Cash integrity

How do I catch employee theft?

Owners usually don’t “catch” theft by watching live feeds all day. You catch patterns: cash events that don’t match the floor, shortages that survive a tight process, and moments you can replay with a timestamp.

Short answer

Use your POS exception report as the map and your existing cameras as the confirmation. Focus on voids, no-sales, cash refunds, and short tills after dual-control counting. Match timestamps to short clips. Document what you see. Then follow a fair process with the employee — don’t ambush from vibes alone.

Build a catchable trail (ops checklist)

• Baseline the float. Know normal variance for your shop before you call something theft.
• Flag exceptions daily. Voids, no-sales, cancellations, cash payouts — skim the list; dig when something spikes.
• Dual control on drops. Two people on cash drops and end-of-day when you can.
• Clip with context. Open the camera at the POS timestamp ± a minute. Watch the drawer, the customer interaction, and whether the sale matches what left the till.

What “catch” should mean for a shop owner

It means enough documented pattern to train, warn, or escalate — not a gotcha montage. Honest mistakes and theft can look similar on a busy Saturday. Context (customer present, receipt printed, second staff nearby) is why you review clips with the POS line, not instead of it.

See also signs of employee theft, how to stop staff stealing from the till, and staff stealing money from the till.

Tone to avoid

Skip “hidden camera to catch employee theft” as your public framing. If you already have cameras covering the counter for security and insurance, use those angles. Secret setups raise trust and legal hassle faster than they solve a till problem.

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