BARTENDER FRAUD AND ABUSE

The most common bartender ways to cheat are:

• Ringing up a custom, underpriced drink in the POS and pocketing the difference

• Over pouring for friends, family, authorities, or local merchants

• Buying and bringing their own liquor from home and using that to pour drinks, not ringing anything up and pocketing the money

• Flagging a check as a walk-out and keeping the money

• Unsanctioned comps, AKA free drinks

• Claiming a drink was sent back by the guest, then reselling it and keeping the money

• Ringing up well drinks (see what is a well drink) but giving away top-shelf liquor

• Ringing up top-shelf liquor but giving away well drinks and keeping the difference

• Ringing up drinks on another bartender’s open POS login

• Ringing up a bottle of wine, but serving wine by the glass and pocketing the difference

• Failure to ring in cocktail server sales and pocketing the money

• Selling wine bottle left-overs to other customers as wine by the glass and not ringing it in

Prevention internal control measures:

• Control POS manager void access carefully

• Require ROD ring on delivery and observe compliance

• Limit access to liquor store room to manager only

• Track liquor requisitions to main lounge

• Require bottle for bottle exchange to maintain par on hand

• Eliminate open promotion key access in the POS

• Utilize electronic promo tickets and control issuance

• Manager review and tracking of void tickets, walk-outs, and complaints

• Track daily sales and inventory of super premium liquor and wine

• Utilize unique POS employee sign in and terminate old accounts

• Utilize cloud based POS systems to track sales, tips and payments in real time (Toast, Square, Clover)

• Print and review daily financial and sales report

• Add surveillance cameras to the main bar location, drink stations, POS, and inventory

• Lock beer kegs, wine, and liquor inventory after hours.

• Perform monthly inventories with modern APPS (ParTender, BarLounge, BevTend, and others)