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Smart Bill Paying Tips for Online Families
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Back in the analog days before personal computers, the internet and smartphones, paying monthly bills was an event! Bills arrived in the mail and were collected in a specific location and saved for that special day each month when they were paid. The bills were reviewed to make sure all expected items had arrived and each check was written out with a corresponding entry added to the (paper) check register. It was a manual exercise requiring good organization, basic math skills and the concentration to ensure the accounting was properly logged. Mailing out the checks and tracking them in the register wasn’t the end of the process – it was imperative to scrutinize the monthly bank statement and balance the checkbook to ensure that there were no math errors, the checks hadn’t gotten lost in the mail, they were actually cashed by the creditor and correctly credited to the account. Because there was always a lag between the bills coming due and the bank statement arriving, sometimes it was difficult to avoid unpleasantness such as the power or telephone company threatening to turn off service due to a clerical error or post office delay.

Since that time, things have changed dramatically. First was the introduction of financial software that could help with monthly budgeting and bill-paying. Computerization increased organization and cut down math errors, making it easier to keep control of monthly obligations. Today’s consumer has a wealth of tools at their disposal to pay bills, track accounts and keep their personal finances organized. Instead of a shoebox full of paper and a checkbook, bills can be paid with a computer or smartphone connected to the internet. Payments made using either a checking account or credit card can be monitored almost in real-time. Even the role of the post office has diminished considerably because of changes in the bill-paying process. Many people utilize automatic bill payment options that are available directly from vendors such as the phone company or insurance company, as well as from many banks. Consumers may still have a checkbook in their possession, but most of the time it gathers dust on a shelf or in a drawer while bills are paid in a variety of other ways.

Automatic bill payments are the most convenient of all, with options to pay each vendor directly from a bank account or credit card. Auto-pay is great for convenience and flexibility, but the responsibility still falls to each consumer to ensure the process works as expected and to maintain control of their finances. What are some things to be aware of with auto-bill pay and what are some tips for keeping control of your budget while still taking advantage of the automation available?
- Choose the payment method that works for you: Many people find it more convenient to set up their auto-pay on a credit card instead of having the money deducted instantly from their checking accounts. That way, monthly bills appear together in 1 place, and there is less worry about cash flow during the month. And with credit card accounts accessible online, the balance can be monitored as needed. Many credit cards can offer consumer benefits such as frequent flyer miles, free merchandise and other perks. Using a credit card as the payment method is great for organization, but be careful!! Accruing charges on a credit card makes it easy to exceed your budget and get into trouble at the end of the month. Only use this method if you are prepared to pay off the balance on your credit card each month to avoid paying high finance charges on your fixed monthly expenses. If you’re on a very tight budget or have trouble limiting credit card spending, paying bills directly from your checking account is a better solution.
- Be prepared for changes: When using a credit card to pay most monthly bills, if your credit card is stolen or hacked, or when it expires and a new card is issued, be aware that any auto-payments you set up using that card will no longer process. Keep a list of accounts that use auto-pay, including which credit card is used as the payment method for each account. This way, you can quickly update them all when a new credit card is received. If you’re tempted to just check your most recent statement instead of keeping a list, remember – some bills come monthly, others are quarterly and still others are annual so they won’t all appear on your most recent statement. Keeping a list is most efficient way to easily update all applicable accounts.
- Stay involved in the process: Many banks help in the process and provide alerts when an expected bill arrives or does not arrive when scheduled – bill payment is a great feature of online banking and can help you stay on top of your obligations! Make time to review the bills each month to make sure there aren’t any unforeseen or erroneous charges; especially if you are on a tight budget and paying directly from your bank account. Unanticipated charges that are automatically deducted from your account can cause unexpected drops in your bank balance.
- Be smart when it comes to cash management: If possible, don’t set up auto-pay on bills that can vary greatly from month to month, such as credit card bills. And always avoid paying off the balance of one credit card by adding it to the balance of another.
- Keep your credit rating in good standing: Due dates for items such as credit cards, health insurance, mortgage and auto payments are typically due on the same day each month, making it easy to ensure that auto-pay bills arrive on time. However, the due date on some bills may vary. Be sure the payment date that you set up for each bill allows sufficient time for the creditor to process the payment in order to avoid late charges. Similarly, if using your bank’s bill-paying service, for some vendors there is a lag between the date paid and the date received – make sure you allow sufficient time to stave off late fees and avoid bad credit.
The most important concept to remember is that even though paying bills has become extremely convenient and paper cuts are much less common these days in the bill-paying process, you are still ultimately responsible for your finances, your bills and your credit rating. Monitor closely, take advantage of the online tools available from your bank and your creditors to help you keep track of your finances and remember to dust off that checkbook once in a while! Regardless of the method you choose for paying bills, it is highly recommended that you keep a current register of all checks and debits, making a deduction for each item immediately (as soon as you have issued or authorized an item for payment), including any associated fees. This will allow you to have an accurate, up-to-the-minute checking account balance from which to work. This will also help prevent incidences of insufficient funds and their associated fees. Accurate and timely account records never go out of style!

