Sample
Sample
SMS BALANCING
Index
Introduction 2
Accounting Reports 13
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SMS BALANCING
Introduction
LOC SMS software provides a series of tools and reports to assist the store cashiers and
bookkeeper track and balance the flow of money through the store and maintain accountability
for all employees involved in the money handling process. This document will serve as a quick
guide to the safe and drawer balancing process in LOC SMS software. Your store procedures may
vary depending on what features and processes you wish to implement. We highly recommend
that you implement the full suite of balancing and reporting functions available in the software.
Balancing Concepts
Media (or Tender) is the various instruments of payment accepted in the store, for example:
cash, checks, credit card, account charge, etc. Media may also include saleable media like lottery
tickets and post stamps depending on your store’s specific setup and procedures.
Accountability Method defines the level of accountability for cashiers. Generally, there are two
methods used to manage accountability:
Drawer Accountability is the method by which media is tracked and accounted for by
each cash register, in this scenario, you may have several cashiers working out of one till
throughout the day.
Cashier Accountability is the method by which media is tracked and accounted for by
each individual cashier. In this scenario, only one cashier accesses and is responsible for
the money in their cash drawer.
Drawer is the location in SMS where all media are loaned into the terminal from the safe. The
drawer in SMS is tied to a till which is the physical storage of media loaned for cashier operations.
Safe is the location in SMS where all media are received into the store from outside the store.
The safe in SMS is tied to the physical storage location of all the media in the store, such as a
safety box or strongbox. The physical safe is sometimes referred as bank and/or store.
Drawer Balancing is the process of counting and balancing media in the cash drawer.
Safe Balancing is the process of counting and balancing media in the store safe.
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Balancing Transactions are operations done in SMS to transfer responsibility of media to and
from outside institutions (bank, lottery authority, postal service), the safe, and the drawers. In
SMS, transactions are either performed on the safe or on the drawers:
Safe Transactions:
Receive is the function used to track the media/tender types that come into the safe. This
is typically used for cash brought from the bank, but also may include saleable media like
post stamps and lottery tickets brought in from the post office and lotto authority
respectively.
Deposit is the function that tracks the media/tender types removed from the safe to
typically deposit with a financial institution. However, it does not necessarily mean a
bank, such is the case of lottery tickets that may be picked up by the local lottery
authority.
Safe Declare is the function normally used at the end of the business day (or week) to
declare the balance in the safe. This process determines the over/short amount of the
safe.
Drawer Transactions:
Loan is the process that moves accountability from the safe to the drawer for one or more
media types.
Pickup is the process that moves accountability from the drawer to the safe for one or
more media types. Often called a drop.
Drawer Declare is the function normally used at the end of the business day to declare
the drawers. Before declaring a drawer, final pickups of all media types have to be done.
This process determines the final over/short of the operator.
Over/Short is the difference between the amount that the operator declares (either safe or
drawer) and the amount the system has determined should be present (expected) based on sales
and other accounting transactions.
Global Date is the date that accounting transactions are occurring against. This may or may not
coincide with the actual system date depending on your specific store procedures.
EFT (electronic fund transfer) is any form of payment media made electronically, made with a
card or EMV enabled device. These include credit, debit, EBT, and WIC.
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Receive Loan
increases safe increases drawer accountability
accountability and reduces safe
DRAWER 1
drawer transactions
safe transactions
DRAWER 3
Deposit Pickup
decreases safe decreases drawer accountability
accountability and increases safe
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1. Receive (safe transaction): As money comes into the store from the bank (or other
institution (not sales), the bookkeeper must receive it into the safe. This procedure may
happen at any time during the accounting cycle and it’s typically used to bring change into
the store for operations.
2. Loan (drawer transaction): The bookkeeper must perform the initial loan to cashiers; this
is the count of change left in the drawer at the end of the day. It may also include post
stamp loans to use for the day. This step must be done at the start of the day before the
register is opened. It is recommended that the cashier counts and confirms that loan.
Loan again throughout the day as required to support sales operations. After the initial
loan, this function can be repeated various times during the shift. An example of when a
drawer may need additional loans is when cashiers run out of coin change a cashier may
ask for a loan from the safe.
3. Sales (drawer transaction): The cashier sales goods from the store, the various forms of
payment increase the accountable media totals for each drawer, including EFTs.
Loan
Sale
SAFE DRAWER
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4. Pickups (drawer transaction): As the cash in the drawer increases because of sales, it can
present a security concern. It is common to perform a cash pickup during the shift to
reduce the amount of cash in the drawer. This process reduces the cashiers’ accountable
amount and increases the safe accountable amount.
