The POS Software Blog

News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.

CategoryEmployee Theft

Secret tools help small business retailers cut the cost of employee theft

September 7, 2019

2 Min read

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The cost of employee theft in small business retail is considerable. It is one of those costs to business that is not known until a business actually looks at the data. Most small business owners, however, do not look at the data until they are forced too. Often, by then, it is too late to recover all of what has been taken from the business.

Retailers can cut the cost of employee theft. Smart POS software makes this easier to achieve.

In the Tower Systems POS software there are secret tools that help small business retailers detect employee theft. detection is the first step to cutting the cost of theft. Knowledge is power as they say. The secret tools cannot be found by any9one unless they know the path and have access to the secret kay.l This information is only provided to business owners – if they want to know, if they want to cut the cost of employee theft.

Using POS software to cut the cost of employee theft in a retail business is, in our view, smart. It saves money, saves time and encourages the business onto a path of greater prosperity.

Tower Systems advises, encourages and guides small business retailers on cutting the cost of theft. We do this using the secret tools embedded deep within our software. We also doo it through our work with the police, crown prosecutors, private investigators and other who9 are also working to help cut the cost of employee theft in retail businesses, especially in small business retail.

This is critical for businesses for too often we see them come to a realisation abut theft only after the money is long gone.

People can be clever and smart as to how they go abut stealing from a retail business. The secret tools in our POS software help small business retailers to see the theft early in the cycle, before the damage is too great and in a way that enables the business owner to think about appropriate next steps to get the evidence necessary for police engagement. This is critical.

Small business retailers can cut the cost of employee theft. Tower Systems can help with this. We have people in our company skilled and experienced to help small business retailers achieve this.

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POS software from Tower Systems helps small business retailers cut theft

July 31, 2019

2 Min read

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The Age newspaper last week reported on a surge in theft.

A study of over 9000 Australian and New Zealand retailers has revealed the cost of theft in-store has now reached a “crisis point” for companies as shoplifters have become more brazen in recent years.

While the report focusses on shoplifting, in my experience working eityh retailers, employee theft has a higher cost. This paragraph is telling…

The majority of respondents were large fashion, grocery and department retailers with 300 or more stores. For the 2018 financial year, those companies estimated crime-related losses of $3.37 billion, or 0.92 per cent of the region’s total retail revenue for the year.

The average cost of theft in small to medium business is 3% and more. This, considering the .92% noted above indicates the focus of the report is narrow. But then the report goes on to say employee theft was 22% of overall theft.

Maybe the disconnect is because the report pulled data from medium to large businesses whereas all data I have seen over the years has been from small businesses, single store businesses. In those, in my experience, employee theft costs around 70% of the total cost of theft.

Regardless of this latest report, theft is retail is a high cost for which retailers, customers and others in the supply chain pay.

Read the report. It’s got useful information for any retailer.

Our POS software company helps small business retailers cut the cost of theft. We have proven facilities in the software that achieve this. Better still, we back these facilities with experts who can make a real and positive difference in theft outcomes for small business retailers.

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The employee theft challenge in small business retail is real and expensive

February 6, 2019

4 Min read

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Employee theft is a scourge in small business retail since it often, unfortunately, goes undetected for too long.

Tower Systems make employee theft detection easy in its POS software. However, like any tool, a retailer has to choose to use it. Too often, we see retailers ignore the easy access theft detection tools they have in our software, denying themselves the opportunity to catch theft earlier and thereby reduce the costs for the business.

Outside of the awesome theft m mitigation tools in our POS software, we help retailers with practical advice they can implement to further reduce opportunity for employee theft. We have developed these tools based on years of service in this area including working with police, prosecutors and others in catching and prosecuting cases of employee theft.

Here is some of the small business retail theft mitigation advice from our POS software retail experienced team:

Track your stock.Receive all stock into your business through your computer system so you know exactly what sock you have.
Scan everything you sell. Do not use department keys as this makes it easier for employees to steal since they know there is no trackback to stock on hand. Using department keys is an invitation to steal.
Track every sale by employees.Give your employees a card with a unique barcode or have them enter a code – to track every sale they make back to them. Change the code every six months or so.
Do your end of shift through your softwareand have a zero-tolerance policy on being over or under. Reconcile banking to your computer software end of shift. One business where this was not done was being skimmed regularly for $200 a day.
Do spot cash balancing. Unexpected checks can uncover surprises. One retailer needing to do a banking during the day uncovered a $350 discrepancy that lead to discovery of systematic theft.
Change your roster.Sometimes people work together to steal. One retailer found a family friend senior and their teenage daughter stealing consistently.
Check your Audit Log.Look at cancelled sales, deleted sales and items deleted from a sale. Leaving a cash drawer open from the previous sale, scanning items, taking the cash and cancelling the sale is the most common process used by employees to accrue cash they then take from you. Good software tracks cancelled sales and what was in them. This can be matched with video footage.
Check Gross Profit by department.If GP is falling outside what you expect, research it further.
Setup a theft policy.Put this on a noticeboard in the back room. Get staff to read it and sign up to it. See the last page of this advice.
Keep the counter clean.An organised counter reduces the opportunity for theft. It makes detection easier.
Have a no employee bags at the counter policy.This makes it harder for them to hide your cash.
Beware employees who carry folded paper or small notepads.These can be used for them to keep track of how much cash is in the register that is theirs – i.e. not rung up in the software.
Beware of calculators with memories at the counter.One retail business employee used the memory function to track how much cash had to be stolen prior to balancing for the day – cash from sales not rung up.
Do not let employees sell to themselves.If they want to purchase something make them purchase it from the other side of the counter.
Be professional in your management of the business.The more professional your approach they less likely your employees will steal as they will see the risk of being caught as high.
Advise all job applicants that you will require their permission for a police check.From the outset this indicates that you take your business seriously. In many situations applicants who have been asked for permission to do a police check advise they have found a job elsewhere.
Do not take cash out for your own use in front of employees.If they see you take cash for a coffee or lunch some will see this as an invitation.