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Source by Ellen Debboli

Views: 0
February 10, 2020
Writing a Financial Plan on Your Own

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Like anything in life, you need a plan to succeed. That applies to your personal finance too. No one is completely secure financially unless you have accumulated millions of dollars and decide to live off the nest egg for the rest of your life.

Unfortunately, for most people, they are unprepared for retirement. Financial planning is crucial in reaching your goals of retiring comfortably. But having say that, how does one go about writing a financial plan without any formal education?

Below is a quick step-by-step guide to writing your own financial plan. Of course, a professional financial planner may be able to give you a more comprehensive financial plan but this will be a good step forward in understanding your needs and clearing some stumbling blocks.

1. What Are Your Objectives?

Don’t be afraid to dream – you only live once. Think about the size of the home, the education, your family, etc. Just pen these thoughts down of how you want the future to look like. Once you list down your ideals, remember to factor in mundane issues like kids education, insurance, etc.

Your goals should include:

* Education. Regardless of your age, extra education and training are needed either for a career switch or self-improvement. A lot of people are taking college courses (even with teenagers) or upgrading to an MBA to climb the corporate ladder. Even if college education is out for you, you still have to plan for your children’s college degree, unless you intend to leave them to their own devices.

* Career. What field do you desire to work in? Is it a creative job or a typical 9-5? Or do you want to be your own boss? Do you want to create multiple source of passive income?

* Lifestyle. Is work or family more important? Are you contended with “simpler living?” Do you desire a Porsche or BMW? Do you want to live in a mansion, a seafront house, etc? Do you have expensive hobbies life golf? These all cost money so tabulating the expenses and matching it to your income is necessary to achieve your lifestyle goals.

* Retirement. Don’t forget about retirement. It is a moment when you lose your income. So how do you want to live while retired? Will you downgrade your house, live with your children, or move to a retirement community?

* Insurance. Nothing is certain in life. You need to be insured for worst case scenarios. Every financial plan must have provisions for insurance.

These objectives may seem daunting but they need not be wishful thinking. The actual money set aside could be much less than you think, if effective financial planning is involved.

2. Plan Your Income

Of course, your financial plan isn’t just about your dreams. How are you going to pay for it? I assume you don’t have a sugar daddy, so you should be following a life of employment. Most people have their career path charted in this format – go to college, get a job, work hard up the ladder and retire.

There is nothing wrong race except there is high uncertainty in today’s globalized environment. People change jobs all the time due to layoffs or to seek fresh challenges.

Instead of a day job, you can consider starting a businesses or becoming a freelancer to sell your skills. Business isn’t just for those with money, MBAs or connections. You can start a home business to mange lawn care, making money online with a website or a vending machine business.

Besides becoming your own boss, you can find other income through network marketing or investing.

Investing is efficient in building side income as it is simply growing the money you already have. You can buy gold, stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.

Regardless if you are a business owner or an employee, you should not let your money sit idly under your mattress. Even putting your money into an online savings account is more profitable.

3. Writing Your Financial Plan

At its core, a financial plan is a lifelong budget. You’ll be budgeting not just your next paycheck, but for your entire life. Planning involves knowing how you’ll get there and when you’ll get there. There are no hard and fast rules.

You have to be rational enough to assess your current situation, creative enough to see what is possible, and have the integrity to follow through with the plan. Remember, just because it’s on paper doesn’t mean it will happen – you have to decide to follow through and live up to your goals.

Get started by doing the following:

* Timeline. Establish where you want to be in five years? Ten? Thirty? Fifty?

* Research necessary costs. Your current “bills” plus 5% inflation per year. Don’t forget to factor in life insurance, health insurance, car insurance, etc.

* Research luxury costs. What you “want” to do. Cruises, nice cars, nice house, etc.

* Plan income strategy. For most people, they start with salaries. But don’t forget that your job isn’t your only means of income. Starting a side business, a money making hobby, or even making money online are viable options for extra income.

* Plan Investments. Investing is simply a must to counteract against inflation. You can invest in anything. Just make sure you know what you’re doing, and don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. As you age, financial security should become more and more important.

Try to factor in every cost and possible incomes. Whenever you aren’t sure about the numbers, be conservative. Also, bear in mind that a financial plan is ALWAYS about your goals. It’s not just about the money – it’s about getting what you want out of life. Money is just the tool.

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Source by Barry Ritz

Views: 0

February 10, 2020
Niches Lead to Riches

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It doesn’t matter WHAT your niche is.

It only matters THAT you have one.

AFTER ALL: Niches lead to riches.

Now, there are two potential types of niches you can leverage:

1. Niche Expertise

2. Niche Market

Having a Niche Expertise means you know a LOT about a SPECIFIC TOPIC that applies to a WIDE AUDIENCE.

So, it’s the answer to the question:

1. What, specifically, are you known FOR?

2. What word do you want to OWN?

FOR EXAMPLE: Let’s say you’re a consultant whose expertise is on how to handle angry, pissed off or difficult customers.

Fantastic! That’s what you’re known FOR.

And the good news is, entrepreneurs with Niche Expertise have several advantages:

They become a big fish in a big pond.