It is common for cashiers to purchase change from the safe as well, for example: cashier
gives a $20 bill in exchange for 20 ones. In this case, it is not necessary to perform a loan.
5. Store close: At the end of the cashiers’ shift, the bookkeeper will remove the larger bills
and leave small change in the drawer. The rest of the media and receipts are put in a
money bag and placed in the safe.
The following day the bookkeeper will confirm the media set aside, prepare new tills and
balance the drawers for this business day.
6. Global date change (SMS date): Now on a different day, the bookkeeper must change
the date so that all the following transactions are recorded for the balancing day’s
accounting cycle.
7. Final Pickup (drawer transactions): The change left in the drawer and the media in the
money bag from the previous day must be counted and picked up by the bookkeeper.
This moves all accountability from the drawer into the safe. Note that EFTs are setup to
automatically and instantly pick up by SMS so these don’t need to be done manually.
If there are any mistakes, the bookkeeper must correct them. A mistake in a loan amount
is corrected by doing a negative loan, and a mistake in a pickup must be corrected by
doing a negative pickup.
At the completion of this step, all accountability for all media should be in the safe.
8. Drawer declare (drawer transaction): The bookkeeper must perform a drawer declare of
zero for all media including post stamps. By this process the drawer is declared empty
and SMS calculates the over/short for the drawers.
Cashier Balancing is now complete – the next steps will balance the safe
Declare
Pickup
SAFE DRAWER OVER/SHORT
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Cashier Balancing is now complete – the next steps will balance the safe
9. Based on the previous day’s receipts and the necessary amount of cash the store needs
to have on hand, the bookkeeper will prepare and record a deposit in the system. This
moves the accountability from the safe out of the store.
10. The final step in balancing the safe is to count the remaining balance in the safe and
perform the safe declare. This process will determine the safe over/short amount.
Declare
Deposit
BANK SAFE OVER/SHORT
11. Logout of the software to change the global date back to the current date. Logging out
automatically changes the global date to the current date.
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Transaction procedures for these two saleable media types is specific to your store.
U
U
U
U
Post Stamps Balancing
U
U
U
U
USPS
1. Receive Post Stamps (safe transaction): The bookkeeper has to receive this media into
the safe. Receiving media into the safe, increases accountability on this media type.
2. Loan Post Stamps (drawer transaction): The bookkeeper must loan the total value of the
post stamp books for a given drawer. The tender has its own line in the list of tenders
available in the balancing module. Loans of this media to the drawers decreases the
accountability of the safe and increases it in the drawer.
3. Sell Post Stamps (drawer transaction): The cashier must use the ‘Post Stamp’ selling
function on the selling screen for the number. As customers buy this saleable media, the
accountability of the drawer on the media type ‘Post Stamps’ will decrease, and the
accountability on the media type ‘Cash’ will increase. This is because the sale of a post
stamp is an exchange of this media for money. Cash is being received in exchange for
dispensed post stamps.
U
U
U
U
Loan Sale
U
U
U
U
USPS
Revenue
SAFE DRAWER
4. Pickups (drawer transaction): The bookkeeper will remove sales of the post stamps as a
cash pickup. SMS will have increased accountability of cash and reduced accountability
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on post stamps. The bookkeeper will also pickup from the drawer any loaned posts
stamps not sold during the shift.
5. Drawer Declare (drawer transaction): After the final pickup of media, the bookkeeper
must declare the media on the drawer as zero assuming that the till is empty. This
completes balancing on the drawer.
Pickup Declare
U
U
U
U
Pickup OVER/SHORT
U
U
U
U
USPS
SAFE DRAWER
With the drawer balanced, follow the next steps to complete safe balancing. Post stamps
is not media that is deposited in the bank. The balance of unsold post stamps must remain
in the safe and declared.
6. Safe Declare (safe transaction): With accountability of the remaining – not sold post
stamps back in the safe, the bookkeeper must count and verify that the sold stamps with
a report (Safe Balancing, Store Multi totals). The final count of this saleable media must
be then declared for SMS to calculate the safe over/short.
Post stamp media transactions should be performed as part of the daily balancing cycle
and along with the balancing of other media and not separately.
Receipt Declare
U
U
U
U
U
USPS
OFFICE SAFE
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LOTTO
Lotto Scratchers Balancing
1. Receive Lotto Scratchers (safe transaction): The bookkeeper has to receive into the safe
all lotto scratcher media that has been activated. Receiving lotto scratchers increases
accountability on this media type in the safe.