These steps work – based on decades of helping small business retailers to reduce and manage employee theft.

Theft, employee and customer, costs a typical small / independent retail between 3% and 5% of product sales revenue. Management attention can cut this dramatically. It does not take much time. No, it is more about having professional processes in place that everyone in the business follows.

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Advice for small business retailers on theft

December 13, 2018

4 Min read

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Most theft from independent retail businesses can be identified and reduced through a consistent application of simple management processes and smart use of specialist retail software. Tower Systems has been helping retailers cut theft for decades through issuing advice, responding to requests and by continuing to provide functions in our retail software that allow business owners to identify and track suspicious behaviour – by shoppers, managers and store employees. Over the years our expertise has been called on by police and prosecutors as well as individual retailers.

Follow this advice on how to use our specialist retail POS software to hamper opportunities for theft and bolster the certainty of detecting it before it’s too late:

Employ stock control for high volume items. Enter new stock as it comes in, scan all sales and only reorder based on what the software says. Perform a stock take regularly each month. High volume item stock discrepancies are an indicator of theft.
Scan everything you sell. Do not use department tracking only – your data needs to be granular to prevent employees taking advantage of loose stock on hand quantities. Not scanning individual stock items is unfortunately an invitation to dishonest employees.
Use the software-based end of shift procedure and have a zero-tolerance policy on cash balance discrepancies. Reconcile banking to your computer software at end of shift. We have seen businesses failing to do this: one was being skimmed regularly of $200 a day.
Do spot cash balancing. Unexpected checks can uncover surprises. One business owner needing to perform banking during the day uncovered a $350 discrepancy that lead to the discovery of systematic theft.
Mix up your roster. Sometimes people work together to steal. One retailer found a family friend senior and their teenage daughter stealing consistently.
Check your audit Log. Look at cancelled sales, deleted sales and items deleted from a sale. Leaving a cash drawer open from the previous sale, scanning items, taking the cash and cancelling the sale is the most common process used by employees to accrue cash they then take from you. Our software tracks cancelled sales and what was in them. This can be matched with video footage.
Check GP by department. If GP is falling outside what you expect, always research further.
Publish a theft policy. Put this on a noticeboard in the back room. Get staff to read it and sign up to it. At the bottom of this page is a sample theft policy.
Keep the store counter area clean. A better organised counter reduces the opportunity for theft. Reducing nooks and crannies makes detection of any cash hoarding easier.
Have a “no employee bags” at the counter policy. This makes it harder for dishonest employees to hide stolen cash.
Beware employees who carry folded paper or small notepads. These can be used for them to keep track of how much cash is in the register that is theirs – i.e. not rung up in the software.
Beware of calculators and mobile phones at the counter. Employees can use these devices to track how much cash could be stolen prior to balancing for the day – cash from sales not processed.
Do not let employees sell to themselves. If an employee wants to purchase something ensure they purchase it from the customer’s side of the counter.
Be professional in your management of the business. The more professional your approach they less likely your employees will steal as they will see the risk of being caught as high. Do not take cash handling lightly; if you respect your business procedures your staff are more likely to too. Never take cash from the till for your own personal use, i.e. to buy lunch.
Advise all job applicants that you will require their permission for a police check. From the outset this indicates that you take your business seriously. In many situations applicants who have been asked for permission to do a police check advise they have found a job elsewhere.

These steps work. They are based on decades of helping small business retailers to reduce and manage employee theft.

Employee and customer theft costs a typical independent retail business between 3% and 5% of non-agency sales revenue each year. Management attention and smart use of retail software can cut this dramatically. It does not take much time – it is simply about smart procedures and professional processes.

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IT’S A FACT: THEFT IS GREATER IN RETAIL BUSINESSES WHERE STOCK CONTROL IS POOR

October 18, 2018

2 Min read

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In years working with small and independent retail businesses, the team at Tower Systems has learnt plenty including the indicators of in which retail businesses theft is more likely to occur.

We have leveraged our experience with small business retailers who use our smart POS software to help these and other b businesses reduce the impact of theft – shopper theft and employee theft.

Our experience is that theft is more likely to occur in businesses where stock is not managed properly.

By not managed properly we mean where:

All items sold are not tracked at the point of sale.
Where new stock arriving in the business is not properly arrived through the software.
Where spot stock-takes are not undertaken regularly to maintain an accurate stock on hand account.
Where stock given away or thrown away is not written off.
Where stock returned to a supplier is not scanned out.

