SITXFIN001 Process

financial transactions
 Process customer payments
 Reconcile takings
 TOPIC 1 – PROCESS CUSTOMER
PAYMENTS

 Welcome to the unit SITXFIN001 - Process financial transactions.

 This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to
accept and process cash and other payments for products and services, and
reconcile takings at the end of the service period or day.
 The unit applies to all tourism, travel, hospitality and event sectors.
RECEIVE, CHECK AND RECORD CASH
FLOAT

 To protect the safety of staff and the business cash handling procedures that
include security arrangements must be complied with.
 Only authorised staff should handle cash transactions in order to reduce the risk of
theft to the business.
CASH FLOAT

 A cash float is cash, in a range of banknote denominations and coins, that is put
into the register or cash box at the start of the day so that there is enough money to
give change to customers.
 Floats must be checked at:
 The start of a shift or day
 At the end of a shift or day
 If cashier’s changeover during a shift
SECURITY PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTING
AND SECURING CASH FLOATS, CASH AND
OTHER PAYMENTS

 Procedures for transporting and securing cash floats, cash and other payments
include:
 Obtaining receipts or sign-off for takings handed over to financial personnel in
the cash office
 Make sure that two staff members verify how much was given to the staff in
the cash office
 Separating and securing cash floats
 When you balance the till, separate the cash float from the daily takings
SECURING TAKINGS IN THE EVENT OF A
HOLD UP

 Survival is the first rule during an armed hold-up.

 Protect yourself, not money or goods.
 Follow the following steps listed below during an armed hold-up.
 STAND STILL
 OBEY THE ROBBER’S INSTRUCTIONS
 REMAIN CALM AND QUIET
 OBSERVE, IF YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY
 STAY OUT OF THE DANGER AREA
 STAY WHERE YOU ARE, DO NOT CHASE
 CALL THE POLICE
 SEAL OFF THE HOLD-UP AREA
 ASK WITNESSES TO REMAIN
CHECK CUSTOMER PAYMENTS AGAINST
SALE VALUE AND PROVIDE CORRECT
CHANGE FOR CASH PAYMENTS

 You input sales values via barcodes using a scanner or manually ‘ring up’ the sale
value.
 After all of the customer items have been scanned or ‘rung up’ you press the total
button on the register.
 This is the amount of money that you ask the customer to pay.
 Either process the customer’s card whereby the register will automatically check
the customer’s payments against the sale value, or take the money from the
customer.
SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE FACILITY AND
RELATED TRANSACTION TYPES

 Most organisations that provide goods and services offer a range of payment
transactions including:
 Credit card or debit card payments
 Business accounts or Tabs
 Over the phone
 A record of each transaction is recoded when a customer pays by credit or debit
cards.
 Make sure, regardless of how you process credit and debit card payments to keep
the details of both your customers and their payment secure.
PROCESS FOR TAKING CASH FROM
CUSTOMERS AND SECURING CREDIT CARD
IMPRINTS

 You must enter the exact amount the customer gives you so that the change
required is recorded and displayed on your register.
 Make sure that you secure any credit card imprints that you take manually by
placing them in the correct compartment drawer in the cash register.
HANDLING CUSTOMER CLAIMS OF SHORT
CHANGE

 Occasionally, a customer will claim that you have short changed them.
 That you have given them change for a smaller note than they gave to you.
 If possible it’s a good idea to “Z” the register and run a quick cash count to verify
the contents of the cash drawer.
 Otherwise, take down the customer’s name and phone number and tell them you
will call them as soon as the drawer has been balanced.
 PROCESS AND RECORD TRANSACTIONS
ACCORDING TO ORGANISATIONAL
PROCEDURES
 TYPES OF FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS
 There are a number of financial transactions that you will use to address different types of
customer payments including:
 Advance payments
 Application of goods and services tax (GST)
 Cash
 Cheques
 Credit cards
 Deposits
 Foreign currency
 Petty cash disbursements
 Refunds
 Traveller’s cheques
 Vouchers
 ORGANISATIONAL PROCEDURES FOR
PROCESSING AND RECORDING FINANCIAL
TRANSACTIONS

 Make sure that you familiarise yourself with the organisation’s procedures for processing and
recording financial transactions
 These procedures may come from the bank or even from the organisations accounts and will relate
to the following:
 Completing reconciliation records
 Complying with financial institution documents and procedures
 Designated times for completing reconciliations
 Handling customer claims of short change
 How and where large sums of cash should be counted
 Maintaining low levels of cash in tills
MANAGING PETTY CASH

