If you’re considering adopting cash management technology for your business, you could be overwhelmed by the number of choices on the market today. From coin and bank note recyclers to currency counters and discriminators, you have plenty of options.
Another device you might investigate is the smart safe. What is this device and what does it do? More importantly, you want to know how your retail business can benefit from adopting one.
What Is a Smart Safe?
Much like your smartphone or your smart thermostat, a smart safe incorporates technology that makes it “smart.”
This technology allows the device to do far more than a conventional safe could ever do. For example, a smart safe keeps a log of who has accessed it and how many times it’s been accessed over a given period. If you want to know how many times your employees are going into the safe, the smart safe can tell you.
It also keeps a tally of how much cash it’s holding. It records deposits and withdrawals.
This makes it much easier to track what’s going into and coming out of the safe, as well as how much cash you have on hand and who is making withdrawals and deposits.
Streamlining Your Banking Activities
How many times a day do your employees run to the bank? How often do you order an armoured truck to pick up your cash deposits?
With a smart safe, you can streamline these activities. Since you always know exactly how much cash is on hand in the safe, you can make better judgments about when to order that pickup or when to send someone to the bank.
This information can also help you keep the right amount of different denominations on hand for preparing floats and making change. If you’ve ever completed a bank run, then had an employee tell you immediately after that you’re out of fives, you know how helpful this technology can be.
Keeping Better Records
Smart safes in retail improve your paper trail. You can easily track deposits and withdrawals, as well as when transactions occurred.
You can keep tabs on the amounts coming in and going out of the safe. This builds better records, making it simpler to track down errors and anomalies.
The better records can also help your bookkeeping when it comes time to reconcile the books and your bank statements. It may even be helpful if a government agency ever decides to conduct an audit of your business.
Improving Accountability and Safety
Smart safes improve the accountability of your employees. With a conventional safe, you may not have a way of tracking how many times it’s been accessed. You also may not have a clear record of who is accessing it.
The smart safe changes that through the better record-keeping mentioned above. In turn, you can hold your employees accountable for any errors or anomalies. This acts as a deterrent to certain behaviours, helping to keep your cash safer.
Is a Smart Safe the Right Choice?
Now that you know what smart safes are and what they can do for your business, you might ask if it’s the right choice. If you’re not sure, reach out today.
