Restaurant Accounting – Caution! Don’t let Voids and Over-Rings Go Unaccounted!

Depending on your POS system Void may be called; Cancel, Over-ring, Delete, Clear, etc.

For example, an employee takes an order and the customer changes their mind and if servers are voiding items that are delivered to the customer instead of recording them as a comp, you will reduce your gross food sales which makes it appear that the sale never happened, and this makes it ideal for theft to occur – let’s take a closer look at how that might happen. In many restaurants the server has the authority to remove/void an item from a check. In these situations, it’s possible for a server to charge a customer the full amount for their order, but subsequently void items from the ticket and pocket the cash. For example, a customer orders three items for a final bill of $25. The customer then leaves behind $30 cash on the table for the bill and tip.

The employee then voids out one of the items, bringing the total down to $18. Thus, the server pockets the extra $7 plus the original $5 tip, and the register still reflects the correct amount of cash-based sales.

Let’s see another example, An employee or manager takes an order and tenders it for cash, but the guest changes their mind and wishes to pay with a credit card. Now the order is over-rang (also called a void), so the employee re-rings it and tenders it to the credit card. This technique is typically used to let the customer choose a different payment method, but it can also be used for customers’ mistakes, customers changing their minds, or customers leaving without paying and without product.

Void and over-ring receipts must be reconciled when the cashier’s register is settled. Reconciliation means that every void or over-ring must include the original receipt, the void receipt, and the re-ring receipt (when that applies), with explanations and signatures by the cashier and manager. During the next business day, all void and over-ring activity must be verified while reviewing the previous day’s paperwork.

Fruxient Restaurant Accounting have been providing bookkeeping services since 2015. Our superior and integrated processes along with deep understanding of Restaurant accounting enables us to delight Restaurant owners by providing comprehensive accounting and strategic services.Reducing back-end costs frees resources to be devoted to the all-important customer-facing front end. Our services can position your company to take advantage of the upswing by letting you reallocate your best people to revenue-generating projects.