They apply their knowledge cross industrial.

They open wide doors for expanding their businesses.

They diversify their client base, which leads to new business.

They become the obvious expert sought out by the mainstream media.

They allow new markets to add multiple dimensions to their single topic.

Dave Jackson is a good example of this. He’s “The Angry Customer Guy.”

That’s Niche Expertise.

On the other hand, having a Niche Market means you know a LOT about a SPECIFIC GROUP OF PEOPLE to whom you apply MANY TOPICS.

So, it’s the answer to the questions:

1. Whom, specifically, are you known BY?

2. What industry do you want to DOMINATE?

FOR EXAMPLE: Let’s say you’re a consultant who works solely in the Jewelry Retail Industry.

Awesome! That’s whom you’re known BY.

And the good news is, entrepreneurs with a Niche Market have several advantages:

They become a big fish in a small pond.

They apply their knowledge cross-topical.

They open deep doors for expanding their businesses.

They specialize their client base, which leads to repeat business.

They become the obvious expert sought out by industry and trade media.

They allow industry trends to add multiple dimensions to their various topics.

Shane Decker is a good example of this. He’s “The Jewelry Store Guy.”

That’s a Niche Market.

Now, occasionally you will run into entrepreneurs that have both a Niche Topic AND a Niche Market.

FOR EXAMPLE: How to handle angry, pissed off or difficult customers … who shop at retail jewelry stores.

That’s a SUPER Niche!

And although it’s rare, if you can pull it off … good on ya!

You get the best of both worlds.

Either way, you MUST remember this process:

1. Focus first; THEN spray. Either covering your topic or your industry.

2. Develop specialized knowledge. Either about your topic or about your industry.

3. Pick a lane. Either the topic lane or the industry lane.

4. Go with gusto! Either about your topic or about your industry.

5. Become That Guy. Either “for” the topic or “by” the market.

REMEMBER: People prefer specialists.

Turn your niches into riches.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you niching?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “46 Marketing Mistakes Your Company Is (Probably) Making,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

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Source by Scott Ginsberg

Views: 0

February 8, 2020
How To Get A Rich Girlfriend – Powerful Trick To Find Wealthy Women Looking For Men Where You Live!

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Life used to be much different for me. And then one night I figured out how to get a rich girlfriend.

I hate to sound clichéd – but the trick is so simple and yet so effective.

Before figuring this out, I spent a lot of my time wondering how to find wealthy women who would date me. I used to look at guys walking hand-in-hand with rich ladies and think: “That should be me!”

But two things used to stop me looking for a rich woman!

1. I’m over weight – and can’t seem to shift it now I’m in my thirties.

2. I was always broke.

These days I know how to get a rich girlfriend. And I’m neither broke nor fat (my girlfriend pays for a private fitness coach)!

Maybe you and I used to be pretty similar, right? That’s the reason I want to help you. I know how it feels!

The intention of this article is to show you how to find HUGE lists of rich ladies looking for men.

So here is the easy way to find wealthy women – and I haven’t seen this anywhere else, so I’m guessing guys in the know are keeping it quiet for themselves…

Get yourself a membership to a popular dating community. Social networks won’t work. It needs to be dating because you want to find rich girls seeking dates.

Make your profile look pretty and then visit their people-search section. You’ve seen this sort of page a million times. Now you won’t meet rich girls by just searching for local women.

To find wealthy women you need to filter your search… And here is the trick.

The best dating sites let you filter searches for LOCATION. So what you do is put in a search for women seeking men but refine that search for ONLY women who live in a rich neighborhood.

This is POWERFUL. You have before you a list of potentially very wealthy women looking for men.

Just consider this – how many rich ladies can you find using this simple little trick? Hundreds? Thousands?

And – best of all – they all want a man!

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Source by Jack Brock

Views: 0

February 8, 2020
Taekwondo Drug Testing

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Every athlete which will participate in any athletic events including Taekwondo tournaments are sanctioned to undergo drug testing which is to be performed solely by their respective Anti-Doping Agency which practices the Protocol for Olympic Movement Testing.

In the past, there were already several athletes who have been sanctioned by the board and were not allowed to participate in Taekwondo tournament because they failed this drug test. So it is a must that every Taekwondo athlete should never refer to the use of drugs just to enhance your potentials.

History of Drug Tests amongst Athletes:

The history of drug test amongst athletes originated during the Summer Olympic Games which involves Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson in their 100m dash competition. Ben Johnson crossed the finish line in a remarkable finish which made him the fastest man alive but this was soon disregarded after he was positively diagnosed to have anabolic steroids in his system a week after the competition.

This revelation prompted the Olympic Game organizers to have urine drug screens on its participants so as to guarantee that fairness and equality will remain in the competition. Drugs which are prohibited to be used by these athletes include stimulant drugs, beta blockers, masking agents and anabolic androgenic steroids. These drugs are known to help increase and enhance the athletic performance of athletes after they are taken but will also result to several negative side effects which are detrimental to the athletes’ health in the long run.

How is the drug test performed?

