voids

[Rich]

This topic has been raised on here before but it has been some time ago. The void function in Helios (I am on version 8 right now) allows employees to remove transactions regardeless of their password level. I can do a transaction at 8:00 in the morning and my employee can come in and void it at 5:00 at night without having authorization to do so. There is a time limit in voids that allows you to take off a sale without being authorized. This of course shows up in the void report but if you do not run this as part and parcel of everydays activity it could build up over time. My question is, why is it this way and what can be done about it? It seems like a giant hole that more than one of my employees has found. Why could the time limit on needing password authority to void not be defined by the store owner?

[Andy]

Rich, as you know currently Password protection for Voiding Old Sales applies to sales prior to today.Cashiers have to be allowed to correct errors without delay. You have a valid point regarding some timeframe within a day. The question then I guess would be what timeframe. As it is, and as you stated the Void Sale Report provides the necessary information to monitor and control this issue (but after the fact).FYI - Solarsoft's Salon Wizard product has the ability to schedule reports (including custom reports). One of these reports that can be emailed directly to you is the "Possible Theft Report" were a transaction has been voided more than XX minutes from being created.[ August 06, 2001: Message edited by: Andy @ ATSO.ca ]

[Rich]

Is it possible to change the canned configuration on how long to allow a void without password from whatever it is now to some other number?

[Andy]

Rich, unfortunately not. This is not configured - it is part of the base program.

[Rich]

I called tech support to get their ideas on it and Jessica was not sure if on version 9 they made changes to that area or not. She is going to ask around and let me know tomorrow. Hope that they can come up with something because I understand the reasoning that clerks need to make changes but go to any mass merchant and see how it is done. A manager is needed to override and make changes. Clerks are not allowed to do it without supervision(password protection) or as you said it is after the fact. The money can be gone and unless you check every day you could be out thousands. Luckily I am only out a few hunderd but the hole is there and needs to be filled. I am not a programmer but it seems to me that if other things can be definable this should be made that way too.

[Andy]

It is always possible that a change has been made in V9.4 that I am not aware of, but I truly am not aware of anything in this area.In most mass merchandisers you have many staff members on shift at one time including supervisors or senior cashier that can authorize refunds on the spot. In most Salons/Stores that I have been been exposed to, if you had more that one staff member on shift the cashier is likely the most senior.Rich, I think it is a good idea to reduce the amount of time that voids are allowed within the same day, but regardless of what timeframe you might set that would be long enough to allow cashiers to fix errors - you would still want (in my opinion) to look at your Void Sales Report for possible theft (example if it was set to 30 or 60 minutes).This issues and the relating existing control reports are in fact an excellent vehicle through which you can identify an undesirable employee - this can save you THOUSANDS of dollars that they may also steal in other methods.My thought - use the Void Sales Report as an excellent and daily audit tool.