I. Introduction Loss Prevention Surveys
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- Cash Handling Procedures Bank Contracts
- If a local ordinance requires that liquor be purchased with cash, detailed records should be kept of the purchases. Credit Cards
- Guest Credit Cash Paying Customers
- Credit Card Pre-authorizations
Financial Controls The Accounting department relies on a number of procedural safeguards. Whenever possible, the various accounting functions should be handled by different staff members.
Inventory Control Inventory control should be handled by the accounting department. Although some departments perform inventories for their own benefit, major inventories should not be conducted by department heads or supervisors for their own departments. Better control is obtained when the inventory staff comes from outside the department.
Master payroll files should be routinely matched with master personnel files to ensure that everyone on the payroll is currently employed by the hotel. Payrolls may also be padded when employees claim to have worked more hours than they actually did. An effective timekeeping system should be employed and supervised by the department heads.
All order forms, blank checks, invoices, F & B checks, and other forms required for a specific function should be numbered sequentially. Every number should be accounted for, including voids and the reason for the void. Two signatures are required on all checks. Asset Protection IV-5
Cash Handling Procedures Bank Contracts To prevent fraud and embezzlement, hotels should utilize an effective bank contract which outlines the employees standard of conduct and responsibilities. A sample contract is located in the appendix. Use of this contract may prove effective in verifying unaccountable monies from employees.
Cash banks can present many unique challenges. Employees should never share a bank. In general, there are 2 types of cash banks: individual and shift. Banks should be limited in size to the amount necessary for conducting business. This amount will vary based on type and location of hotels, seasonal conditions, and by position. Associates should have a secure, traffic free area for preparing deposit drops and counting their cash drawers. Areas used for the storage of funds should be available only to those employees who are depositing drops or collecting the deposit drops. All other employees should keep clear of this area while money is being counted. Access to cash handling areas should be restricted to employees handling funds. To help prevent theft, the locks on the cash drawers at the front desk should be equipped with uniquely keyed and secure locks. Guest Service Representatives should use these locks in replacement of or in addition to the locks on their cash boxes. Guest Service Representatives should be trained to conduct partial deposit drops during their shift. Partial deposit drops should be made anytime their cash drawer balance is double their authorized bank. Authorized banks should be limited to the amount necessary to conduct business.
When utilizing individual banks, the bank is assigned to a single individual who maintains care, custody and control of that bank at all times. The bank should be secured in a safe deposit box in which the employee controls the only access key. At the beginning of every shift, the employee removes his/her bank and transports it to the cash drawer they will be using for their shift. Keys for the cash drawer should be obtained from the prior shift or Manager on Duty. During shift operations, the cash drawer door should remain locked and should only be opened when conducting a transaction. At the end of every shift, the employee should remove their bank and proceed to the cash counting area or counting room. There, the employee should count out the drawer, and return the drawer to its designated balance minus any due-backs. Excess funds should be prepared and placed in a drop envelope. The envelope should then be sealed and the employee should sign their name across the seal. The sealed envelope should be dropped in the assigned drop safe. This procedure should be witnessed and documented on the drop log form. A sample deposit log is included in the appendix.
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Shift Banks Shift banks may be assigned to the front desk or to individual shifts. Banks should be funded only for the amount necessary to conduct business. At the end of each shift, the outgoing associate should count out his/her bank and prepare the drop in the presence of the incoming associate or other witness. Then, the bank is either secured in the safe deposit box for the next shift or turned over to the incoming associate who in turn counts the bank in the presence of the outgoing associate or other witness.
Banks should be audited randomly on a monthly basis. When a bank is to be audited, the general cashier should either contact the employee at the beginning of his/her shift indicating that their bank is to be audited, or, if possible, lock out the employees bank requiring the employee to visit the general cashier prior to beginning their shift. Banks should only be opened by the employee who has signed for the bank and should be counted in the presence of the employee or a witness.