Our advice on reducing the cost of employee theft and customer theft is simple – follow our advice, manage your stock and without a doubt the cost of theft in your retail business will be lower than it would have been.

If you think the cost of managing stock is too great, think about the cost of $25,000, $50,000 or even $250,000 in theft. Yes, we see this all too often in retail businesses – where stock is not managed.

Managing your stock = less theft and less theft = increases product and increased profit = you get more when you sell your business.

Tower Systems offers comprehensive theft mitigation services to small business retailers. We use our knowledge and experience to help retailers, to make it easier for them to understand any given situation and take steps to protect against theft. This is a free project from us, pro-bono help for small business retailers as part of the Tower Systems community care service.

Inventory is the best indicator of a problem. We leverage this data. We help retailers see and understand the challenges and we provide knowledge and tools that benefit retailers no matter what type of business they operate. This is another Tower Advantage, something we are proud to offer.

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Data security advice for small business retailers using POS software

June 18, 2018

2 Min read

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2018 is not even half over and already it has seen considerable attacks on computers and on websites. Each attack reinforces the need for all businesses, including small businesses, to have appropriate security and backup measured in place to protect business data.

Appropriate backup means:

Backup every day, without fail, without having too spend time for we know that time backups can take can make backups be ignored or forgotten.
On-site backup.
Plus, off-site backup.
Easy access for recovery.
Protection in a facility away from the business not only of all data but all software to facilitate swift recovery.
Managed costs.
Secure access to backed up data.
maintaining backup services at the cutting edge.
Appropriate security for backed up data.

Our advice is that you use a cloud backup service, like the Tower Backup service we offer. It works in the background, backing up without you having to do a backup. If your business is attacked, getting back to a clean and safe place is easy. Any reputable backup service should be able to offer similar to you.

Please do not put this off. Get protection for your business and your business data. You don’t want to be the person who does this after you have been attacked.

At the very least, backup every day, onto a USB stick for that day. While this is an old-school approach, it is better than nothing at all.

But let’s be clear, cloud backup is our recommendation. Our service provides you with a local backup and an offsite backup, in the cloud. This gives you two backups, excellent protection. We monitor the backups to ensure they are working. If we find an issue, we proactively call you. This is rare from a cloud backup service provider.

Here at Tower Systems we take data security seriously. We provide best-pracie advice. Our customers are welcome to use our service or another, our recommendation, however, is that they do something – to be protected.

Too often small business retailers think about data security after they have been affected. Hence this advice here and in our weekly emails and elsewhere in our touch points with customers.

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Small business POS software customers appreciate THEFT POLICY

May 12, 2018

3 Min read

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A week ago we shared with our customers an updated THEFT POLICY, and suggested they print this and seek employee engagement.

The reaction has been terrific with plenty downloading and pricing the policy. We have had calls, too, from retailers seeking our suggestions on other actions they can take. Some have called with their stories of theft in their businesses.

Our work in the area of retail employee theft is comprehensive and on-going.

We welcome opportunities to work with our thousands of small business retailer customers to help them mitigate the theft situation in their businesses.

Here is the latest version of our THEFT POLICY that we shared a week ago:

THEFT POLICY

Theft, any theft, is a crime against this business, its owners, employees and others who rely on us for their income.
If you discover any evidence or have any suspicion of theft, please report it to the business owner or most senior manager possible immediately. Doing so could save a considerable cost to the business.
We have a zero tolerance policy on theft. All claims will be reported to law enforcement authorities for their investigation.
From time to time we have the business under surveillance in an effort to reduce theft. This may mean that you are photographed or recorded in some other way. By working here you accept this as a condition of employment.
New employees may be asked to provide permission for a police check prior to commencement of employment. Undertaking the police check will be at our discretion.
Cash is never to be left unattended outside the cash drawer or a safe within the business.
Credit and banking card payments are not to be accepted unless the physical card is presented and all required processes are followed for processing these.
Employees caught stealing with irrefutable evidence face immediate dismissal to the extent permitted by local labour laws.
Employees are not permitted to remove inventory, including unsold, topped, magazines, unsold cards or damaged stock from the store without permission.
Employees are not permitted to provide a refund to a customer without appropriate management permission.
Employees are not permitted to complete sales to themselves, family members or friends.
Every dollar stolen from the business by customers and or employees can cost us up to four dollars to recover. This is why vigilance on theft is mission critical for our retail store.

PLEASE SIGN AND DATE YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

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A theft policy is vital to helping any retail business cut the cost of employee theft

March 16, 2018

2 Min read

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Here at Tower Systems we often help small business retailers detect and stop employee theft. One piece of advice that we see as vital to this mission is for a business to have a THEFT POLICY.

Here is a policy we share with our customers. Feel free to use it, modify it and share it.