2. From the safe, the bookkeeper will load the active tickets into the lotto scratcher machine
on a daily, bi-weekly or weekly basis. Moving the scratcher tickets from the safe to the
lotto dispensing machine does not reduce accountability from the safe.
3. Loan Lotto Scratchers (drawer transaction): On a daily, bi-weekly, or weekly basis, the
bookkeeper will collect the sales report total from the lotto scratcher machine and loan
the same amount into a drawer. This is done because the bookkeeper will have to create
a sales transaction for Lotto scratchers in the next step. Lotto scratcher loans increase
the accountability of a drawer and decreases it in the safe.
4. Sell Lotto Scratchers (drawer transaction): On the same terminal that received the loan
for lotto scratchers, open and cash out a sale for the same amount of the scratcher
machine sales report and loan made in the previous step. The sales of this media will
increase accountability of ‘Cash’ in the drawer and decrease it on the in-drawer line for
‘Lotto Scratchers’. When the transaction is complete, the in-drawer amount for this
media should be zero.
LOTTO
Loan Sale
Revenue
SAFE DRAWER
5. Pickups (drawer transaction): Pickups for this media should not happen. If an error was
made the bookkeeper must corrected by performing a negative pickup transaction.
Pickup revenue ‘Cash’ should be as with any other cash pickup.
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6. Drawer Declare (drawer transaction): After the final pickup of media, the bookkeeper
should declare the media on the drawer as zero – since the loaned amount for scratchers
matches the sales, the in-drawer should be zero. This transaction completes balancing
on the drawer. SMS will calculate the over/short based on the above transactions.
Declare
Pickup
SAFE DRAWER OVER/SHORT
Lotto scratchers is not media that is deposited in the bank, but occasionally, your state’s
lotto commission may come in a remove a number of active tickets. The agent must
provide a statement of the media removed from the lotto scratcher.
7. Deposit Lotto Scratcher (safe transaction): The only scenario in which the safe will need
to have a deposit transaction for Lottery Scratchers is when your state’s lottery
commission removes active tickets from the lotto scratcher machine. At this point, a
deposit transaction must be done in the amount equal to that of the removed lotto
scratcher totals. A statement should be provided by the commission agent and that shall
be proof of your deposit.
8. Safe Declare (safe transaction): With accountability of the remaining – not sold post lotto
scratchers back in the safe, the bookkeeper must count and verify the sold tickets with a
report (Safe Balancing, Store Multi totals). The final count of this saleable media must be
then declared for SMS to calculate the safe over/short.
Lotto scratcher media transactions should be performed as part of the store’s daily, bi-
weekly, or weekly balancing cycle for lottery scratcher tickets and along with the
balancing of other media for the day the above transactions are done.
Receipt Declare
LOTTERY
LOTTO
Deposit OVER/SHORT
COMMISS. SAFE
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Accounting Reports
Following are the common reports used throughout the balancing process
Store Multi Totals: Display all store totals for any period.
Store Balance Sheet: Department totals are printed followed by all the media in a
balance sheet style for the whole store. Debit and Credit columns are included for each
line with a grand total.
Totals Store Summary: Displays safe balancing amount by media and a summary of all
sales.
Safe Totals by Media: Displays safe balancing amount by media.
Safe Transactions Details: Displays a detailed history of the safe transactions for the
selected date.
Deposit Form: A form used to assist in the process of creating the deposit.
Operator Multi Totals: Display all operator totals for any period.
Operator Balance Sheet: Department totals are printed followed by all the media in a
balance sheet style for each operator. Debit and credit columns are included for each
line with a grand total.
Total Operator Summary: Displays drawer balancing amount by media and a summary
of all sales for each operator.
Accounting by Operator: Displays the accounting amount for each operator.
Accounting by Media: Displays the accounting amount by media for each operator.
Operator Pickup and Loan: Displays a detailed history of the cashiers’ pickups and loans
for the selected date.
Operator Transaction details: Displays a detailed transaction history for each cashier.
This report can help you find entry errors and mistakes in the event of a discrepancy.
Operator short and over: Displays over/short totals for each operator.
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NOTE: Before proceeding, make sure that the global date is equal to that of the business day you are
going to work on. If you balance the morning after the work date, change the back-date before you
initiate any transaction, and then change it back or log off completely from SMS before you proceed
with operations on the current date.
5. ON YOUR "MANAGING MENU" (LEFT SIDE PA NEL): UNDER "BALANCING", CLICK ON THE"EXTENDED MODULE"
BUTTON.
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A Loan is a drawer transaction where media accountability is increased in the drawer and
reduced in the safe. Open the balancing module and follow these steps to complete a loan.
