Contrary to popular belief, cash is still widely used. Although some experts have suggested a cashless economy could eventually emerge, it’ll be a slow process. There are many reasons people like using cash, and in countries like Japan, cash transactions still dominate. Even in Canada, where the use of cash has been declining, cash still accounts for a large percentage of transactions, around 51 percent in 2017. Cash is most often used for smaller transactions.
As a business owner, you should consider provisions for handling cash. Managing cash can be time intensive and tedious. It can cost more time and money than you know. In a small business, where everyone’s expected to wear many hats, key employees may be tied up with cash management.
What can you do to speed up the process of handling cash? Try some of these tips for cash management for small business.
1. Technology Improves Cash Management for Small Business
You can consider any number of cash management devices to improve cash handling in your business.
Maybe you haven’t thought about adopting this kind of technology because you’re worried about the costs. You may also believe you don’t handle enough cash to warrant the purchase.
There are solutions available for every business and every budget, and all of them can improve cash management for small business. A currency counter or sorter may be the right solution for you. A coin and bank note recycler is a more complete solution, which can help you reduce the need for managing floats and counting tills.
2. Review and Revise Your Policies
If you do adopt technology designed to assist with cash management, you should also review your cash management policies. There may be redundancies built into your current processes, which can slow down your employees.
Again, technology can help here. Getting a more accurate count by using a currency counter could reduce the need to count and re-count cash for accuracy. It may also reduce the number of errors you need to find and fix later on.
3. Train Employees to Handle Cash
Another tip to improve cash management for small business is to ensure your employees are trained properly when it comes to handling cash. This means reviewing your policies and procedures.
Inadequate training can sometimes lead to employees ignoring policy. They may believe their own way of completing certain tasks is faster or more efficient. Make sure employees understand why you use the processes you use, and demonstrate why they’re the most efficient.
4. Rationalize Your Banking
Another task employees may get tied up with is banking. They may spend time putting together deposits or going to the bank to get cash.
Technology, such as a coin and bank note recycler or smart safe, can help with this aspect of cash management for small business, but you may again decide to review your policies. They could be causing your employees to spend more time at the bank than they need to otherwise.
5. Reconsider Floats and Tips
Other common cash management tasks in a business include preparing and managing floats for the registers and sorting out tips. You can speed up cash management here as well.
Perhaps reconsider how you collect and divvy up tips. Adopting a coin and bank note recycler could make this process even easier.
The same is true when dealing with tasks related to floats. Could you reduce the float in a register or find a more efficient way to help cashiers track their tills and count them at the end of a shift?
There are many different ways to speed up and improve cash management for small business. Adopting the right technology is often the first step in the right direction.
