A shortage of money in the cash drawer

You may be right. A shortage of money in the cash drawer may mean the cashier has stolen some money. If the shortage is an even dollar amount, be extra suspicious. But the shortage could be the result of innocent errors when making change for customers, such as bills stuck together or counting mistakes.

How can you tell if the shortage is probably due to theft?

• Has this happened to the same cashier before? If people steal once and get away with it, they are likely to keep doing it.
  
  
• Are employees sharing a cash drawer? If you don't have a good way of figuring out who might have stolen the money, someone is more likely to steal without trying to cover it up.
  

Now see why an overage of money in the cash drawer may also mean someone is stealing from you.