Begin by login into SMS and opening the extended Balancing module from the Manager tab.
1. SELECT THE DESIRED DRAWER FROM THE "LIST OF ALL OPERATORS" (YOU WILL FIND YOUR DRAWER NUMBERS HERE). MAKE
SURE TO SELECT "DRAWERS" TO BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR OPERA TORS.
2. SELECT THE TRANSACTION TO PERFORM ON THE DESIRED OPERATOR (DRAWER) NUMBER. IN THIS EXAMPLE, THE
TRANSACTION IS A LOAN.
3. TO PERFORM A LOAN, CLICK " LOAN" (EXAMPLE ABOVE), AND TYPE THE AMOUNT OF THE LOANED MEDIA ON THE
CORRESPONDING "NEW LOAN AMOUNT" COLUMN FIELDS.
4. PRESS ENTER ON YOUR KEYBOARD WITH EVERY LOANED AMOUNT ENTERED, AND VERIFY THAT
THE LOANED AMOUNT IS REFLECTED UNDER THE "TOTAL LOAN AMOUNT" COLUMN, AND
THE SAME AMOUNT IS ADDED TO THE "NEW DECLARE AMOUNT" COLUMN. TO VIEW ALL
TENDERS, CHECK THE " SHOW ALL TENDERS" BOX.
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5. ONCE ALL THE LOANS HAVE BEEN ENTERED, CLICK THE "COMPLETE" BUTTON TO COMPLETE THE TRANSACTION. (THIS
IS LOCATED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN):
6. DOUBE-CLICK THE SAME OPERATOR (DRAWER) YOU JUST COMPLETED THE LOAN FOR, TO VIEW THE CURRENT BALANCE
ON THAT OERA TOR.
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A pickup is a drawer transaction where media accountability is reduced in the drawer and
increased in the safe.
Begin by login into SMS and opening the extended Balancing module from the Manager tab:
1. SELECT THE DESIRED DRAWER FROM THE "LIST OF ALL OPERATORS" (YOU WILL FIND YOUR DRAWER NUMBERS HERE).
MAKE SURE TO SELECT "DRAWERS" TO BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR OPERA TORS.
2. SELECT THE TRANSACTION TO PERFORM ON THE DESIRED OPERATOR (DRAWER) NUMBER. IN THIS EXAMPLE, THE
TRANSACTION IS A PICKUP.
3. TO PERFORM A PICKUP, CLICK "PICKUP" (EXAMPLE ABOVE), AND TYPE THE AMOUNT OF THE PICKED UP MEDIA ON THE
CORRESPONDING "NEW PICKUP AMOUNT" COLUMN FIELD.
4. PRESS ENTER ON YOUR KEYBOARD WITH EVERY PICKED UP AMOUNT ENTERED, AND VERIFY THAT
THE PICKED UP AMOUNT IS REFLECTED UNDER THE "TOTAL PICKUP AMOUNT" COLUMN,
AND THE SAME AMOUNT IS REDUCED FROM THE "IN DRAWER AMOUNT" COLUMN. TO VIEW
ALL TENDERS, CHECK THE " SHOW ALL TENDERS" BOX.
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5. ONCE ALL THE PICKUPS HAVE BEEN ENTERED, CLICK THE "COMPLETE" BUTTON TO COMPLETE THE TRANSACTION. (THIS
IS LOCATED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN):
6. DOUBE-CLICK THE SAME OPERATOR (DRAWER) YOU JUST COMPLETED THE PICKUP FOR, TO VIEW THE CURRENT BALANCE
ON THAT OERATOR.
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A drawer declare is a transaction where the bookkeeper states the media contents of a drawer
at the end of all loans and pickups in a shift. SMS uses the declare amounts to calculate against
the revenue and pickup amounts the short/over for the drawer.
Begin by login into SMS and opening the extended Balancing module from the Manager tab.
1. CLICK/SELECT THE "MANAGE" M [Link] THE DESIRED DRAWER FROM THE " LIST OF ALL OPERATORS" (YOU WILL
FIND YOURDRAWER NUMBERS HERE). MAKE SURE TO SELECT "DRAWERS" TO BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR OPERA TORS.
3. TO PERFORM A DECLARE, CLICK "DECLARE" (EXAMPLE ABOVE), AND CONFIRM YOU INTENTION TO PERFORM A
DECLARE AT THE PROMPT: 1= YES AND 2 = NO.
4. ENTER THE AMOUNTS TO DECLARE FOR ALL PICKED UP TENDERS, WHICH AFTER PICKING EVERYTHING UP SHOULD BE
ZERO.