Drop Safes The drop safe should be a single purpose safe whose sole use is for the temporary storage of cash drops. The drop safe should be of sufficient design as to prevent money from being removed from the drop, or the safe being forced open. Roll-top safes are preferred. The safe should be securely fastened to the floor or wall to prevent unauthorized removal. The safe should be designed to require 2 keys or a key and a combination to be opened. To maintain the integrity of drops, no one employee should have the ability to open the safe. Rather, one key or combination should be provided to the general cashier or equivalent and the other provided to another manager. When deposit envelopes are removed from the "drop safe," the general cashier should have a witness to count the number of envelopes removed and ensure the "drop safe" is empty. The employee and the witness should then sign the deposit log and post the number of envelopes removed. For added protection, a CCTV camera should be installed to monitor the drop safe. Asset Protection IV-7
Cash Purchasing At times, it may be necessary to make purchases with cash. Certain procedures should be established, however, to protect the assets of the hotel.
If a local ordinance requires that liquor be purchased with cash, detailed records should be kept of the purchases. Credit Cards When a credit card is used in the hotel the following procedures are to be followed:
To help prevent fraud, guest credit card information should be tightly controlled. Credit card numbers should only be produced on reports when it is a business necessity. Credit card numbers should not appear on express checkout folios, registration cards, or hotel bills, when possible. Access to audit packs and other guest records should be limited to authorized staff who have a business need. Allegations of credit card fraud are a serious matter and should be fully investigated. If additional assistance is needed, the hotel should contact the Loss Prevention Department.
To help limit losses, strict controls over cash paying customers should be maintained. Cash paying guests should pay up front for the entire length of their anticipated stay. Room keys should be encoded to automatically expire at the checkout time on their departure date. A deposit should be required for incidentals. When a deposit is made, the folio should be checked daily to ensure usage does not exceed the deposit. Restaurant, room service and bar charges should be restricted or closely monitored.
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Credit Card Pre-authorizations When reservations are made by a third party for an arriving guest and charges are to be billed to the third party’s credit card, strict procedures are to be followed to prevent fraud. The third party should be required to fax authorization to the hotel prior to the guest’s arrival. Authorization should include faxed copies of the credit card (front and back), the driver’s license or photo bearing ID of the third party, the name and address of the third party and the name and address of the arriving guest. Standard credit card procedures should be followed to ensure availability of funds. ] Direct Billed Customers Caution should be taken when extending credit to a guest, company, or group. When a meeting planner or a guest requests credit for a function, a credit application should be completed a minimum of 48 hours prior to the function. The credit manager or their designee should contact the hotel’s bank or credit agency to obtain credit approval.
The best method of depositing money in a bank is to have an armored car service pick up the money at the hotel. This reduces the possibility of robbery and possible injury to an employee while enroute to the bank. When an armored car service is used, the hotel should maintain a current signature list of authorized armored car personnel. Before giving the hotel’s deposits to the transporting guard, a comparison should be made between the guard's receipt and the hotel's list. If positive identification is in doubt, the deposit should be retained and the armored car service notified. Deposits awaiting armored car pickup should remain secure in the safe. When an armored car service is not available but the hotel has a contract or in-house security force, a member of management and a member of the security force should jointly make the deposit. In the event that neither an armored car service or guard service company is available, a member of the hotel's management should make the deposit. It is recommended that another hotel employee accompany this manager. If management makes the deposit, the following steps should be taken to safeguard the deposit:
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Purchase Orders Purchase orders should be prepared for all purchases made by the hotel. These orders should be signed by the department head requesting the purchase and by the General Manager.
Information on the purchase order should be clear and concise to remove any doubt as to the item(s) desired. Also, the quantity and the price agreed upon per item should be on the form. After the paperwork has been processed, a copy of the purchase order should be given to the person who will receive the merchandise. At the time the merchandise is delivered to the hotel, the original purchase order document should be compared with the merchandise received. A copy of the approved purchase order should be submitted along with the invoices to accounts payable for payment.
