Cameras vs POS for employee theft — which should I use?
Owners ask whether cameras or the register will catch till theft. Use them as a pair, in that order: the POS report tells you which shift to coach, and a short clip shows what happened at the drawer. Neither one is a substitute for a count someone owns.
Short answer
Start with POS: voids, no-sales, refunds, drawer opens, and which shift was short. Use cameras to review those timestamps. Do not watch the floor for hours hoping to see something. Cameras without an exception waste the afternoon. POS without a look at the counter leaves you arguing about numbers.
What the register is for
- The list of odd events, by person or by shift, depending on how you roster drawers.
- The size and the time. That is the coaching agenda.
- A before-and-after once you have changed the routine. You are looking at your own closes.
What the camera is for
- The minute at the drawer for a line on that list.
- Who was actually there if the drawer was shared — which is also the habit you should coach away.
- A shared picture in the conversation, not a private compilation.
If you do not have a clean count yet, neither tool will save you. Start at why the till is short and stop staff stealing from the till. The question of whether it is theft at all: is staff stealing from the till.
POS picks the shift. A short clip shows the drawer.
SoraData soft-connects cameras you already run to the moments your register already flagged, so the review stays short. Request a trial or view plans when it fits.