Cash Handling and Credit Card Tips Policy

Cash Handling and Credit Card Tips Policy (Updated 3/3/2017)

FOH employees come in contact with very large sums of money during the course of their shifts. Cash sales, cash tips and credit card usage must be handled with extreme care and due reverence by all employees.

The listed policies should work as guidance to prevent financial injury to the guest, the team or the restaurant. Any mistake with money (no matter how small) must immediately be communicated to the MOD. Our first priority is to solve the problem and correct the charges, and we need all available information to do so. Additionally, many problems don’t become problems until the guest goes home and looks at their credit card statement. They deserve all the information available to them before doing so. Hiding a known mistake from management or from a guest will not be tolerated.

Repeated instances of negligent mishandling of money, and any instance of evasive or deceptive communication about money errors, may result in discipline up to and including termination.

Wrong Checks

When dropping a check, always verify that you have the correct bill, and that that bill is complete. If it’s not your table, ask the server before dropping! Servers are expected to close checks as soon as possible after the guests leave to prevent mistakes. As a safeguard,  when processing a payment or closing a check (for your table or someone else’s) always use the check number as the identifier, and double check the value before processing.

Cash Handling During Guest Transaction

Guests paying cash should always be given their change unless they clearly state that they don’t want it. Asking “do you need change?” is not acceptable. The server should instead say “I’ll be right back with your change”--which gives the guest the opportunity to indicate that they don’t need any (if they so wish) without adding any pressure to the situation. When making change, always round up to the next dollar if you/ the bar don’t have coins. The restaurant would rather lose a few cents than make the guest feel cheated.

In some instances, guests may hand us a bill to “break” so that they can better divide the check with their party. Please take a moment to clarify what the guest would like (are they trying to apply it towards the check or simply looking for small change).

If a cash transaction is completed by anyone other than the server responsible for that table, the check and cash must be handed directly to the server/ bartender. Leaving cash in the service stations is not acceptable. If the server is unavailable, a manager should be handed the cash/ check instead.

Credit Card/Debit Card Transactions

While credit cards simplify our lives tremendously, they come with associated risks. The most common mistakes with credit/debit cards result from a) closing the wrong check (see above), b) entering the wrong amount (most commonly when splitting checks multiple ways) or c) entering the wrong tip. To prevent the two latter mistakes, staff members must take extreme caution when processing cards and entering tips. Any mistakes in splitting a check must be immediately communicated to a manager and to the guest (ideally by the manager).

If a card needs to be re-processed, we always use the same authorization number do so. For most financial institutions, this results in an immediate refund of the first charge, but unfortunately that is not always the case. Even in the best case scenario,  a double charge will be visible on the guest’s bank statement.

Debit and credit cards, while they look identical, have very different policies and corresponding effects in our guests’ lives--a mistake on a debit card, no matter how small, can result in a rent check bouncing (unfortunately we learned this lesson from experience.)

Take extreme care in closing credit cards with gratuities, and always double check the value before pressing “ok.” Carefully double check the gratuities on your cash out before handing it in.

In instances when the “gratuity” line and the “total” line don’t match, our general rule is to use the total, assuming both make sense. If the total doesn’t make sense (e.g. it’s smaller than the bill total, it’s several hundred dollars higher than it should be, etc.) a manager might approve a different total and initial the slip. Similarly, when the signed copy of a receipt is missing, but the guest has left the “guest copy” either signed or imprinted, it’s up to the MOD’s discretion to decide if the guest’s intention is clear or not. The MOD should initial the slip to indicate the approval.

Missed Transfers/ Open Checks

Open checks are the responsibility of the server. If a guest leaves the table to either be transferred to another table or depart the restaurant, it’s that server/bartender’s responsibility to ensure the check gets transferred or closed appropriately. While the restaurant will take responsibility for any guests who purposefully or accidentally walk out on their bill, the team member must alert the MOD immediately. “I don’t know what that check is” is not an acceptable excuse/ explanation, especially when hours have passed. All tabs open under a server’s screen are that server’s responsibility.

Bank Handling

All team members must take extreme care in handling the cash handed to them, and make sure to organize their server books in a way that is conducive to best practices. Servers and bartenders working double shifts should make every effort to close their AM shift and cashout before dinner service starts. All money should be kept in the same place, organized and tidy. Money shoved in the bottom of pockets or aprons is not acceptable.

Servers are welcome to make a mid-shift deposit with a manager if they are handed a large amount of cash and would prefer to have it in the safe.

Each server/ bartending team is responsible for the “cash owed” line of their cashout as well as tips owed to the pool (in case of discrepancy, 20% of cash sales, and 20% of credit cards closed to zero tip will be assumed.). All good faith efforts will be made by the manager to find the root of the discrepancy if there is one, but the onus of good money practices (and communication in case of a mistake or problem) is on the employee.