Employees who work with accounts receivable should be separated from the cash handling function. There should be frequent reviews of the city ledger by the General Manager or their designee to ensure consistent and accurate billing of accounts. All incoming checks should be audited to verify that they are credited, in full value, to the appropriate account. General Cashier The hotel/general cashier funds should be stored in a tamper and theft resistant safe. Access to the safe should be limited to a single individual. The door to the general cashier's office should be of solid core construction and equipped with a uniquely keyed 1" deadbolt or electronic lock. A CCTV camera should be installed to monitor the safe. Hotel funds should never be stored in a cabinet or other unsecured area.
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Bad Debts Bad debts are bottom line losses and should not be written off until every means has been taken to settle the debt. If collection attempts are unsuccessful, the bad debt should be turned over to a third party collection agency. Payroll There should be a separation of responsibilities for the employees who prepare the hotel payroll. For example, the person who prepares and submits the payroll should not be the person who receives and distributes the paychecks. The General Manager should maintain total control over both the payroll and paychecks to ensure that there are no "ghosts" on the payroll.
The payroll roster should be purged frequently to take all people who are no longer employed by the hotel off the roster. Each department head at the hotel should be responsible for determining the current status of their employees and that the payroll roster reflects only those employees currently on the payroll. If the paychecks are distributed to department heads who in turn distribute the individual paychecks to the employees, then the department head should sign the payroll roster to certify to the General Manager or their designee that all checks received are for active employees. Asset Protection IV-11
The General Manager or their designee should ensure that periodic "payoffs" are conducted by members of hotel management. As employees personally receive their paychecks, they should be required to show positive identification.
To help reduce fraud and loss due to insufficient funds, proper check procedures should be implemented. Personal checks should only be accepted when the information on the check matches that on a valid photo ID. Checks should only be accepted from registered guests. Check cashing privileges should only be granted to guests who have checked into the hotel. Counter checks, third party checks, and checks which appear to have been altered should not be accepted. All checks should be authorized through a third party verification service. The approval code should be recorded on the back of the check and on the hotel's copy of the bill. If the legitimacy of a check drawn on a business account is in question, the company should be contacted. To prevent a future claim of payment when the check was exchanged for cash, stamps reading "Received for Cash" and "Received as Payment" should be obtained. All incoming checks should be stamped appropriately. The clerk should also initial the check to indicate who received it.
All checks received in the mail should be stamped for deposit, initialed, and entered in the check register by the person opening the mail. The person posting the checks in the front office should record the folio number in the check register. The General Manager or their designee should verify each check to determine that it was posted properly by tracing the payment to the applicable folio. The General Manager or their designee should also verify that all incoming checks have been applied in full to the proper account.
Problems can occur because checks received through the mail are substituted for cash from the register. To prevent this, it should become a daily practice to audit the check processing system to ensure that each check is being handled properly. After the deposit is prepared, the checks should be compared to the check register to insure that all checks received that day are included in the deposit. City ledger items sometimes have a way of "growing old". The General Manager or Front Office Manager should schedule a time each week to review the city ledger. No cashhandling employee should be allowed to keep the city ledger. Asset Protection IV-12
Traveler's Checks Traveler's checks are an increasing source of fraud. When accepting traveler's checks, care should be taken to verify the type currency (ex. American Dollar, French Franc, Canadian Dollar). Counter signatures should be made at the time of use. Checks which are not signed in the presence of hotel staff should be verified against photo ID. Counter signature and original signature should be compared for similarities. If the legitimacy of the check is in question, the issuing bank should be contacted.
Many hotels operate under a vending contract negotiated by their corporate office, but others have local contracts or own or lease their own vending equipment. To limit problems with the vending operations, the following suggestions should be considered:
Vendor commissions should be “rung up” on a master folio for each vending company. If there is an unexplained drop in revenue, an investigation should be conducted to determine the reason for the decrease. Vending machines should be located in a well-lighted, highly visible areas. To ensure safe operation of the vending equipment and to prevent employee or guest injury, the hotel should ensure that the cord is properly maintained and the plug is grounded. In vending areas which are exposed to water, ice machines, or other potentially damp environments, the outlets should be protected with ground fault circuit interrupters (GFI’s). Vending machines which can be easily moved or are unstable should be secured to the wall or floor.
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