The drug test will take place at any time during the competition. The athlete is unaware when it will take place but a Doping Control representative will notify the athlete if the time for his or her drug testing has been scheduled. He or she will then be required to comply with the policies and arrive at the Doping Control Station so he or she can proceed with the drug test procedure.

The Doping Control Representative allows him or her to bring a chaperone but the athlete should remain in the sight of the DC representative all throughout the drug testing procedure.

What will happen if the athlete refuses to take the random doping test?

Any athlete who refuses to take the random doping test will be duly sanctioned by the Organization in charge of the event and may receive an athletic suspension of two years such as what has happened to Park Hyo Ji, a South Korean Taekwondo athlete.

How to pass the required drug test for Taekwondo athletes?

There is no safer way to pass the urine test for Taekwondo athletes than to do practice a clean and healthy lifestyle. In the end you will be the sole benefactor of your healthy living. Do not fool yourself because honour and prestige which is earned through hard work is always sweeter compared to something acquired through deception. If in doubt, consult the list of banned substances and supplements which are available in all area agencies. Again always cover yourself, if you are taking something that isn’t on the accepted list, that doesn’t mean it has no performance enhancing properties. Write to your Governing Doping Agency to get the all clear prior to starting a new or unknown supplement.

Keep in mind the Five Tenets of Taekwondo. Be true to your oath as a student and live the principles of you were taught.

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Source by Brendan Mark Smith

Views: 0

February 7, 2020
Affiliate Marketing Tips – How to Earn Your First Dollar With Affiliate Marketing!

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Do you want to know how to earn $10 to $20 per month with affiliate marketing? The very first thing you want to do is to make your first dollar. It seems obvious, but many beginners try to make thousands of dollars at their first try.

It doesn’t really work like this. Do you know that those who are earning several thousands per month started from scratch? Most of them have spent month to build their business. So what you should do when you are just getting started? There are many ways to get started, but all you need to do is start somewhere.

You can write articles and submit them to directories. Why would you write articles and submit them for free? Good question. In fact, you should do this to drive traffic to your site and build a list of subscribers. Many beginners think that it is better to send the potential buyer to the merchant site, but this is not the way to do it because when you do this, you will never have another chance to promote your affiliate product to this prospect. When he leaves your site, he is gone for good. But look at this scenario now. When you build a list of prospects and send them valuable information, they will start to trust you and later on, they may buy from you.

So if you want to make your first dollar online, write articles, and add a link in your bio box for visitors to go straight to your own website.

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Source by Jamian Surenjav

Views: 0

February 7, 2020
Stopping Employee Theft in Your Coffee Business

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Regardless to how good of an employer you are, and even if you treat your employees well, understand that employee theft is a reality, and you need to control it. While it may only be a very small percentage of your staff that might steal from you, it can have a significant financial impact on your coffee business. If it goes unnoticed, employees will usually become even more brazen in their activities.

When it comes to theft, your employees are likely to fall into one of the following four categories:

Mr./Ms. honest – these are people who would never think of taking anything if it doesn’t belong to them. If they happen to go home with one of your ballpoint pens, they’ll bring it back the next day, and feel guilty that they took it home, even though it was unintentional.

Incidental theft – these are people that will take home your pen by accident, and will keep it. And, they may scarf a piece of cheesecake occasionally when you aren’t looking, even though they know they shouldn’t. Because these items have minimal value, they have no great sense of guilt related to their activities.

Theft because of need and opportunity – this is when you have an employee who is perhaps living on the edge financially, and because they have the need, and because your security may be lax, they’ll take advantage of an opportune situation to take something.

Compulsive theft – this is the person who is always looking for something to steal, and they have absolutely no conscience about it. They typically rationalize the theft in their own mind. They consider you to be the rich, fat cat, and feel that they are over worked and under paid, so stealing from you is justified.

Employee theft probably exists to some extent within your operation, whether you are aware of it or not. You can most likely live with incidental theft, provided it doesn’t get out of control. Theft related to need and opportunity is, in reality, your fault. These people would probably not steal from you normally, but a lack of security procedures has created the temptation and means for them to do so. Compulsive theft must be discovered, stopped, and you must eliminate the person(s) responsible.

Losing product due to theft:

Your employees may have no desire or need for a sleeve of 12oz. paper cups, Java Jackets, or a roll of toilet paper… but they might like a frozen cake, gallon of chocolate sauce, 6-pack of beer, or a bottle of wine.

There are some simple things you can do to greatly reduce the chance of being ripped-off. First, don’t allow your employees to store their jackets, backpacks, and purses near where you store products. This makes it incredibly simple for someone to slide something into their bag or jacket pocket when no one is watching. I always had my employees store their personal belongings in the cabinet under the cash register (where someone would always be watching), or in my office, under lock & and key.

Second, keep the back door of your store locked with a key at all times (you or your supervisor being the only ones having a key). If customers regularly enter through your back door, this may not be an option. If your back door is an emergency fire exit (and it probably is), you’ll need to install an alarmed breaker-bar. The whole point is that you don’t want your employees to be able to flow in and out of the back door without you knowing about it. Carrying product out the back door to their car, a hiding place for later pick-up, or an awaiting friend, is one of the most common ways products will exit your store.

