Why do stock and cash go missing?
Stock and cash go missing through customers, staff, suppliers and honest mistakes. A shop usually loses a little through each, and the losses add up quietly because no single one is large enough to notice on the day.
The aim is not to treat everyone as a suspect. It is to set up the shop so that honest staff are protected, mistakes are caught early and dishonesty is hard to hide. Good controls also make the shop easier to run: when every movement is recorded, a disagreement can be settled with the records instead of an argument.
What are the common ways shops lose stock and cash?
The same few methods come up again and again. Each one has a simple control.
| How it happens | What it looks like | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Sweethearting | A cashier undercharges a friend or relative, or lets items through without ringing them up | Ring up every item; spot checks of receipts against bags; review discounts by cashier |
| Voids and refunds | A sale is voided or refunded after the customer has paid and left, and the cash is kept | Record who voids and refunds; check that each refund has a returned item |
| Fake discounts | Discounts given without reason, or prices changed at the till | Manager approval for large discounts and price changes |
| Unrecorded sales | Cash taken for goods without ringing up the sale | A receipt for every sale; regular stock counts; cash counts at every shift close |
| Fake M-Pesa messages | A customer shows a forged or old confirmation message | Confirm each payment on your own statement, or use a payment prompt |
| Short deliveries | Fewer cartons delivered than invoiced, or the wrong sizes | Count and check every delivery before signing |
| Shoplifting | Small, valuable items taken from open shelves | Keep them behind the counter; clear sight lines; greet every customer |
| Write-off abuse | Good stock recorded as expired or damaged and taken home | Manager approval for every write-off; keep damaged goods until inspected |
How do you stop theft at the till?
Make each cashier responsible for their own sales and their own cash, and make every exception visible. When every sale, discount, void and refund carries a name, honest cashiers are protected and unusual patterns stand out.
- One login per person. Every cashier has their own login or PIN, even on a shared till, and never shares it. Change it as soon as someone else might know it.
- Limit discounts and price changes. Decide what a cashier may give on their own and require a manager for anything larger.
- Review voids and refunds every week, by cashier. One cashier with far more voids than the others needs a closer look.
- A receipt for every sale. Print or hand over a receipt every time, and tell customers they should always get one. A sale without a receipt is often a sale that was never recorded.
- Count the drawer at every shift close. A second person recounts and signs. Our guide to cash drawer reconciliation explains the procedure step by step.
- Close the drawer between sales and lock the till whenever the cashier steps away.
- Ring up staff purchases like any other sale, paid before the goods leave the shop.
How do you stop stock going missing from the store?
Control what comes in, what goes out and who can change the stock records. Away from the shop floor, stock leaves through the back door, at the receiving bay or through the records.
- Check deliveries before signing. Count the cartons, open a few, and check sizes, prices and expiry dates against the invoice. Write any shortage on the delivery note and have the driver sign it. Record what you actually received, not what the invoice says.
- Separate jobs where you can. The person who receives goods should not be the only person who records them. In a small shop, the owner checking the delivery note against the stock entry is enough.
- Approve every write-off. Keep damaged and expired goods in a marked area until a manager has seen them and approved the write-off.
- Count risky categories often. Cigarettes, spirits, phone accessories, cosmetics and cooking oil are easy to carry and easy to sell on. Count them every week or month; see how to do a stock take.
- Count transfers on arrival. Goods moved between branches are counted when they arrive, and any shortfall is recorded.
- Agree fair rules for staff bags and the back door, and apply them to everyone, including family members who work in the shop.
How do you deal with fake M-Pesa messages?
Accept an M-Pesa payment only when it appears on your own statement or arrives on the shop’s own phone. Never accept a message on the customer’s phone, a screenshot or a forwarded message as proof of payment.
Fake messages are often sent from an ordinary phone number, or they are old genuine messages shown again. Train cashiers to check the amount, the time and the transaction code against the shop’s own records before handing over the goods. A payment prompt sent to the customer’s phone removes most of the risk, because the payment is recorded only once the customer has entered their PIN and the money has gone through. Our guide to accepting M-Pesa payments covers the options.
How do you investigate a loss fairly?
Start from the records, not from suspicion. A loss that looks like theft is often a counting mistake, a missing delivery note or a sale rung up under the wrong item.
- Confirm the loss. Recount the stock or the cash with a different person.
- Check the paperwork. Deliveries, transfers, returns and write-offs for the period.
- Look for a pattern. Which items, which days, which shifts and which people were involved each time?
- Talk privately. Ask for an explanation before drawing conclusions, and never accuse anyone in front of customers or other staff.
- Act consistently. Apply the same rules to every employee and every family member.
If you believe a crime has been committed, report it to the police and get advice before taking action against an employee.
How Wave POS helps you control theft
Wave POS keeps a record of the things that usually go missing quietly: who made each sale, every void, return and adjustment, and every shift’s count.
- A PIN for every cashier. Cashiers sharing a drawer switch in with their own PIN, and every sale records who made it. The lock screen keeps the till closed between customers.
- Manager PIN for large discounts and price changes. Large discounts and price changes at the till need a manager’s PIN, so a cashier cannot give them alone.
- Voids and returns are recorded. A void cancels the whole sale and puts its stock back; a return is made by scanning the receipt’s QR code, and returned goods go back into stock. Receipt numbers have no gaps, even offline, so a missing receipt stands out.
- Reversals, not deletions. A mistaken payment is corrected with a reversal, never deleted, so the history stays complete.
- Adjustments need approval. Damage and corrections wait for a manager’s approval before they change stock.
- Stock takes. Count a category or a whole branch; differences post only when a manager completes the stock take.
- Shift variances. Every shift closes with a counted drawer and a variance, over or short, and a shift report.
- Transfers. Any shortfall between branches is recorded as lost in transit.
- M-Pesa prompts. With the shop’s own ZetuPay account connected and an internet connection, the till sends a payment prompt to the customer’s phone and records the payment by itself.
- Audit log and permissions. An audit log records who did what and when, and roles (Owner, Manager, Cashier, Stock Clerk or your own) limit what each person can do.
See staff and shifts for how PINs, drawers and permissions work together.