Cash Larceny (Part 9)

Fraud's Finer Points 

We'll discuss ways to calculate the amount of loss from missing cash register Z tapes (which record total accountability), as well as two additional cash register manipulation schemes that cashiers use to misappropriate funds from the organization.

MISSING CASH REGISTER Z TAPESOne of the most basic cash register frauds involves losses of revenue associated with missing Z tape numbers. As we explained in the November/December issue, the Z tape reading is a function for recording the total accountability of all funds collected by cashiers at the close of the business day (or a portion of it depending on the ways the organization uses its cash registers).

Every organization must ensure that the cash register Z tape number from each business day is recorded on a daily activity report. Once recorded, managers must then monitor the sequential use of all Z tape numbers to ensure that the universe of all transactions has been turned in from each cash register. Fraud occurs when cashiers fail to turn in all Z tapes and misappropriate the revenue from all transactions recorded on the missing Z tape number. Cashiers can use one of two methods “ beginning of the business day and end of the business day..