Research insights revealed by professional private investigators highlight interesting facts regarding the opportunities or motivators for employee theft.  Factors such as ease of access to cash, an inherent lack of integrity, personal financial circumstances and an organization climate conducive to dishonesty, all create a sea of temptation for cash-strapped South Africans to steal from their retail industry employers.

The retail industry in South Africa estimates that 5-7% of turnover is lost to shrinkage, in the form of four main types:

Arguably one of the most onerous finance and administrative processes in the retail space revolves around reconciling transactions between the systems that trigger upon a sale.  Starting with the point of sale (POS) event, to payment by cash or card in a matter of seconds, a successful transaction relies on the interaction between the POS, the switch and the bank settlement to ensure the merchant is paid the correct amount due for the goods sold.  Ensuring payment of the correct amount is in the domain of the finance and back office administrative function; this is achieved through a reconciliation process that confirms whether the retailer has been paid the correct amount according to the transaction fundamentals.

ReconAssist^TM automates the reconciliation process to deliver an exception-only outcome for resolution by the respective retail teams.  For retailers that are processing thousands of transactions daily, this software is not only a practical, but a very much welcomed addition to their internal control arsenal, as it reconciles at the most granular transaction level. Retailers are now able to resolve discrepancies at transaction level, thanks to the performance speed of this software. 

It is this determination that positions the retailer with the insight required to assess whether cash shortages on the takings are purely incidental or consistently reflect shortfalls associated with one or more operators.