THEFT POLICY

Theft, any theft, is a crime against this business, its owners, employees and others who rely on us for their income.
If you discover any evidence or have any suspicion of theft, please report it to the business owner or most senior manager possible immediately. Doing so could save a considerable cost to the business.
We have a zero tolerance policy on theft. All claims will be reported to law enforcement authorities for their investigation.
From time to time we have the business under surveillance in an effort to reduce theft. This may mean that you are photographed or recorded in some other way. By working here you accept this as a condition of employment.
New employees may be asked to provide permission for a police check prior to commencement of employment. Undertaking the police check will be at our discretion.
Cash is never to be left unattended outside the cash drawer or a safe within the business.
Credit and banking card payments are not to be accepted unless the physical card is presented and all required processes are followed for processing these.
Employees caught stealing with irrefutable evidence face immediate dismissal to the extent permitted by local labour laws.
Employees are not permitted to remove inventory, including unsold, topped, magazines, unsold cards or damaged stock from the store without permission.
Employees are not permitted to provide a refund to a customer without appropriate management permission.
Employees are not permitted to complete sales to themselves, family members or friends.
Every dollar stolen from the business by customers and or employees can cost us up to four dollars to recover. This is why vigilance on theft is mission critical for our retail store.

PLEASE SIGN AND DATE YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

Yes, you can cut the cost of theft in any retail business. It starts with the right policies and processes.

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Practical advice on how to cut employee theft

March 15, 2018

1 Min read

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This video from us has been a popular tool helping small business retailers cut employee theft:

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Small business retail advice: how to cut shopper theft

January 22, 2018

2 Min read

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Here are seven steps we suggest to cut the cost of shopper theft in your retail business. While there are other steps you could take, these seven are most valuable from our years of working with retailers.

Look at people as they enter. Make sure they see you see them. Eye contact is key. Ideally, say hello to them. The more they think you have seen them the better.
Have a screen near the entrance / exit so people can see that you filming them with your security cameras. The more people think they will be caught they less likely they are to steal.
Work on the shop floor. This puts you or your employees among shoppers and heightens the chance of detection of theft.
Walk the floor. Every so often, do a circuit. Be present. Talk to people.
During peak shopping periods, station someone outside the business looking. Ensure they are trained on appropriate action should they see misbehavior.
Bring in a security guard on a casual basis during your most busy periods.
Have a no receipt no exchange or refund policy.
Use your POS software. Spot stock take. Understand the cost off theft. In our experience the evidence is that items being stolen are bot those you think are being stolen. Data is key here. hence our advice to use your POS software.
Act on the evidence.
Ensure all who work in the business are in on this project.

The more likely people are to be caught the less likely you are to experience shopper theft.

Tower Systems has many years of experience in helping independent small business retailers mitigate em ploy theft and shopper theft. We leverage this experience for our customers through excellent POS software, free training, group training workshops, data analysis and expert witness support for authorities in specific cases.

Our advice to retailers is that you can cut the cost of theft if you manage your business to achieve this goal. Sadly, too many small business retailers do not do this because they do not see theft until it is too late. We say be on the front foot, manage to cut theft even when you cannot see it.

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Xero POS software link from Tower Systems helps retailers cut theft

January 9, 2018

2 Min read

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Retailers using the Xero POS software link from Tower Systems are well positioned to reduce the impact of employee theft on their retail business. Here is how…

Every data touchpoint in a business is an opportunity for employee fraud. Using this link there is less touching, less entering, of data. This in and of itself reduces the opportunity for covering top theft and if you reduce this opportunity you reduce actual theft.
Theft occurs where there is less oversight. Thanks to the seamless flow of data from the POS software to Xero, without human intervention, oversight is tight and constant. This means loess opportunity for theft.
Track cash without the opportunity for manipulation and you reduce the opportunity for theft. The POS software / Xero interface means that cash is recorded the moment a sale is completed. Every step of engagement with the cash whether it be the end of shift cash count, a customer refund, removal of cash from the register is tracked.
Getting data out of the business and into the accounting ting function makes it more protected. The POS software Xero link gets data to the accounting function quickly, easily and without being manipulated. Data is treated like a serious business asset, as it should be.
Never take your eyes off data. For the moment you take your eyes off the data you open it to be manipulated. This link never takes its eyes off.

Also, thanks to powerful data tracking including deep security data tracking, you can rely on this software to help you manage theft so as to ensure the impact on the business is minimised compared to what would be the case if you were not using the Tow3r Systems POS software Xero interface.

There are many stories from small business retailers where Tower Systems has helped uncover, resolve and even prosecute in situations of employee theft. We have specialist experience in helping small business retailers in this stressful and expensive area of business operation.

Tower Systems has brought its theft mitigation experience to the Xero link to leverage this ti maximum benefit for its small business retail customers.

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Helping small business retailers reduce the impact of employee theft

December 21, 2017

3 Min read

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For many, years Tower Systems has offered small business retailers access to professional help in detecting, reducing and prosecuting employee theft. In our small business POS software we have excellent services that support this.

In our management team we have skilled professionals who have helped police, prosecutors, insurers and others in situations of employee theft. Our approach is evidence based, professional, discrete and thorough.

Our theft mitigation and theft management services are handled at the leadership team level of the Tower Systems business as this is where the experience lies through helping retail businesses in a variety of retail sectors.

In our decades of experience, it is essential the business draw a line in the sand on the issue of employee theft. This is best done by the establishment of a theft policy. This is best done as a document that employees sign. We provide our customers with a template theft policy. We share this here today for anyone to see and consider for their business.

