Usually this is timing and fees, not theft. Usually.
Your POS says one number. The bank says another. In most cases nothing is wrong, but you should be able to explain the difference on demand, because the day you cannot is the day something real hides inside it.
The ordinary explanations
- Processor fees netted out before the deposit arrives
- Batch timing, where late-night sales land on the next banking day
- Tips paid out in cash at the end of a shift
- Chargebacks and refunds landing days after the original sale
- Gift card sales, which are a liability rather than revenue
- Sales tax collected, which is never yours to begin with
- Third party delivery, which remits net of commission on its own schedule
The right way to record it
Record gross sales, then record fees, tips, and refunds as their own lines. Recording only the net deposit understates revenue and hides your true processing cost, which is often the second or third largest controllable expense in the business.
When the gap is worth investigating
When it changes without explanation, when voids and comps cluster around one shift or one employee, or when cash deposits fall while cash sales do not. That is when a reconciliation stops being bookkeeping and starts being an internal control.
Books that close on time, reconcile to the penny, and are ready when you need to make a decision.
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