What Is Cash Handling?

Cash handling is a business activity that focuses on the tasks of accepting, counting, tracking, and dispensing cash as part of a business operation. The particulars of the process may be automated or manual, depending on the setting and the amount of cash involved in the handling and accounting process. In general, cash handlers are trained in how to fulfill their responsibilities and to account for the cash that is placed in their trust, as well as how to react in situations that are outside the normal scope of the job.

Cash handling takes place in just about any type of business situation. Retailers train personnel in how to handle cash as part of the process of receiving payments from customers making purchases. In the event that the cash transaction involves the exchange of legal tender, the employees are also trained in how to provide the correct amount of change to the customer. The training also involves instructions in how to process credit card payments properly, up to and including obtaining the signature of the customer and providing a receipt as evidence of the completed transaction.

The task of cash handling is also an essential part of the ongoing operation of a number of other types of businesses. Check cashing services as well as payday loan companies train individuals in cash handling policies and procedures that are required by the business. Bank personnel are specifically trained in how to go about receiving cash deposits from customers, managing disbursals from customer accounts, and even in how to obtain additional cash from the bank’s safe when there is a need to replenish a cash drawer. Casinos also train individuals in how to become cash handlers, taking the time to make sure those employees know how to manage a till or drawer of cash properly, including how to reconcile the contents of the drawer at the end of a shift or working day.

The overall process of cash handling even involves training in what to do should unanticipated circumstances take place. For example, a bank teller who is also an authorized cash handler will be trained in how to respond to a robbery attempt, a move which helps to increase the chances that no one will be injured during the robbery attempt. The exact nature of training for cash handling will vary, depending on the type of work environment involved and the amount of cash that flows through the operation on any given business day.