FloristWare Features: Theft Prevention

A "Late Cancellation" is a sale that is cancelled after the user has seen the total with tax. Why do you need to worry about them? Because they often indicate internal theft.

Here is how it works. An employee (usually working alone) enters a sale and proceeds right up to the "Payment" step. If the customer says they will be paying cash the employee asks if they need a receipt. If the customer says that a receipt is not required the employee cancels the sale and keeps the money.

FloristWare allows you to pretty much put an end to this type of theft. Whenever an employee cancels a sale late in the process the system captures the name and phone number of the customer and, of course, the employee name and date/time of the cancellation. It also requires the employee to enter a reason for the cancellation.

This alone is enough to deter many casual crooks. Just going through those steps makes it very clear that they are being watched and they'll be inclined to keep straight or move on to greener pastures.

The "Late Cancellation" report in FloristWare shows you all of this type of activity and helps to alert you to alarming trends. If for example you notice that one employee is doing a lot of late cancellations - especially when they are working alone - then you should be worried.

The next step is to call the customer under the guise of customer service - this is why FloristWare captures that information. You could say something like "Mr. Smith, I noticed that you were in the other day and started to make a purchase and changed your mind. I hope that we didn't do anything to upset you."

If at this point the customer tells you that you are mistaken - that they did indeed buy something - then you know that you have a problem.

However, the goal is not so much to catch employees as it is to stop the problem before it starts. FloristWare and the Late Cancellations report helps you do that - your employees will see that you have powerful tools at your disposal and think twice about stealing.

Certain types of refunds indicate internal theft. FloristWare helps you track these specific types of refunds and put an end to them.

Here is an example - a cash refund issued on the day of sale is very, very suspicious. What has often happened is that the employee has made a cash sale and then immediately issued a refund and kept the money.

FloristWare helps you in this case by tracking all refunds and capturing the name and phone number of the customer as well as the name of the employee and the date and time of the refund. It also requires the user to enter the reason the refund was given. This alone is enough to deter many casual thieves - it becomes obvious that their activity is being recorded and that they will be caught. The goal is always to stop them before they steal.

The Refunds Report shows you all of the refunds and related information (when, who, why, etc.) in a concise presentation. It also links to more detail on each refund so you can see exactly what happened in each case. It even gives you a detailed breakdown of the risk level of each refund - some are really quite harmless while others are very strong indicators of internal theft.

The last resort is to call the customer (FloristWare has saved all of that information for you) and ask why they needed a refund. If they tell you they didn't you know that you have a problem.

This is a proven way to reduce internal theft and improve your bottom line.

P.S. There is one other layer of protection as well - you can restrict the right to give refunds to employees with Manager Level access.

The Suspicious Activity report is a powerful tool that can make combating internal theft quick and easy. It combines all of the most important information relating to suspicious refunds and "Late Cancellations" in one place and presents it in a format that you can review and analyze in minutes. It even advises you to the risk level of each activity and links to more information on just the activity itself but how you can fight it.

Many users generate this report as part of their daily routine (it can be automated) and have saved substantially as a result.