company must take the following steps:

• An order is issued to conduct an inventory and appoint a commission to carry it out;
• A cash count is carried out in the presence of a responsible person;
• Based on the results of the audit, a cash inventory report is drawn up;
• The cashier gets acquainted with it and gives explanations of the reasons for the deviations that have arisen;
• If the responsible person refuses to get acquainted with the results of the inventory against signature, a report is also drawn up;
• Based on the completed inventory results, those responsible for the shortage are identified;
• A decision is made to recover the missing amount from the guilty parties;
• The shortfall is repaid at the expense of the responsible persons who caused it.

In the event that a cash shortage is detected during a planned or sudden inventory, the first 2 stages will have already been completed by the time the shortage is detected at the cash register.

How is the cash register inventory carried out?

The commission appointed by the order of the head of the company, within the time period specified therein, conducts an inventory of the cash register in the presence of the financially responsible person. Carrying out an inspection without the presence of the responsible employee is permissible only in cases of his absence from work for a valid reason, for example, illness. Then another cashier or entity is involved in the recalculation, to whom the values ​​are transferred under responsibility.

Before the start of verification procedures, a receipt is taken from the financially responsible person stating that he has completed the preparation of all receipts and expenditure documents and handed them over to the accounting department. At the same time, he certifies with his signature that all accepted valuables have been capitalized, and those spent are written off. Conventionally, the inventory process consists of several stages:

• Recalculation of cash and valuables actually in the cash register;
• Reconciliation of the received data with entries in the cash book;
• Registration and signing by participants of the cash audit report at the cash desk.

The fact of shortage must necessarily be reflected in the act.

The act is drawn up in 2 copies. One goes to the accounting department, and the second remains in the hands of the cashier.

How to issue a cash audit report?

To formalize the results of the recalculation of cash, you should use form No. INV-15 (approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated August 18, 1998 No. 88) -. The sequence of filling it out is as follows:

• The responsible person fills out a receipt at the top stating that all documents have been completed, funds have been capitalized and written off;
• The amount of the actual balance of cash and valuables and the results according to accounting data are given;
• If surpluses or shortages are identified, their amount is indicated below;
• After this, the cashier fills out the section for giving explanations for the reasons that resulted in the deviations;
• At the bottom of the act, the director indicates his decision based on the results of the identified discrepancies

The act must be signed by members of the commission and the financially responsible person, the head of the company puts his signature on the decision he made.

If there is a change in responsible persons, then the act is drawn up in 3 copies: for the accounting department and for each of the cashiers.

If the employee refuses to provide written explanations for identified deviations, the commission draws up an additional act in which this fact is recorded. The employee must also be familiarized with it against signature.

When the cashier is not to blame

The law stipulates certain circumstances that remove guilt and financial responsibility from the cashier. These include:

• a natural disaster as a result of which the cash register was damaged and funds were lost;
• another act of force majeure independent of the cashier (robbery, theft of funds during transportation or transfer to/from the bank).

In this case, the act of shortage is recorded, in addition to the usual emergency inventory procedure, also by an act of law enforcement agencies.

How to handle accounting shortages

If the cashier is at fault, the amount of the shortfall is not taken into account for income tax purposes, since even with compensation no additional income arises. And if you had to demand the amount in court, management bears the costs of legal fees and fees: these can be legally included in non-operating expenses.

The following entries exist in accounting for these transactions.

1. When the employee reimburses the entire amount shortfalls are carried out under “Other income” in the reporting period in which they were recognized by the debtor or the court:
   debit 94, credit 50 – the Nth amount of shortfall in the cash register has been identified;
2. debit 73-2 “Calculations for compensation for material damage”, credit 94 - attributing the specified amount of damage to the guilty party;
3. debit 70, credit 73-2 “Calculations for compensation of material damage” - the amount is withheld from the cashier’s salary or deposited into the cash register.
4. The organization allowed the cashier not to reimburse the shortage. The amount that has already become irreparable damage relates to “Other expenses”:
   debit 94, credit 50 – the Nth amount of shortfall in the cash register has been identified;
5. debit 73-2 “Calculations for compensation for material damage”, credit 94 - attributing the specified amount of damage to the guilty party;
6. debit 91-2, credit 94 - the amount of the shortfall that is not reimbursed by the cashier is recognized as part of other expenses.
7. It's not the cashier's fault. If the funds are lost as a result of force majeure, and the cashier had nothing to do with it, then the losses are attributed to non-operating expenses recognized in taxation and written off to the financial results of the company:
   debit 94, credit 50 – the Nth amount of shortfall in the cash register has been identified;
8. debit 91-2, credit 74 - the shortage was written off with an unknown culprit.

Main reasons for the shortage

The main trouble for employers is that the losses actually

turn out to be more than the commodity value.
After all, this cost can also include the lost profit that the store would have received if the product had been on the counter .
But it is not always the workers who are to blame. It is not at all necessary that the cause of the loss is theft or other criminally punishable and deliberately committed fraud by employees.

Other reasons leading to errors in accounting for goods, affecting profits and, accordingly, shortages, may be:

• Underpricing. This happens if the employer has not adjusted the mechanism for forming the final cost of the goods. If the store actively uses a discount system, it is the main reason for underestimation. In this case, during the audit it is necessary to take into account the difference between the original and discounted costs.
• Inattention of cashiers to the contents of carts. Shoppers place heavier bags at the bottom of carts, requiring store workers to be extremely careful when charging items and checking quantities.
• Due to an oversight, the accounting documents do not take into account goods written off for the store's needs. If any item (goods) was not written off in a timely manner, it must be included as a deficiency when conducting an annual or quarterly audit. As a result, the employer is misled regarding the extent of the loss.
• Damaged goods (purchased with defects or those that have lost their integrity as a result of storage) may also not be written off. Such goods must be registered and written off (a special form is drawn up in Form 13).

• 
  Errors during inventory cannot be ruled out. An employee may accidentally make a mistake and not take into account some goods on the shelves.

• But even with correct calculations, erroneous data cannot be ruled out and is entered into the report when indicating the inventory number and purchase price. The best way out of the situation would be an extraordinary check to eliminate the possibility of a shortage.
• Another error is related to the delay. The goods are not written off properly (the appropriate form is not filled out) and are counted as a shortage.
• Lack of control over new supplies. In this case, the goods are paid for, but they forget to count them and take inventory. The new batch simply lies in the warehouse and is not taken into account in general calculations.