Giving change is the most watched thing you will do in a first retail job, and the fastest way to lose trust. It is also easier than it looks once you stop subtracting and start counting up, which is how people who are good at tills actually do it.
Do not subtract. Count up.
The bill is R73,50. They give you R100. Instead of working out 100 minus 73,50 in your head with a queue watching, count upwards from the bill to the note:
- R73,50, plus 50c, is R74
- R74, plus R1, is R75
- R75, plus R25, is R100
So the change is 50c plus R1 plus R25, which is R26,50. You never did a subtraction, and every step was small enough to do out loud.
Count it into their hand the same way. Say the numbers as you hand over the coins and notes. It slows you by two seconds, it lets the customer follow, and it catches your own mistake before the money leaves the till.
Say the amount they gave you, out loud, before you open the till. "Out of two hundred." This one habit prevents the most common dispute in retail, where a customer says they gave you R200 and you remember R100. Some shops teach it as a rule. Where they do not, do it anyway.
The bill is R138. The customer hands you R200 and says "wait, here is R3 as well."
What happens: Now you owe them R62 plus their R3 back, and the till is R3 over at the end of the shift. Mid transaction changes are where most till errors start.
What happens: Right. R138 plus R2 is R140, plus R60 is R200, plus R3 is R203. So the change is R65. Saying the new amount out loud is what stops the confusion.
What if I realise afterwards that I gave too much change?
Tell your supervisor immediately, before the count at the end of the shift finds it. A shortage you reported yourself is a mistake. The same shortage found by somebody else looks like something worse, and that difference matters much more than the amount.
The customer says I short changed them and I do not think I did
Do not argue and do not accuse. Call the supervisor, that is exactly what they are there for. Most shops will count the till there and then, which settles it. This is the second reason for saying the amount out loud when you take it: it gives you something to point back to.
I freeze when there is a queue
Counting up is the fix, because each step is small and you can say it out loud without looking clever or slow. Nobody in the queue has ever complained about a cashier who counted carefully. They complain about the one who has to void the sale and start again.
Before you move on
- Count up from the bill, never subtract
- Say the amount they gave you out loud before opening the till
- Report your own mistake before the till count finds it
Check what you know
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