How to keep track of cash from delivery drivers

Why cash goes missing

When the takings do not add up, the first thought is often that somebody has been careless or worse. Usually it is neither. The same few things cause most of the gaps:

• Loose change and rounding. A driver takes £40 for a £38.50 delivery and leaves it at that.
• "I'll pay you next time." A regular customer is short, the driver agrees, and nobody writes it down.
• A card payment that failed. The driver thinks it went through and moves on.
• Paid to the other driver. The customer paid last week's delivery to whoever came this week.
• Written up from memory. The day is reconstructed at 6pm from a pocket of notes and a few scribbles.

Every one of these is a recording problem, not an honesty problem. Fix the recording and most of the gaps disappear.

Record it at the door

The only reliable moment to record a payment is when it happens, at the stop, with the customer still there. Record:

• The amount actually taken, not the amount that was due.
• Whether it was the full amount or a part payment, so the balance left is right.
• Which order or invoice it was for.

A part payment recorded properly is a small balance to collect next time. A part payment remembered is an argument three weeks later.

Hand it over properly

The handover is where a driver's cash becomes the business's cash, so treat it as a proper step rather than an envelope left on the desk.

• Count it together, or at least count it and agree the figure the same day.
• Check the count against what was recorded at the doors, not against what the driver remembers.
• Hand in cash from a single day where you can. Cash that sits in a van for a week is the hardest to reconcile.
• Both sides should agree the figure. A handover the driver has not agreed to is not really settled.

When the figures do not match

Sooner or later the count and the record will differ. How you handle it matters more than the amount.

• Start with the record, not the person. Go through the day's stops together and look for the one that does not fit.
• Check the usual suspects: a part payment, a card payment that did not go through, a customer who paid someone else.
• Correct the record once you find it, rather than adjusting the cash to fit.
• Write down what you agreed, even if the answer is that nobody knows.

A small, one-off difference is usually a slip. The same driver coming up short week after week is a pattern worth a calm conversation, with the records in front of you.

Cash and card in one picture

If cash lives in a notebook and card payments live in a banking app, nobody can see who has paid. Keep every payment against the customer and, where there is one, the invoice it settles. Then a customer who rings to say they paid the driver can be answered in seconds.

It also helps to be clear about when a customer has paid. The customer has paid when they hand over the money, not when the driver hands it in. Mixing the two leads to customers being chased for money they have already paid.

Less cash, without forcing it

The less cash on the vans, the less there is to count. That does not mean refusing it: plenty of customers, particularly older ones and small businesses, prefer to pay in cash, and a good distributor keeps them happy.

• Offer card at the door, paid on the customer's own phone, so nobody needs a card machine.
• For new or one-off customers, ask for payment by link before the delivery.
• For regulars on account, invoice and let them pay by transfer or card.

How you record and report cash for tax, and any rules on handling it, depend on your business. Your accountant or HMRC can tell you what applies.