Once you have made it more difficult to stash things in their personal belongings, or carry them out the back door, employees may resort to hiding items in the trashcan. Of course you will unlock the back door to let them take out the trash. If they have hidden something in the trashcan, a dumpster-diving expedition will certainly be planned for after-hours to recover their treasure.

Periodic trashcan checks should eliminate this problem, or make it a far less appealing option to anyone considering this method to smuggle things out of your store. Buy a long handle 3-prong garden rake. When employees ask to take out the trash, accompany them, and have them hold the can up on the edge of the dumpster while you rake out the trashcan contents. What you are looking for are things that might have been hidden in the trash, but you can tell your employees that you are merely making sure that small wares aren’t being accidentally thrown away. During the 15-years I owned and managed restaurants, I discovered everything from six-packs of beer, bottles of wine, and packages of steaks hidden in the trash!

Another situation that will create an ideal opportunity for employees to steal from you is having only one person working in your store. If your baker comes in each morning a hour before you or the next employee, or if one person is left to clean and lock-up the place at the end of the day, opportunities for theft abound. As the old saying goes: when the cat’s away…

Always try to have at least two people in your store at all times. If there is not justification for having a second employee on the clock, then you will need to be that second person. If this requires you going from a 60-hour workweek to 80-hours, then this may not be a tolerable option. If this is the case, then at least invest a couple of hours more each day for a week or two to do some detective work.

During those times of day when only one employee is working, park at the far end of the parking lot, or across the street, so that you will reduce the chance of being noticed by your employee. If they are familiar with your vehicle, use your spouse’s or friend’s vehicle for a few days. Watch carefully (with binoculars if necessary). I know this all sounds a little CSI – like, but better to rest-easy, feeling fairly assured that your employee isn’t carrying away your store when you’re not watching. If I had the time, I could tell you countless stories of my experiences in catching employees red handed, loading the trunks of their cars.

If you suspect that theft of product might be occurring, but you’ve seen no direct evidence of it, then conducting a daily key item inventory may shed some light on the situation. Write down a list of 15 to 20 products that you think would be most appealing for someone to steal. In your coffee business, this might include items such as coffee, syrups and sauces, smoothie puree, biscotti, cookies, and desserts, sandwich meats & cheeses, and of course beer & wine (if you serve those from your operation). Then take an inventory of these items every day. Your employees don’t need to know what you are doing, and if they ask, simply tell them you are taking an inventory for ordering purposes.

What you are looking for are anomalies in usage. For example, let’s say that from your daily inventories you assess that you use about half a gallon of chocolate sauce per day. Then, one day you notice you used 1 1/2 gallons of chocolate the previous day. This should send up a red flag! Why did you go through an extra gallon of chocolate? Were you significantly busier yesterday, or did you featuring several drink specials which contained chocolate sauce? A quick review of individual item sales from yesterday’s cash register report should provide you with the answer. If you average one ounce of chocolate per beverage, then using 1 1/2 gallons means you should have sold approximately 192 beverages containing chocolate (128 oz. per gal. x 1.5 = 192). If this was the case, no problem. But, if you discover that you only sold 64 beverages containing chocolate, then 128 oz. (or 1 gallon) is unaccounted for and missing! A good indication that it probably walked out the door. If this happens, keep track of who was working on the day of the shortage. If this happens continually, eventually you will discover that the same person or persons were working every time.

Theft of money by employees:

Hopefully, none of your employees will have the desire to steal products from you, but some will be tempted by the lure of cold, hard, cash. Everyone could use an extra $20 a day. Employees who steal money from you will definitely hurt your bottom line, and must be eliminated.

The first way to reduce cash theft is to have a cash handling policy in place that will discourage theft. If multiple employees are using the cash register, and no one person is responsible, then I can almost guarantee that your cash drawer will keep coming up short on a regular basis. The fact that no one person can be held responsible for the shortages, will make grabbing a bill or two easy and appealing.

Implement a policy that one, and only one person is responsible for the cash register for the entire shift. They should count the drawer at the beginning of their shift to verify that they are starting with the designated change bank. Then, they should be the only person to ring up sales and make change. Even you, the owner/manger, should keep your hands out of their cash drawer. Finally, at the end of their shift, they should set aside the amount they started with in the change drawer, and total all the remaining cash, checks, and charges, and balance against what was rung up on the register. If they started with the right amount of money in the cash drawer, rang everything up, took all the money, counted back all the change, and they end up short… who’s fault is it? It can only be theirs. By implementing this simple policy, I once took an operation that was coming up $100 a day ($3,000 a month) cash short, and reduced it to $3 a day, in just 30 days! That’s over a $2,900 bottom line improvement, (in case you didn’t do the math)!

The other common method that a cashier might use to steal money from you is by using a method called, building a bank. This is the process of not ringing up items on the cash register, while still taking money from the customers, and then pocketing that money. Typically, they will obscure the view of the cash register display on the customer’s side with something like a flower, retail merchandise, or by turning the display so that it cannot be easily seen. Then, they will pretend to ring up an item, but will hit the no sale key instead, popping the drawer open so they can take the cash and make change, but in reality, they haven’t rung up anything. The other thing they might do when it is busy is to just not shut the drawer between transactions. They simply convey verbally the cost of items ordered by customers and take the cash, but once again, nothing has been rung up.

