There is a situation at work which just isn't right. I don't want to go into detail but long story short someone is either stealing or the books are off for some reason we can't fnd. we dont know which. If it is the books ar eoff we can't figure out why. if it is someone stealing we have to discreetly figure out who and the problem is we can't go to the manager cause of reasons that can't be said. We have 2 suspects if the books arent wrong. For reasons that can't be discussed on the internet we have to do this without the manager or dm. so how do we do this. I know accouting but the system we are using I don't have enough access to to figure exactly what is going on. The money always washes out but why is it short to begin with????? It is not a little off it is enough people are going to start getting wrote up and fired and we are expecting loss prevention to show up. It may also be in the computer itself. It has crashed so many times on us this week it is unreal. We spent 10 hrs on the phone with tech support the other day. and both computers were crashing at the same time. How do we figure out where it is at and what is causing it. Thanks for any and all help and ideas
documenting has helped. Nobody is stealing it is a computer glitch and I can almost prove it. NOt yet though. My drawer started out over $5 short at the begining of the shift and ended almost $2 long. We gained $7 in 6 hours. So I know where it is we just need to figure out a diffrent way of documenting it to prove it. It is going to take time but we should be able to prove it is a computer glitch. and no one was short or long for the day. It is slowly making sense but I do not have enough to stand my ground yet. It has my district manager confused to. He doesn't know until tomarrow what I have figured out. He is going to fall over. It explains part of it and the rest I think will fall in line. I think it will eventually explain itself if we start doing our books diffrent and keep documenting everything. We are keeping a seperate set of books than corperate. So we will be able to hold our ground to corperate.
If the books are cooked and there's no one you can trust to tell, you need to find a different job. I would document what you've found, find a new job, and then report it to whoever you think you can in the company.
If you haven't already, start writing down all the problems you have come across: the numbers that don't come out right, the dates, etc. Then call loss prevention and report your suspicions. Do not name the suspects unless asked. You don't want to look like you are trying to set someone up for a fall. LP will be able to figure it out. Call LP right away before the suspect has the chance to "clean" everything up.
Unless you think it's the manager stealing I would tell him/her. Since you can't get to the detailed accounting to really see what is going on your only option is to tell the manager. You could try printing everything out and taking it to an independent account to see if he/she could figure it out but who would pay the bill.
If it were me I would go to my manager and say something and put it in writing for the manager and district manager to have and keep a copy for myself. If money is missing or someone is using company money as their own personal loan dept. they could accuse you or any other employee. I would rather be upfront about it and hopefully be cleared of suspision. You may also want to speak to an attorney to get legal advice.
Are you in retail? In my experience (having been in retail corporate offices my whole career and observing LP in action), your best course of action is to pick up the phone and call the LP department to report your suspicions. Chances are that they already know what's going on, and they probably have a very good idea who's doing it. Generally speaking, when they come to your store, they will interview everyone, and good LP people will just grill the culprits until they crack. If you are innocent, you have nothing to worry about, BUT I would still report what you know to them. And always ALWAYS have a second person on hand to witness cash counting, have a second person sign off on any voids, returns, etc, and make sure that any cash handling you do, know where the LP cameras are, and make sure your hands are visible to the camera, count cash slowly so the camera can see what you're doing, etc.
I think your instinct not to tell your manager is probably right - you would be shocked to know how much money it's possible for managers and even DMs to take, and telling them could cause them to panic and fire you. Better to tell LP, as they are not involved in store politics AND they're in a position to stop the theft.
The manager must be involved. It's not realistic to think this can be solved without having EVERYONE involved. IF someone is stealing, it will be revealed in the process.
If you don't think it is the manager, you need to tell him/her. If you do, you need to go over his/her head to his supervisor. You will likely need an outside audit to assess the problem.
Maybe you can ask someone arbitrary. I like the suggestion of documenting _everything_. Is there a part of the Better Business Bureau who could help or point you in a helpful direction? -Good luck
Well, if you are the accountant you are on the hook for missing money unless the police get involved and you call fraud. I hope that helps, but I am betting it only makes it harder.
i would go directly to your boss with all the information you have. if she asks who you suspect then i would tell her. but i would not go tell her who you suspect just tell her that the books seem off and something seems fishy your not sure but would like for him/her to know about it. then stear clear of that situation. sounds like you want to bust them yourself when it could end up getting you into trouble. good luck.
If you can't go to your manager, or your district manager, then go to the owners of the company (or whomever is above the DM) and report it. If you don't do something soon, you could end up being the next one fired.