 It is common practice for a business for small, incidental purchases to use a Petty
Cash fund.
 It is common practice to track this petty cash amount separately by using a petty
cash account and allocating any miscellaneous expenses to that account.
 It is important to keep the petty cash fund secure by:
 Not allowing other unauthorised persons access to the petty cash box
 Locking the petty cash box when it is not being used
 Putting the petty cash box, during working hours, in a locked desk drawer
 Putting the petty cash box overnight in a safe or ensuring that it is kept in a
locked cupboard or drawer
PREPARE AND ISSUE ACCURATE RECEIPTS
INCLUDING ALL RELEVANT TAX DETAILS

 Businesses must always issue a receipt or proof of purchase for anything over $75.
 A receipt or proof of purchase must include the:
 Supplier’s name and ABN or ACN
 Date of supply
 Product or service
 Price
PROCESS FOR PROVIDING RECEIPTS AND
INVOICES TO CUSTOMERS

 Tax invoices for taxable sales of less than $1,000 must include enough information to
clearly determine the following seven details:
 That the document is intended to be a tax invoice
 The seller's identity
 The seller's Australian business number (ABN)
 The date the invoice was issued
 A brief description of the items sold, including the quantity (if applicable) and
the price
 The GST amount (if any) payable
 The extent to which each sale on the invoice is a taxable sale
 In addition, tax invoices for sales of $1,000 or more need to show:
 The buyer's identity or ABN (Australian Taxation Office, Requirements of tax
invoices, Accessed July 2016, Available at:
https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/GST/Issuing-tax-invoices/)
COMPLETE TRANSACTIONS USING APPROPRIATE
SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS IN LINE WITH ORGANISATIONAL
SPEED AND CUSTOMER SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

 Point-of-sale equipment might include:

 Cash register or cash drawer that is used to process and record sales
transactions
 Barcode scanners might be used to ‘ring up’ sales transactions quickly and
accurately.
 EFTPOS terminals are used to process card payments including debit and credit
cards
 Your organization might have a basic cash register or a more sophisticated point-
of-sale system which offers inventory tracking and detailed reporting.
FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS OF POINT-OF-
SALE EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE

 Some common features and functions of point-of-sale (POS) equipment and

software includes:
 Producing ‘X Reports’
 Producing ‘Z Reports’
 Debit/credit card reader
 Scales and scanners to ‘ring up’ sales via an item’s barcode
 Inventory management
 Managing discounts/specials/promotions
 Sales reports
 TOPIC 2 – RECONCILE TAKINGS

 BALANCE CUSTOMER PAYMENTS AT DESIGNATED TIME ACCORDING TO ORGANISATIONAL POLICY

AND DETERMINE POINT-OF-SALE RECORDS OF CUSTOMER PAYMENTS
 Maintaining low levels of cash in tills
 In order to keep any cash secure, it is important to maintain low levels of cash in tills.
 During busy shifts, the amount of money in the cash drawer can increase very quickly.
 Procedures to maintain low levels of cash and balance customer payments in tills include:
 Clear excess cash from the register often and randomly as cash registers with constantly
opening and closing drawers full of cash can be tempting to observant thieves
 Deposit larger notes immediately into drop safes or time-release safes (out of the view of
customers)
 Setting a point at which to remove cash from the drawer.
COUNTING LARGE SUMS OF CASH

 Handling cash is a very important task undertaken.

 ETFPOS and PayPass has had an effect on making the point-of-sale area less
vulnerable to theft, because the amount of cash handled at a point of sale has
been reduced.
 This is due to funds being easily transferable electronically, directly from the
customer’s bank account to the businesses bank account.
 However, theft still occurs, as well as honest mistakes, when handling cash.
DETERMINE POINT-OF-SALE RECORDS OF
CUSTOMER PAYMENTS

 Point-of-sales records that are commonly kept in relation to customer payments

include:
 What items a customer bought – so that management can tell how well stock is
selling and adjust purchasing levels accordingly
 When customers bought certain items – a sales history that helps management
make buying decisions
 The point-of-sale records that are kept of customer payments is usually determined
by management.
 SEPARATE CASH FLOATS FROM TAKINGS PRIOR TO
BALANCING, ACCURATELY COUNT AND CALCULATE
CUSTOMER PAYMENTS AND BALANCE CASH AND OTHER
PAYMENTS WITH POINT-OF-SALE RECORDS

 Separate cash floats from takings prior to balancing

 At the end of your shift, or when you are clearing the register, you must count your cash float.
 Each cashier counts their register and records the total on the cash sheet.
 The float is placed either to the side or the back of the cash drawer, and the rest of the money is then
counted. This excess money is known as the takings.
ACCURATELY COUNT AND CALCULATE
CUSTOMER PAYMENTS

 When counting the takings from the register, count the coins first and place them in
bags marked with that denomination; for example, all 20-cent pieces go into the
bag marked 20c.
 Start with the lowest denomination (five cents).
 Record the total on the cash summary sheet.
 Once all coins have been counted, count the notes.
 Roll them into bundles according to their denomination as you count them, and
place the rolls into bags or put a rubber band around them.
COUNTING THE NON-CASH DOCUMENTS