THEFT POLICY

Theft, any theft, is a crime against this business, its owners, employees and others who rely on us for their income.
If you discover any evidence or have any suspicion of theft, please report it to the business owner or most senior manager possible immediately. Doing so could save a considerable cost to the business.
We have a zero tolerance policy on theft. All claims will be reported to law enforcement authorities for their investigation.
From time to time we have the business under surveillance in an effort to reduce theft. This may mean that you are photographed or recorded in some other way. By working here you accept this as a condition of employment.
New employees may be asked to provide permission for a police check prior to commencement of employment. Undertaking the police check will be at our discretion.
Cash is never to be left unattended outside the cash drawer or a safe within the business.
Credit and banking card payments are not to be accepted unless the physical card is presented and all required processes are followed for processing these.
Employees caught stealing with irrefutable evidence face immediate dismissal to the extent permitted by local labour laws.
Employees are not permitted to remove inventory, including unsold, topped, magazines, unsold cards or damaged stock from the store without permission.
Employees are not permitted to provide a refund to a customer without appropriate management permission.
Employees are not permitted to complete sales to themselves, family members or friends.
Every dollar stolen from the business by customers and or employees can cost us up to four dollars to recover. This is why vigilance on theft is mission critical for our retail store.

PLEASE SIGN AND DATE YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

Read on Read later

Helping small business retailers reduce the opportunity of employee theft

November 22, 2017

4 Min read

H

At our POS software company we actively help small business retailers who use our software to reduce the opportunity of employee theft. We do this in a range of overt and covert ways, through our software and outside off our software.

As we have decades of experience running different types of retail businesses and through our work with, 3,500+ other retailers with our software we have a deep pool of knowledge and experience on which to draw.

Employee theft is something to be managed. By managed, we mean measured, understood and mitigated.

based on our own experiences and those of others we trust, we offer refined, thoughtful, advice on managing employee theft. Here we share it with all as a free community service for small business retailers. Together, we can cut the cost of employee theft in your retail business:

Track your stock. Receive all stock into your business through your computer system so you know exactly what sock you have.
Scan everything you sell. Do not use department keys as this makes it easier for employees to steal since they know there is no trackback to stock on hand. Using department keys is an invitation to steal.
Track every sale by employees. Give your employees a card with a unique barcode or have them enter a code – to track every sale they make back to them. Change the code every six months or so.
Do your end of shift through your software and have a zero-tolerance policy on being over or under. Reconcile banking to your computer software end of shift. One business where this was not done was being skimmed regularly for $200 a day.
Do spot cash balancing. Unexpected checks can uncover surprises. One retailer needing to do a banking during the day uncovered a $350 discrepancy that lead to discovery of systematic theft.
Change your roster. Sometimes people work together to steal. One retailer found a family friend senior and their teenage daughter stealing consistently.
Check your Audit Log. Look at cancelled sales, deleted sales and items deleted from a sale. Leaving a cash drawer open from the previous sale, scanning items, taking the cash and cancelling the sale is the most common process used by employees to accrue cash they then take from you. Good software tracks cancelled sales and what was in them. This can be matched with video footage.
Check Gross Profit by department. If GP is falling outside what you expect, research it further.
Setup a theft policy. Put this on a noticeboard in the back room. Get staff to read it and sign up to it. See the last page of this advice.
Keep the counter clean. An organised counter reduces the opportunity for theft. It makes detection easier.
Have a no employee bags at the counter policy. This makes it harder for them to hide your cash.
Beware employees who carry folded paper or small notepads. These can be used for them to keep track of how much cash is in the register that is theirs – i.e. not rung up in the software.
Beware of calculators with memories at the counter. One retail business employee used the memory function to track how much cash had to be stolen prior to balancing for the day – cash from sales not rung up.
Do not let employees sell to themselves. If they want to purchase something make them purchase it from the other side of the counter.
Be professional in your management of the business. The more professional your approach they less likely your employees will steal as they will see the risk of being caught as high.
Advise all job applicants that you will require their permission for a police check. From the outset this indicates that you take your business seriously. In many situations applicants who have been asked for permission to do a police check advise they have found a job elsewhere.
Do not take cash out for your own use in front of employees. If they see you take cash for a coffee or lunch some will see this as an invitation.

These steps work – based on decades of helping small business retailers to reduce and manage employee theft.

Theft, employee and customer, costs a typical small / independent retail between 3% and 5% of product sales revenue. Management attention can cut this dramatically. It does not take much time. No, it is more about having professional processes in place that everyone in the business follows.

Read on Read later

Counselling small business retailers through the challenge of employee theft

October 24, 2017

3 Min read

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It is difficult hearing an adult cry on the other end of the phone when you pick up the call expecting it to be a regular business to business discussion. This time was different. Their story was one of hurt and pain, considerable financial hurt and considerable personal pain. They were distressed. They did not see how they could go on with business, they were so upset.

Our job in the call was to empathise and support, to not judge and to help them navigate next steps in what was a complex and unexpected situation.

The person on the other end of the phone was a retailer using our POS software. They called because they had just discovered an employee theft situation. While they knew they had tools in their POS software for early intervention on employee theft, they had not used them, until now, following a suspicion.

It turned out their suspicion was wrong. The person stealing from them was their most trusted employee, a family friend.

The first few calls with the customer about this were about them, about our customer, helping them navigate their own distress, so they could continue to function, to keep their business going, while they did what was necessary to have the theft dealt with formally by the authorities.

