How do I check a dry cleaner’s sales when customers pay at the counter?

Counter sales are easy to state and hard to prove, because a share of customers pay at pickup and the money passes through one till. As a buyer you are not accusing anyone by checking. You are building a picture from records that exist independently of each other, so that the sales you are told about can be seen in more than one place.

Match tickets to the till

Ask for the ticket system’s reports and the till or point-of-sale summaries for the same periods. Garments taken in, garments picked up and money collected should tell one story. Ask how discounts, voided tickets and no-charge re-cleans are recorded. Ask who can edit or delete a ticket and whether that leaves a trace. Your accountant can tell you which reports are the most useful.

Follow the money to the bank

Compare daily or weekly takings with the deposits that reached the account, including card settlements. If the seller banks only part of the takings, ask why and how the rest is handled. Cash that never reaches the books cannot be shown to a lender, and a buyer cannot rely on it. Ask your accountant how unrecorded cash should be treated in your review.

Check what the shop buys

A shop that cleans a lot of garments buys a lot of hangers, poly bags, tags and supplies. Look at supplier invoices and, if the shop sends work out, the plant’s invoices. Rising or falling purchases should roughly track the sales you are shown. If they do not, ask the seller to explain the difference before you go further.

Ask the people who see it daily

Counter staff know how busy the shop is and how many customers pay in cash. Ask the seller’s permission to speak with them, and be open about why. For the rest of your review, this checklist for buying a dry cleaner lists the other records to request.