Accounting for sales

[Growliebusters]

I have a question for everyone.

Up till now I have been using what is collected in the cash box as what the sales were for that location. I just updated one with a bill Validator and 6 tube coin mech. Coin mech holds approx 400. 00 in change (0.05, 0.10, 0.25, 1.00 and 2.00 Canadian coins) I have now changed the float to 150.00 however, what I collect will not reflect what sold accurately

. This has made me look at how I account for sales. Should I have a par level for each product and each machine and just go with what is replaced?

This may not reflect in the cash box to be the same.

Or am I over thinking a simple process? What methods work best for all of you?

As always, I really appreciate the good advice from everyone here.

[AZVendor]

Are you concerned with employee theft or do you have the prospect of having employees in the future?  If the answer is no to both questions, then detailed concern about route accountability and missing money should only go so far as how much work you want to do to track accountabilty metrics.  What you're seeing now is the machine float, or the difference between product sold and money collected, determined by the fluctuation in your coin tubes.  Setting a par level in a coin mech will tell the coin mech to maintain that tube total value regardless of denomination - in other words if the dollar tube is low, it can make it up with quarters or dimes as long as the par value is met.

 

On standard 3 tube mechs, the best way to avoid tube float is to fill your coin tubes each time you service the machine, filling to a specific mark or level indicator.  This is the only way to do it if you want to compare cash to inventory sold. 

 

The accountability formula on a cash metered machine is:  This current cash meter - last cash meter - refunds = expected collection.  In the cash room for that machine:  Cash counted - cash added to machine (coin mech refills from a change fund) = actual collection.  Then compare the two totals to see what the over/short is.  Over/short can be a miscount (especially high value bills mixed with low) not refilling the coin tubes (over), refilling tubes left empty last time (short), but mostly just slight variances from service to service.  It was always a surprise when one of my machines balanced; it's very rare. 

 

You would be wise to carry a coin change fund to replenish your coin tubes with and you need to write how much you add to the machine on your ticket to be deducted later (because it is money not derived from sales).  Balance you change bag each week too by: beginning fund - adds to machines = ending balance.  The easiest way is if you use more that 1/2 a roll of coin then throw the rest in the coin box.  If you use less than 1/2 a roll put the coins that make 1/2 a roll in the coin box and save the other 1/2 roll in you change fund.

 

This gets really complicated as you can see, especially if you calculate out how your product sales balance to cash.  Oy!  If you are planning for employees you will want to know how all of this works because you will have to use it with them to ensure they aren't stealing - no matter how much you trust them. 

 

If you come across a large shortage and you are the only one doing everything, that is a sign that you may have a price or prices set wrong in the machine.

[moondog]

I have a question for everyone.

Up till now I have been using what is collected in the cash box as what the sales were for that location. I just updated one with a bill Validator and 6 tube coin mech. Coin mech holds approx 400. 00 in change (0.05, 0.10, 0.25, 1.00 and 2.00 Canadian coins) I have now changed the float to 150.00 however, what I collect will not reflect what sold accurately

. This has made me look at how I account for sales. Should I have a par level for each product and each machine and just go with what is replaced?

This may not reflect in the cash box to be the same.

Or am I over thinking a simple process? What methods work best for all of you?

As always, I really appreciate the good advice from everyone here.

I start out with a full coin mech when I place a machine.  Each time I go to collect, I refill the coin mech out of the "overflow bucket".  That way I don't record excess sales.

 

For example,  if my coin mech is "light" $2.50" then that's not sales and my validator is showing that much more sales than there really were.  By refilling the mech out of the receipts, it all evens out.

[Vending How Chris]

If you have the MEI (the yellows) coin mechs, you can check the par level by coin denomination. It's a menu option. This way you can refill it with change bags exactly. I recommend investing in some accounting software if you're starting to be buried in sheets of paper. We're working on some now, but I think there are some vending specific options out there for a relatively low price. You could also invest in telemetry, but that might be a bigger expense than you're willing to invest in at the moment. 

 

Having said that, it's really quite difficult in my experience to have the numbers on the machine match the cash in the box when you figure filling the change fund by eyeballing it, giving out customer refunds, testing the machine with money from collections, etc. 

 

I recommend deciding a percentage that serves as your margin between your actual cash in the machine and the numbers on the machine, otherwise you will do too much busywork counting pennies.

[Growliebusters]

This all sounds great. I'll try out your ideas and see what works best going forward.