In addition to structured advice on handling any discovered employee theft, we provide help and support personally for the business owner, to help them personally deal with the violation they feel because of the theft.

We help the business owner(s) personally in several ways. These including pointing them to professional counselling services, physically being with them in the business when taking steps to deal with the theft, doing independent research on the theft so the authorities have the evidence they will need, being a pillar of support and strength for the retailer, ensuring they know we have their back and that how they feel right now will pass as they step through dealing with this.

While we are not professionally trained counsellors, we have been involved is supporting retailers from many different businesses in navigating the discovery and management of employee theft. We take care to support the person first, to ensure they are okay and reinforce that they will be okay. We help them as they pass through emotions ranging from hurt, anger, despair and hate. We take their hand and offer ourselves as a pillar of strength.

We do this because we have been there ourselves, in our own retail businesses over the years. We draw on our own experiences as we find this helps.

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Helping small business retailers cut employee theft in any type of business

October 7, 2016

3 Min read

H

Employee theft is a challenge for any small business retailer. The cost of theft depends on how the business manages the theft situation. To minimise the cost of theft, retailers are advised to follow these simple to implement strategies. They have been developed by our small business retail support team here at Tower Systems over many years of helping small business retailers through our POS software.

Pay above award wages. The quality of your employees is up to you. If you’re doing your job you have good employees. Value them. Pay above award. HR and business psychology experts say this will reduce theft.
Talk to them. Ask for their honest comments about the business. The more they feel, genuinely feel, valued, the less likely they are to steal from you.
No employee bags at the counter.
Clear refund policy. Type the policy up and put it on the wall for customers and employees to see. Cover, for example, age of transaction, management approval, that you need their name, address, phone number and signature – such requirements will stop abuse.
Offer good discounts to employees. Let employees buy products from you at your cost or just above it. This respects them as part of your team and it reduces the chances of them being tempted to steal what they want from you.
Don’t take cash out of the til yourself. If employees see you take money out for items like a coffee or your lunch they will feel invited to do the same.
Roster mix up. Change your roster regularly. It is common that a roster change will show you a theft problem you never thought was there.
Roster rules. Don’t have friends working with friends if they are the only ones rostered on.
Speed humps. Have a day where you turn on receipts for ALL customers. Then a day where you require that everything is scanned (as opposed to using hot keys and the like). These changes will keep employees and customers off guard and make it easier for you to spot problems. It will also keep you on your guard and that’s good for the business.
Spend more time at the counter. The further you are from the action in your business the greater the opportunity for you to be ripped off. Spend time where the action is – unexpectedly.
Balance the register during the day. Do this every so often. Again to keep people on their toes. It is also good practice.
Don’t let employees ring their own purchases up.
Don’t let employees sell to family and friends.
Your local council. Many local councils offer theft prevention training and help as do some local police. (Local U.S. police stations are considerably more active in this area.)
Beware of popularity. There is anecdotal evidence that the more popular the employee the more likely they are the one stealing from you.

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HELPING SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS CUT EMPLOYEE THEFT

May 26, 2016

1 Min read

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The theft reduction training video we produced in-house – How To Steal From A Retail Business – is being used by business groups to train their members on measures to take in retail shops to reduce the opportunity for employee theft.

In addition to the YouTube views, this video has been packaged and provided outside that platform for people to embed in conference presentations, one-on-one training and elsewhere.

Using your POS software small business retailers have excellent tools with which to reduce the opportunity for theft. These have existed for years. In addition to our software work, we act as expert witnesses in investigations and proceedings that successfully prosecute employee theft cases.

What matters is that theft can be reduced and even eliminated with good management oversight in any retail business using our POS software.

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FREE POS SOFTWARE TRAINING: HOW TO CUT THEFT IN YOUR RETAIL BUSINESS

May 6, 2016

1 Min read

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Next week, we run another of our popular Howe to cut theft in your retail business workshops. Run many times over many years, these free live workshops help engaged retailers to protect against theft, especially employee theft. Retailers using our POS software who encounter employee theft, especially expensive employee theft, have not undertaken this free and easily accessed training.

Our commitment to our small business retail customers is that we provide regular access to free live training workshops. This session is another of these free weekly opportunities.

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SUNDAY SMALL BUSINESS RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: HOW TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS MORE SECURE

April 10, 2016

3 Min read

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Security is important in any business but especially in a small independent retail business. Here is a list of actions we recommend you consider to ensure your business is secure.