A cash register that prints out the order on a remote receipt printer to the person who will be preparing the item, can eliminate this problem. Quite simply, if the item isn’t rung-up, it won’t print out. If your barista or cook won’t prepare anything without a receipt (and they shouldn’t!), it will force your cashier to ring everything up.

If you observe that the cash register’s display has been blocked from the customer’s view, or there are an excessive number of no sale indications on your cash register’s detail tape, or notice that your cashier is not shutting the drawer between transactions, beware! While these may not be indisputable proof that your cashier is stealing from you, they should certainly heighten your vigilance to find out if something is going on.

If your coffee business only warrants having one employee working at a time, perhaps because you own a cart, kiosk, or low volume drive-through operation, then how do you go about keeping your employee from building a bank and stealing from you? The best solution I’ve seen is to turn your customers in to watchdogs. Affix a sign to the front of your cash register, in plain sight of the customer, that reads: If you don’t receive a receipt with your order, it’s FREE! This will force your cashier to hand each customer a receipt for their purchase. If they are building a bank, this means they will have to hand the customer a receipt that says – NO SALE; something they probably won’t fell comfortable doing!

The financial impact of theft of money can be extremely damaging, for example: Let’s say you have a cashier who is skimming off $20 a day by not ringing things up, and then pocketing the money. Not only did you loose the stolen $20, but the $7 of ingredients that were probably used to produce the ordered products; ($20 x 35% ingredient cost = $7.00). So in reality, you lost $27, and it will take an additional $41.54 in sales, to recover this loss; ($41.54 x 65% gross profit = $27). $27 a day lost to theft, X 21 days worked by the employee = $567 lost cash & product per month; $872 extra sales required to offset this loss. (Annual loss, $6,804; $10,468 in additional income required to offset loss.) You must stop theft of money!

Theft of money management:

If you have a manger running your operation for you, this can really create an opportunity for cash theft. Just about anyone who has ever run a food service operation (self included), probably felt that they were over-worked and under-paid. Some are tempted to grant themselves an unapproved raise. Your manger has the control key to the cash register, which means they have the ability to back off items that were sold. You would be wise to check your cash register detail tapes on a regular basis. If you see multiple items backed off in groups, or more worrisome yet, all backed off at the very end of the shift, beware!

A good way to keep this from happening is to establish a policy that no over-rings are to be backed off of sales on the cash register with the management control key. Instead, when the cashier makes an over-ring, they should take the receipt, write over-ring on it, sign it, and put it in the cash drawer. At the end of the shift, the total of all over-rings should be manually backed off of the sales total indicated on the cash register report.

Many years ago I had a manager that was stealing money from me in another creative way. This manager, who opened the store each day, would reset the cash register by Z-ing it out after the first half hour of business. He would then pocket the proceeds earned during that first half hour. Because additional sales were generated during the second half hour, the cash register hourly sales report would always show sales for the first hour of operation, thus eliminating any suspicion that something might be going on.

It wasn’t until I was doing a routine audit of cash register Z tapes that I noticed something wasn’t right. When you run a Z report, which resets the cash register at the end of each day, a multi-digit number will usually be printed somewhere on that tape. The next time you Z the register, that number will advance by one digit. I noticed that even though the tapes were sequential in date, every other number was missing. This tipped me off that the register was being Z-ed twice a day! When I confronted my manager with the tapes, his look of panic spoke volumes.

If you are doubting the honesty of any of your employees or managers, one way you can verify or eliminate your suspicion is by baiting the cash drawer. Slip an extra $20 bill in the drawer sometime during the day when they aren’t watching. If they don’t end up reporting at the end of their shift that they were $20 cash-over, I’ll do it a second time (just to make sure). If they don’t report it a second time, you should have no doubts that they are indeed, dishonest.

NEVER accuse an employee or manger of stealing unless you catch them red-handed (actually stuffing money into their pockets). Even though the circumstantial evidence may be overwhelming, unless you actually catch them in the act, they are likely to deny your accusations, and will probably file a complaint against you with the department of labor! The brief moment of satisfaction you will gain from letting them know you are aware of what they’ve been doing, will be quickly overwhelmed by the legal predicament you will find yourself in. You will be far better off to not make accusations. Simply terminate their employment. In many states, you do not need to provide a reason as to why you are letting them go. When they ask for an explanation as to why you are firing them, simply say: I don’t need to give you a reason, I’m just letting you go, goodbye!

Finally, don’t over look technology to help you with security. Surveillance cameras linked to a DVR (digital video recorder) can provide you with peace of mind, or evidence of theft. These systems have become very affordable, and many are easy to install. The value of these cameras go beyond having a video record of operations. The mere fact that employees understand that their activities are being video recorded, will usually discourage them from doing things that they might not think twice about, if no one was watching.

I think it’s important to not be paranoid about employee theft. Certainly, you don’t want to be constantly obsessed with the suspicion that everyone is stealing from you. In reality, the majority of your employees are probably honest people. But, you would be wise to establish some simple safeguards, and maintain a watchful eye.