 Cheques, credit card slips, gift vouchers, refund notes, credit notes and EFTPOS
transactions are referred to as non-cash.
 It is vital to double-check to make sure you have not made any errors with these.
 For example, check that signatures are present on cheques and check expiry dates
on credit cards.
 Misplacing or losing non-cash slips equates to money being lost; therefore, close
attention needs to be given when counting or placing these slips into your cash
drawer.
ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE
RECONCILIATION PROCESS TO ORGANISATIONAL
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

 COMPLETING RECONCILIATION RECORDS AT DESIGNATED TIMES

 The process of verifying the amount of cash in a cash register is called a cash
reconciliation.
 It is common for the reconciliation to be performed at the close of business or
whenever a different operator takes over a cash register.
 This is why the process is often referred to as 'end of shift' balancing.
 It should be read in conjunction with the Cash Register Reconciliation Report (Pg. 30.) or the
Reconciliation of Daily Sales Report reproduced from the ATO’s website which appears after
this sample procedure:
 Get a cash register reconciliation form (you use this to document the cash reconciliation
process)
 List the float (the cash that was in the cash drawer at the beginning of the shift)
 Close out the cash register (‘Z’ the register)
 List on the daily reconciliation form:
 The cash that is in the cash drawer (broken down by individual type of note and coin)
 The credit card sales
 Compare cash total (total payments) with the sales report
 Reconcile any differences
 Sign and date the form, then get your supervisor to counter-sign
INVESTIGATE OR REPORT DISCREPANCIES IN
THE RECONCILIATION

 Cashier balancing usually occurs at the end of the shift.

 Shortages and overages are known as discrepancies.
 Shortages might happen because:
 An operator is poorly trained or not paying close enough attention and giving
the wrong change (too much) back to customers
 An operator is stealing
 Overages might happen because:
 An operator is poorly trained or not paying close enough attention and is giving
the wrong change back (not enough) to customers
 As a result of investigating discrepancies you may need to make adjustments
(report on discrepancies).
 Adjustments that increase the balance of the cash drawer include:
 Cash Float paid into the till
 Receiving money from customers who have an account (i.e., the sale has been
previously recorded)
 Adjustments that decrease the balance of the cash drawer include:
 The amount of cash that was paid (taken out of the till) to suppliers for goods
purchased by the organisation
 Accounting for the ‘cash out’ that a customer receives when they pay by
credit/debit card and takes out money in cash
 Staff discounts
 Cash drops where excess funds are taken out of the till and placed in a safe to
reduce the risk of theft
 REPORTING DISCREPANCIES

 If, after a detailed investigation, you are unable to resolve the discrepancy you will need to
follow your organisations procedure for reporting the overage or shortage.
 Discrepancies should be reported to relevant personnel, including:
 Manager
 Supervisor
 Team Leader
 Owner
 Head Office
RECORD TAKINGS ACCORDING TO
ORGANISATIONAL PROCEDURES

 Why are records important?

 Records can have the following benefits:
 Help to maintain a procedure
 Enable you to meet legal obligations
 Enable review
 Enable consistency and continuity
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

 Everyone is responsible for maintaining records in a business.

 Your organisation will have policies and procedures in place that outline what
records are to be kept and will have templates for you to use when recording the
information.
WHAT ARE TAKINGS?

 Takings are the ways in which sales are completed, finalised or paid for. Obvious
examples of takings include:
 Cash
 Cheques
 Credit card payments
WHAT WILL YOU NEED TO RECORD?

 In the previous sections we discuss various records that you will need to fill out when
processing transactions.
 Documents will vary between organisations but may include any of the following:
 Reconciliation reports
 Cash float record sheet
 Point-of-sale records
 Discrepancy reports
 Etc.
TRANSPORT AND SECURE CASH FLOATS, CASH
AND OTHER PAYMENTS ACCORDING TO
ORGANISATIONAL SECURITY PROCEDURES

 Securing your takings after stripping the register is a basic security procedure in all
organisations.
 Ensuring cash and non-cash items are stored securely and safely will ensure nothing
is lost, misplaced or stolen.
CASH HANDLING SECURITY PROCEDURES

 Every organisation will have their own security procedures for transporting and
securing cash floats, cash and other payments, these may include:
 Never leaving your cash drawer or the register open for any reason
 Notifying the management when you need a cash pick up
 Never counting cash in view of the public.
 Security measures and procedures never being discussed with anyone outside
of the organisation
 Never opening the drawer and give change
 No unauthorised person is permitted behind the counter for any reason
 Always clearing cash from the drawer regularly
SUMMARY

 Now that you have completed this unit, you should have the skills and knowledge
to accept and process cash and other payments for products and services, and
reconcile takings at the end of the service period or day.