Know how many keys there are to your premises and who has them.
Keep a spare key in a safe place away from the business.
Keep a current data backup off site. Regularly check that you can restore the data from your backup and that the data is current.
Regularly check the use of your business software for the deletion or alternation of sales as this could indicate employee fraud.
Have current reputable virus protection on all your computers.
Have current reputable firewall installed on your network.
Never open a zip file sent by email.
Never open an email from a bank, the ATO or the police.
Change the most powerful / valuable password for your computer software monthly and share it sparingly. Passwords should be complex. Check the strength of your password here: https://howsecureismypassword.net
Be discrete when talking about the business and its performance.
Do not do the banking at the same time every day or every few days. Do not follow the same route. Do not carry the same bag.
Have a camera system installed to get a good shot of the faces of everyone entering and leaving the business.
Consider registering your CCTV with the local police – this is an option in some jurisdictions.
Ensure customers can see they are being filmed.
Train employees to make eye contact with customers.
Train employees on emergency procedures for handling: theft, aggressive people, shoplifters.
Use the full stock control facilities of your software to understand the financial cost of shoplifting.
When doing magazine returns, check discrepancies weekly to understand magazine theft.
Ensure your windows are not cluttered. The police advise cluttered windows are a security risk because of what they can hide.
Ensure there is good lighting outside if the store is locked up when it is dark.
Ensure you have the best possible sight lines of the shop from the counter.
Have a no personal items at the counter policy.
If you catch someone in the act of shoplifting ask them to wait in the store, and call the Police. Also (advice from NSW govt. Crime prevention):
1. Tell them who you are.
2. Tell them why they have been asked to stay in the store. o Advise them that Police have been called
3. Ask the person to surrender any property that doesn’t belong to them. Remember, retailers and other citizens have no legal right to search a person.
4. Most importantly, do not put yourself at risk.
Have a clear refund processing policy and ensure all employees are trained on this.
Track all sales by employee code.
When hiring: ask if applicants agree to a police check, check their references, do not hire friends of employees, explain your commitment to zero tolerance re employee theft.
Have an employee theft policy in full view.

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SMALL BUSINESS RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: HOW TO CUT EMPLOYEE THEFT

February 14, 2016

3 Min read

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Okay so we have shared advice on cutting employee theft before, many times in fact. The things is – employee theft continues in small business retail, too often. It can be reduced in any retail business if you follow this simple advice:

Use stock control. Enter new stock as it comes in, scan all sales and only reorder based on what you software says. Every month do a stock take. Popular item stock discrepancies are an indicator of theft.
Scan everything you sell. Do not use department keys as this makes it easier for employees to steal since they know there is no trackback to stock on hand.
Do your end of shift through your software and have a zero-tolerance policy on being over or under. Reconcile banking to your computer software end of shift.
Do spot cash balancing. Unexpected checks can uncover surprises.
Change your roster. Sometimes people work together to steal. One retailer found a family friend senior and their teenage daughter stealing consistently.
Check your Audit Log. Look at cancelled sales, deleted sales and items deleted from a sale.
Check GP by department. If GP is falling outside what you expect, research it further.
Setup a theft policy. Put this on a noticeboard in the back room. Get staff to read it and sign up to it. See the last page of this advice.
Keep the counter clean. A better organised counter reduces the opportunity for theft as it makes detection easier.
Have a no employee bags at the counter policy. This makes it harder for them to hide your cash.
Beware employees who carry folded paper or small notepads. These can be used for them to keep track of how much cash is in the register that is theirs – i.e. not rung up in the software.
Beware of calculators with memories at the counter.
Do not let employees sell to themselves. If they want to purchase something make them purchase it from the other side of the counter.
Be professional in your management of the business. The more professional your approach they less likely your employees will steal as they will see the risk of being caught as high.
Advise all job applicants that you will require their permission for a police check.
Do not take cash out for your own use in front of employees. If they see you take cash for a coffee or lunch some will see this as an invitation.

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A new employee theft training video for small business retailers from Tower Systems

November 24, 2015

1 Min read

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We are proud to have launched this new video on the weekend. It is having the desired effect of educating retail business owners.

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Sunday retail management advice: how to cut employee theft in retail

August 30, 2015

2 Min read

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Employees can steal from retail businesses in a variety of ways. Often, such theft goes undetected because of poor or unmonitored business processes.

The best way to cut employee theft or fraud is to commit to a consistent approach to theft management:

Ask prospective employees if they object to a police check. Those with something to hide will let you know they have found a job elsewhere.
Implement zero tolerance for abuse of systems. For example, ensure that every item sold is scanned.
Implement zero tolerance for an end of shift discrepancy of, say, $5.00 or more. Once employees know you will be fierce about this sales will be more accurate.
Reduce manual eftpos transactions – connect your eftpos terminal to your point of sale.
Change responsibilities – sometimes changing who handles money can uncover fraudulent behavior.
Change your timing. Habits are what allow people to think they can get away with theft.
Modify your counter policies:
- No refunds.
- No credits without management approval.
- No employee bags at the counter.
- No jackets or cardigans with pockets.
- No calculators with memories – I have seen these used to record how much cash in the register is theirs.
- Track every sale by employees – using a card with an employee barcode and making it harder for an employee to use the system as someone else.
Track all cash movements from the sale through to your bank account. Many retailers do not do this and open themselves to blatant and regular theft. Employees do it because they know they can get away with it.

Cutting employee theft can be achieved with vigilance. A small time investment in developing and following processes will find you with more money in your bank account.

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Small business retail employee theft advice helps cut theft

June 17, 2015

1 Min read

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The employee theft advice Tower Systems provides its users goes beyond our smart POS software and well into the area of small business management. Offered as part of our comprehensive Knowledge Base, our advice is based on years of work with business owners, police in various jurisdictions and prosecutors to bring people to account for theft in retail businesses in which they work.

This type of advice covering business management goes beyond what is typical for a POS software company. It demonstrates a level of commitment from Tower Systems that is unique, a commitment of which we are proud.