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Source by Ed Arvidson

Views: 0

February 6, 2020
The Cash Register and Their Uses
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We have all at least seen a cash register if not used one. Cash registers are an integral part of retail businesses and most cannot operate without one. Invented by James Ritty after the Civil War out of necessity for the running of his saloon. His main goal was to stop employees from skimming money and he got the idea after seeing a tool that counted the revolutions of propellers for steamships. Patented in 1883, the cash register soon took on a life of its own and after being sold a few times, finally settled into what it is today.

Today the cash register does not require you to break a nail while pushing down huge buttons that were known for sticking down and causing all sorts of problems. There are no longer number tabs that pop up to show you the amount being rung up, but rather most registers are computerized. Computer cash registers are available in many forms today and may consist of just a simple program that you run on your desktop computer that uses an interface just like a regular cash register to entire pos systems that come complete with bar code scanners, a till drawer and receipt printer. Pos cash registers are what most of us are familiar with today as all the large retailers use them.

Computer cash registers or pos cash registers are highly advanced and will do everything from ringing up the customer’s purchases to doing your taxes. Many of the systems will come with a program that keeps track of your inventory which will save you time and money by streamlining the process and not having to do physical inventory. Don’t forget the options like bar code scanners and laser receipt printers that will help keep your business running smoothly.

Touch screen cash registers are the first choice among restaurants and grocery stores. These registers will display menu choices and options that will make ordering quicker by just pressing the screen. Restaurant cash registers are designed so that the kitchen will receive the order when the wait staff enters it into the computer so they can begin preparing immediately. This makes for a much more efficient restaurant. Many of these pos systems also come with age verification software which is handy for those in the bar business. These registers also allow for unique user id’s that keep track of each person who uses the register, their orders and their sales. Most are able to download your business for that day or week into tax programs such as Quick-books.

The importance of cash register tape might seem little, but this is an important addition to any system and should be allowed some consideration before purchase. Today, most register systems and credit card machines use thermal paper for receipts. This paper requires special thermal printers that burn the image into the paper. Laser printers are also used and they have their own special type of receipt paper as well. These types of printers do not require ink, which is one less expense because in the long run ink will cost you a fortune, but they are much pricier up front than your regular paper receipt printers.

Below is a list of registers and prices that you can expect to pay:
- 8 Department Standard Electronic Cash Register (recommended for small businesses) starting at around $100 – These registers are very basic, but for the small retailer they are perfect – They use standard paper for their receipt printing
- 40 to 99 Department Standard Electronic Cash Register (recommended for small to midsized businesses) from $200-$350 – Same considerations as register above
- Touch Screen Cash Register (varies depending on size and bundles/options, recommended for restaurants and bars) $500-$2500 – These registers will almost always be used with thermal or laser receipt printers
- POS Systems (varies depending on size and options) $1500-$3200 – Used almost always with laser or thermal printers.
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Source by Gerald Hill

Views: 0
February 6, 2020
Customer Service Tips – How to Handle Irate Customers
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Are you ready to learn how to keep every guest happy? It starts with making sure that your managers are thoroughly trained in every position within your restaurant. They need to know all the jobs, so they can step in if someone calls off sick, or if sales are higher than expected.

The manager needs to be highly trained in excellent customer service. This type of service is called “wow” service because your customers will say “Wow!” about their experience at your restaurant.

One way to easily accomplish that “wow” experience is simply by telling your managers that every time they are in direct contact with any guest, that they are smiling, being friendly and attentive to the guests. If a famous person was coming to your restaurant, how would you treat that person? Every guest should be receive that same VIP treatment.

In case of a dissatisfied, angry, or irate customers, we recommend applying the GLAD technique. This will dramatically decrease customer related matters, and lead to customer recovery.

What is the GLAD Technique?
1. Go to the guest
2. Listen carefully to the guest
3. Apologize to the guest
4. Do what it takes to solve the problem
When approaching the upset customer, always shows genuine concern. It is important to listen to the guest without cutting them off. Make sure that you take the time to fully understand their concerns. Remain calm. Responding to anger in a calm manner may help reduce the person’s anxiety. Don’t be fake, be real.

Always apologize to the guest, even if the customer is wrong. Even when you are certain the person is wrong, go with the mindset that the person is right. Never offer excuses as to why the problem occurred, but offer solutions instead.

Solutions will vary depending on the complaint and the circumstances. Offer a solution and ask if this will meet the customer’s needs. Go above and beyond. Remember, one angry customer leads to other lost customers. Keep in mind that for each customer you lose, you will lose 11 customers within the next few weeks. That number will compound because those 11 people will also repeat what they heard from the first customer. Ultimately you could be losing hundreds of customers because of one dissatisfied customer. If the matter is serious, you could even lose your restaurant’s reputation, and the restaurant could end up being shut down.