6. ONCE ALL THE DECLARES HAVE BEEN ENTERED, CLICK THE "COMPLETE" BUTTON TO FINISH THE TRANSACTION (THIS IS
LOCATED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN):
7. DOUBE-CLICK THE SAME OPERATOR (DRAWER) YOU JUST COMPLETED THE DECLARE FOR, TO VIEW THE CURRENT
BALANCE ON THAT OERA TOR.
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A receive is the transaction that records media coming into the safe. Receive increases
accountability of a given media in the safe.
Begin by login into SMS and opening the extended Balancing module from the Manager tab:
1. CLICK SAFE
3. ENTER THE AMOUNTS TO RECEIVE FOR EACH TYPE OF MEDIA ON THE “NEW RECEIVE” COLUMN FIELDS. TO VIEW ALL
TENDERS AVAILABLE OR IF YOU DON’T SEE THE TENDER YOU WANT TO RECEIVE, CHECK THE “SHOW ALL TENDER” BOX.
4. PRESS ENTER ON YOUR KEYBOARD WITH EVERY RECEIVED AMOUNT ENTERED, AND VERIFY
THAT THE RECEIVE AMOUNT IS REFLECTED UNDER THE "TOTAL RECEIVED AMOUNT"
COLUMN, AND THE SAME AMOUNT IS ADDED TO THE "NEW SAFE AMOUNT" COLUMN.
5. ONCE ALL THE RECEIVES HAVE BEEN ENTERED, CLICK THE "COMPLETE" BUTTON TO FINISH THE TRANSACTION. (THIS IS
LOCATED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN):
6. CLICK ON “VIEW” TO VERIFY THE RECEIVE IS ADDED TO THE “DECLARE AMOUNT” IN THE SAFE.
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A deposit is the transaction that records media going out of the safe. Deposit decreases
accountability of a given media in the safe.
Begin by login into SMS and opening the extended Balancing module from the Manager tab:
1. CLICK SAFE
3. ENTER THE AMOUNTS TO DEPOSIT FOR EACH TYPE OF MEDIA ON THE “NEW DEPOSIT” COLUMN FIELDS. TO VIEW ALL
TENDERS AVAILABLE OR IF YOU DON’T SEE THE TENDER YOU WANT TO DEPOSIT, CHECK THE “SHOW ALL TENDER” BOX.
4. PRESS ENTER ON YOUR KEYBOARD WITH EVERY DEPOSIT AMOUNT ENTERED, AND VERIFY
THAT THE DEPOSIT AMOUNT IS REFLECTED UNDER THE "TOTAL DEPOSIT AMOUNT"
COLUMN, AND THE SAME AMOUNT IS ADDED TO THE "NEW SAFE AMOUNT" COLUMN.
5. ONCE ALL THE DEPOSITS HAVE BEEN ENTERED, CLICK THE "COMPLETE" BUTTON TO FINISH THE TRANSACTION. (THIS IS
LOCATED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN):
6. CLICK “VIEW” TO VERIFY THE DEPOSIT REDUCED THE “DECLARE AMOUNT” IN THE SAFE.
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A safe declare is a transaction where the bookkeeper states the media contents of the safe at
the end of all loans and pickups in a shift. SMS uses the declare amounts to calculate against
the revenue and pickup amounts the short/over for the safe.
Begin by login into SMS and opening the extended Balancing module from the Manager tab:
1. CLICK SAFE
3. ENTER THE AMOUNTS TO DECLARE FOR EACH TYPE OF MEDIA ON THE “NEW ENTRY”
COLUMN FIELDS. TO VIEW ALL TENDERS AVAILABLE OR IF YOU DON’T SEE THE TENDER YOU
WANT TO DEPOSIT, CHECK THE “SHOW ALL TENDER” BOX.
4. PRESS ENTER ON YOUR KEYBOARD WITH EVERY DECLARE AMOUNT ENTERED, AND VERIFY
THAT THE DECLARE AMOUNT IS REFLECTED UNDER THE "TOTAL ENTRY" COLUMN, AND
THE SAME AMOUNT IS ADDED TO THE "NEW SAFE AMOUNT" COLUMN.
5. ONCE ALL THE DECLARES HAVE BEEN ENTERED, CLICK THE "COMPLETE" BUTTON TO FINISH THE TRANSACTION. (THIS IS
LOCATED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN):
6. CLICK “VIEW” TO VERIFY THE DEPOSIT REDUCED THE “DECLARE AMOUNT” IN THE SAFE.
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