1954 Practical Bar Management by Eddie Clarke

PRACTICAL BAR MANAGEMENT

Without the maintenance of a record covering these miscel laneous transactions it is clear that Bar Control can be ineffective, and this is far from being in the best interests of the barman. Clerical work behind the bar should be limited to the essential,and if the detail is adequately explained the barman will appreciate that the whole is as much in his interests as those of his employer. Control of Cash Bar Revenue A cash register is normally used in bars of this type. As readers will know,there are several types of cash register varying from the normal cash drawer till to the more elaborate models issuing tickets for individual sales and analysing business. Each cash register is locked, and the money paid in daily is agreed by the Control with the subsequent register reading. In view, however, of the number of occasions on which the reverse procedure is found operating, whereby machines are read first and machine totals demanded afterwards, it is wise to add a note of caution on the principle of the cash register. A cash register cannot constitute a icq per cent, control— by its very mechanical nature it is dependent on the human element. From the Control point of view, it has excellent psychological advantages—it is indeed a fundamental part of the Control System and no more. The barman should have a daily Cash Paying-in Book which is receipted daily by the cashier. Where booked charges or credits—are permissible in such bars, the barman should total these checks, append the total under an appropriate heading beneath the cash figure and hand them in to the cashier. These checks represent token cash to the barman, and it is therefore important that they should be credited in full. It is, however, normally the barman's responsibility that no visitor leaves without payment of his full account and, therefore, dependent on cir cumstances and known duration of stay of visitors, the procedure can be revised and credits handed to Bill Office at more frequent intervals. No hard and fast rule can be laid down here—^the essential being that the barman should maintain an overall total of such credits for the day as a double check for the Control on their own figures. 136