Hi guys,
I’m a cashier at the 99 Cents Store. I still don’t get what exactly is that shortage cash when my manager counts my money? Our store has a policy that every cashier needs to have 150 bucks in their register when their shift ends. I have no idea how that works. If we are short more than 5, we will get a warning. I was short on 1.28 dollars yesterday, the most I have had ever.
How bad is that? How much are cashiers usually short on? Will they be deducted from my salary? I am pretty sure I gave all customers the right amount of change. So how exactly does this over/shortage thing works? Perhaps I accidentally gave a customer an extra one dollar bill?
I’m not sure what you mean when you say “Our store has a policy that every cashier needs to have 150 bucks in their register when their shift ends.” It shouldn’t matter what you end up with as long as the amount matches with the amount of sales that register had. Normally a cashier is given a set amount of money at the beginning of their shift, in order to make change. It is usually precounted for you by the manager, but you should always re-check how much you start off with to verify they gave you the correct amount. At the end of the shift, money is re-counted and the original amount you started with is deducted from the total. The remaining amount should equal the total sales during your shift. Always be sure to count your drawer at the beginning and end of your shift so that you don’t get blamed for a shortage when possibly the manager just counted wrong. It is not legal for a store to deduct a shortage from your paycheck (at least in Calif.- may vary by state), however if you are short too many times it may be grounds to terminate your employment. It is easy to make mistakes when things get rushed and the store is busy. Don’t let people rush you and take your time when counting out change. $1.28 off is pretty minimal and if that is the most you have had you are doing pretty well. Many stores have a “money log” that you have to sign off on at the beginning and end of your shift to show you have counted your money and agree with the manager as to the amount. If your store does not have that then just count on your own, and make sure you know how much you are supposed to have at the start of your shift.
Ha ha. That’s exactly how I felt the first time it ever happened except it was $1.52 
If $1.28 is the most you’ve ever been short by then your boss will only care if they hate you. I’m deadly serious; they’ll have to hate you with a passion to care at all about $1.28.
I hate to say it, but I’m going to tell you exactly what my grandma told me when my mom wasn’t listening. It’s just a part-time job. Say you waited tables last year and get a job waiting tables.
@takeitallin I’m not sure how the whole process works, either. But every register would have roughly $150 initially, and they will count your money at the end to see if it matches with that amount. I don’t think I ever had $150. It’s always 148 or 149 something.
@EEG Well, you guys understand that it isn’t the only time my money was short, right? I have shortage everyday, save for two occasions that I had overage. It’s usually below 50 cents, like 33, 16, 44, or something like that. You sure $1.28 isn’t bad? I wonder how the other cashiers do?
I am really slow at counting money, especially those coins. Usually, I just leave it to the managers, but one or two of them would usually make me recount the money again. And then I would end up making error while counting, wasting both of our time. 
Uh, sorry to derail the thread further, but I have a job related question. My manager called me this afternoon, but I couldn’t pick up the call because I was in class. He left me a voicemail, but I forgot to check it until over 5:30. He asked if I could come to work at 5, and if I can, call him back. It was too late when I found out, and I didn’t even call him back.
Should I just have ignored him like that? 
How I counted cash at my last job:
Register started with a certain amount in cash (say $300).
Whenever you slide a person’s card, the amount gets recorded in the system. When they pay cash, that amount increases the initial amount of cash ($300). The system also records how much NEW cash was added that day.
At the end of the day: Credit total is calculated. Total money (cash and credit) is calculated. Total cash is calculated. The NEW cash total is removed from the register, counted, and subtracted from the new TOTAL. The number should be what you initially started off with ($300).
Here are a few reasons why we were sometimes missing cash:
- Previous shift/boss counted wrong (may have counted too high and removed the “extra” cash).
- Cashier didn’t count return change properly.
- Gave too much cash back (bills stick sometimes)
$1 or $2 missing isn’t terrible, but try to avoid it.
Yeah, sort of like that. Now I get it.
Today, the unthinkable happened. I was short $12.62!!! I have no idea how in the bloody hell could I have been short that much. I am sure that I am not sloppy enough to lose that huge amount of money. But what can I do about this? I didn’t count how much money was in the register first, because the manager for the morning shift was using it, so I just kept working with it as usual. Could it be that the previous user was short on some cash? But still, 12.62 dollars is a lot of money.
I guess I got a warning, or something like that. The manager printed a paper that says I was short, and told me to sign it. He wasn’t angry or anything, just told me to be careful. I am still worried. What’s going to happen? Would they investigate this? I still don’t believe this is possible. 