The best feedback we have received is from those following this advice who have successfully detected earlier than otherwise might have been the case theft by an employee, detection that enabled them to gather the necessary evidence to act.

Every day here at Tower Systems we are involved with our customers beyond what is traditional for a POS software company. While we are happy to help with POS software queries, we are equally happy to help with business management advice beyond the software. As our motto say, We’re here to help.

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Helping small business retailers confront a theft situation

June 3, 2015

2 Min read

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If you believe you are being stolen in your retail business from and not sure what to do next you can turn to us for help. Sure, we are a software company – but we are also experts at helping small business retailers deal with and confront theft.

We provide a service to retailers using our POS software as part of our Tower Advantage^TM service where we will go through your data and look for patterns consistent with theft.

Our senior management team has been helping clients uncover theft for over 20 years and we know all the signs to look for. We will give you a report on all of our findings, make some recommendations and have in the past appeared in court to give evidence on theft matters.

Contact our support team and let them know you would like a theft check performed and we will guide you from there.

We will treat your contact serious and immediately escalate it to a senior member of our team who will discuss with you your situation and suggest the next appropriate steps. We handle theft reports outside the usual help desk area of the business for your security and to bring to the report our most experienced people.

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Sunday retail management advice: how to cut employee theft in retail

April 26, 2015

4 Min read

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Theft is something to be managed in your business. You will be stolen from. Good management is about reducing the opportunity for and instances of theft.

Follow this advice and the opportunity for theft will be lower and the certainty of detecting it higher.

Unfortunately, many retailers read up to here and think this will to happen to them. Too many of these business owners are the ones who do experience the hurt of employee theft.

If you are still reading, well done. Here are simple steps you can take to catch and manage employee theft:

Use stock control for a high volume high interest category (if not all stock). Enter new stock as it comes in, scan all sales and only reorder based on what you software says. Every month do a stock take. Stock discrepancies of the right item are an indicator of theft. Had one retailer we know of been doing this they would have caught their $250 a day employee theft months earlier.
Scan everything you sell. Do not use department keys as this makes it easier for employees to steal since they know there is no trackback to stock on hand. Using department keys is an invitation to steal.
Do your end of shift through your software and have a zero-tolerance policy on being over or under. Reconcile banking to your computer software end of shift. One retail business where this was not done was being skimmed regularly for $200 a day.
Do spot cash balancing. Unexpected checks can uncover surprises. One retailer needing to do a banking during the day uncovered a $350 discrepancy that lead to discovery of systematic theft.
Change your roster. Sometimes people work together to steal. One retailer found a family friend senior and their teenage daughter stealing consistently.
Check your Audit Log. Look at cancelled sales, deleted sales and items deleted from a sale. Leaving a cash drawer open from the previous sale, scanning items, taking the cash and cancelling the sale is the most common process used by employees to accrue cash they then take from you. Good software tracks cancelled sales and what was in them. This can be matched with video footage.
Check GP by department. If GP is falling outside what you expect, research it further.
Setup a theft policy. Put this on a noticeboard in the back room. Get staff to read it and sign up to it. See the last page of this advice.
Keep the counter clean. A better organised counter reduces the opportunity for theft as it makes detection easier.
Have a no employee bags at the counter policy. This makes it harder for them to hide your cash.
Beware employees who carry folded paper or small notepads. These can be used for them to keep track of how much cash is in the register that is theirs – i.e. not rung up in the software.
Beware of calculators with memories at the counter. One employee used the memory function to track how much cash had to be stolen prior to balancing for the day – cash from sales not rung up.
Do not let employees sell to themselves. If they want to purchase something make them purchase it from the other side of the counter.
Be professional in your management of the business. The more professional your approach they less likely your employees will steal as they will see the risk of being caught as high.
Advise all job applicants that you will require their permission for a police check. From the outset this indicates that you take your business seriously. In many situations applicants who have been asked for permission to do a police check advise they have found a job elsewhere.
Do not take cash out for your own use in front of employees. If they see you take cash for a coffee or lunch some will see this as an invitation.

These steps work – based on decades of helping newsagents to reduce and manage employee theft.

Theft, employee and customer, costs a typical retail between 3% and 5% of sales revenue. Management attention can cut this dramatically. It does not take much time. No, it is more about having professional processes in place which everyone in the business follows.

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POS software company provides more help to small business retailers reducing theft

April 4, 2015

1 Min read

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Tower Systems has been helping more retailers using its POS software POS software to deal with employee theft situations. We have a structured process for independently checking evidence without being influenced by stories. The process has been praised by police and prosecutors. It has been on show in court rooms where we have provided expert witness evidence.

Employees in retail businesses using our software are on notice. We have tools you will never find which can uncover behavior which indicates without a doubt that theft is occurring. This evidence has stood up scrutiny and resulted in successful action.

Our advice to retailers is to use the facilities in our software for theft reduction. If you have a concern, ask us for a free Theft Check service.

We’re here to help. That’s our motto. When it comes to employee theft, we’re in your corner and there to help you deal with it and get through the emotional and operational challenges of discovering a theft situation.

Our theft related work is undertaken at senior levels within the business. It is highly confidential. Our most cases are never discussed until completely closed and even then only ever without identifying details.

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