Every customer that leaves your restaurant tells family, friends and co-workers about the experience at your restaurant. If the experience was mediocre they won’t say anything, but if it was very good experience at your restaurant they will tell others. If it was a negative experience and they walked out dissatisfied, then the reputation of your restaurant will be impacted. Negative feedback from your customers could mean the end of your business. Don’t underestimate the power of the word-of-mouth effect. Word-of-mouth will work with you or against you depending on the guest’s experience.

Do you really want to lose business because of customer complaints? Teaching effective customer service techniques to your managers and staff should be at the top of your to-do list.

Teach your managers to be proactive in preventing customer related matters. Manager presence in the dining room is a wonderful path to reduce customer complaints. The manager should spend at least 80% of his/her time in the dining room, and only 10% in the manager’s office.

The manager also needs to physically approach each customer’s table to ensure that WOW guest service is in effect. The manager also needs to learn how to detect negative body language and how to express positive body language.

How do customers show their dissatisfaction with their body language?
- When you are in direct eye-to-eye contact, you can witness the anger in the customer’s eyes.
- Seeing untouched food, especially when everybody at the table ate their food, except the one customer who barely touched his or her food.
- The manager asks the customer, “So how was your meal and service tonight?” The customer replies, “It’s okay”. If the customer was fully satisfied with both the service and the meal they may say it was “terrific” or “great,” not just “okay.”
- When you look at a guest and you get an uncomfortable “gut” feeling, act on that feeling.
- You see a customer looking around as though they want someone to help them. You may even see them glaring at a server speaking with other customers.
What is your body language saying?
- Always use direct eye contact when talking to your guests. Never look away while you are talking to your guest. Looking away gives the impression that you are not interested in what the other person has to say.
- Never cross your arms when talking to guests, this could be interpreted as shutting them out or anger.
- Never roll your eyes, as this is very disrespectful and it appears that you are belittling their concerns.
- Constantly listen to the guest even if they are angry. It may help to allow the person to vent their anger. Always acknowledge their feelings.
- Ask the customer what would improve the visit to your restaurant.
What do you do with Moody Customers?

This is your opportunity to turn around the customer’s mood from a bad to good. Make certain that you are on top of things and pay attention to details. If you have any concerns about their experience, you may even offer the table a free appetizer or dessert. It may seem like you are losing money by “giving away” food or “discounting” their meals; however, you will lose more money from each lost customer than you will for that one food item or meal. If you successfully turn things around, then you may create repeat business. Kindness and consideration of their needs will often overcome their anger.

A wise person said, “How you handle positive feedback is important, but it is more important to know how to handle negative feedback.” Make sure you tell the customers that you appreciate the fact that they took the time to tell you about their experience. Don’t make excuses, instead find solutions. Don’t disagree with the customer, even if you know the guest is wrong.

If you don’t learn from your mistakes, you are doomed to repeat them again and again.

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Source by Donna Schim

Views: 0
February 5, 2020
3 Attitudes You Need To Make Marital Conflict Resolution Work

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One of the biggest contributors to divorce is fatigue and emotional exhaustion. Couples allow things to get so bad that by the time meaningful intervention is sought one or both are unwilling to do what is necessary. You might finally have a solution that works but no longer have the strength or will to act.

It is very sad when you see a couple get to the point where they lose the will to keep trying. Your attitude will add energy to your relationship or add fuel to the many unresolved conflict causing issues. Trying to do the right thing with the wrong attitude will not bring back the love and passion in your marriage. The 3 attitudes that will help repair, protect and save your marriage are:

An Attitude of Forgiveness

As issues are identified they will be directly or indirectly attached to you or your spouse in most instances. If you start seeing yourself or your spouse as ‘The Problem’ this opens doors for resentment. In order to move forward you must have a heart of forgiveness.

You must be mature enough mentally and emotionally to live out your vows of ‘for better or worse’. We must be able to wake up in the morning knowing that we will have an attitude of forgiveness towards any issue that may arise. Making a proactive decision to forgive prepares you mentally and emotionally to honestly deal with marital issues.

An Attitude of Friendship

One of the worst things about constant fights and conflict in marriage is feeling like you lost your best friend. You feel unable to freely express your love and affection. The home becomes a hostile environment that you want to avoid instead of a place of solace, love and passion.

In marriage you will not always like each other. One of the marriage killers is when a couple stops being friends. Making a proactive decision to remain friends reminds your mind to keep doing nice things for the person you fell in love with, while you are working through an issue. You instinctively want to do nice things for a friend so do not get in the habit of seeing your spouse as the enemy.

An Attitude of Fidelity

Divorce happens when one person decides the best option is to leave the marriage. They feel like it is no longer worth it to remain in the relationship. Identification, isolation and improvement have to do with your approach to conflict resolution. Forgiveness, friendship and fidelity have to do with love.

Marriages are built on love and managed by healthy approaches to everyday living and dealing with issues. It is difficult for a marriage to flourish in love when you have a list of things that will make you seek divorce. Making a proactive decision of fidelity reminds you of your commitment to work through every issue.

It is impossible for any issue to get the upper hand in your marriage when the attitudes of forgiveness, friendship and fidelity are the foundation of your relationship. Change your attitude and change the course of your marriage.

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Source by Kerwyn Joseph

Views: 0

February 5, 2020