Handling Money
•Cash Register
•Receipts
Patrons may pay for library fines, fees,
lost books, guest accounts,
merchandise, copy & print cards,
and all other library expenses by
cash, by check, or by credit card.
Patrons may not “charge” item
purchases to their library accounts
in Voyager. Payments are expected
at the time items are bought.
If anyone has any questions concerning
this, refer them to a supervisor.
All monetary transactions involving cash, checks, or credit cards must
be entered on the cash register. To use our register for a monetary
transaction, follow these directions:
Enter the amount of the transaction.
– If a patron is buying a $6.00 Copy & Print card, $6.00 is the transaction
amount; if they are paying $3.20 in fines, $3.20 is the transaction
amount.
– When entering the transaction amount, do not enter a decimal, since
the register does this automatically. If there are “no cents” in the
amount, you can press the “00” button. (i.e. if $6.00 is the transaction
amount, then press the “6” button and the “00” button; for $3.20
press “3, 2, 0” in order).
ILL
Items
Fines/Guest Accounts/Lost Books
Copy & Print Card
Enter the account into which money is going by
pressing its corresponding button.
– There are four account buttons. The 3 main, large buttons are
for Copy & Print Cards, Fines & New Accounts, and Items. A
smaller button for ILL fees is also available, but is rarely used.
– If a patron is buying a Copy & Print card, press the Copy &
Print Card button.
– The “Fines” button is used for paying Overdue Fines, Lost
book replacement charges, and Guest Account fees for Local
Resident and Alumni Courtesy Guest payments. (Be SURE to
alert a supervisor if someone wants to pay a Lost Book fee!)
– The “ILL” button is for Interlibrary Loan charges, which display
in Voyager as “ILL Article charge” or “ILL Book charge”. (There
are very few of these.)
– “Items” covers merchandise purchases, such as a CD-Rom, a
transparency, or laminator film.
Account Buttons
Cash
Check
Credit Card receipts
If the patron is paying the exact amount of the
transaction (no change required), press the
appropriate payment type button: Cash, Check, or
Credit Card.
At this point the register drawer will open and allow
you to put something inside.
– One, five, and ten dollar bills go in the appropriate
denominational sections.
– All bills greater than $10.00, as well as checks and credit
card receipts, will go together in the left-most section.
– Checks will only be accepted for the exact amount of the
transaction, and should be made payable to Wheaton
College.
– Credit card charges also must be for the exact amount of
the transaction.
– We request (but can’t demand) credit card charges to be at
least $1.00.
– Note that credit card charge transactions should NOT be
enacted/entered in the register until AFTER the charge has
been processed on the credit card charge machine.
Payment Buttons
IF the patron is paying by cash and gives you a bill larger
than the transaction amount, do not press the Cash
button right away.
– First, enter the amount of money the patron has given you,
and THEN press the Cash button.
– The register will calculate and display the change due to the
patron as it opens the drawer for you.
– Give the patron the correct change.
– For example, the patron wants to pay $4.15 in fines and
hands you a $5.00 bill. Enter the following in sequence: 4 1
5 Fines 5 00 Cash.
When there are multiple items being paid for in one
transaction, enter all the separate amounts and their
accounts, then hit Sub Total, and then enter the
payment at the end.
– For example, a patron wants to buy a $1.20 copy & print card
and also pay off $3.50 in fines that are listed in Voyager and
also pay $.60 for a blank CD, and they give you a $20.00 bill to
cover it all. Press the following buttons on the cash register in
sequence: 1 2 0 Copy&Print Card 3 5 0 Fines 6 0 Items
SubTotal 2 0 00 Cash
– The register should tabulate a subtotal of $5.30 and display
change due of $14.70.
When you have completed all the transactions for a
patron on the cash register, push the red “C” button to
clear the register for the next patron.
Directions are
posted here for
quick reference.
More Cash Register Tips
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•
•
In order to open the cash register drawer without enacting any sort of transaction,
push the Check button, which also serves as the Open button.
If the register runs out of a certain denomination of coins or bills, tell a supervisor,
who will get some more from the safe.
Patrons may ask you to make change, such as to exchange a $5.00 bill for 5 ones,
or to give them coins in exchange for a dollar bill. This is fine as long as our supply
of bills or coins is not depleted. If patrons want coin change for more than $2.00,
or to change any bills greater than $20.00 for smaller ones, please explain that this
depletes our cash supply and see if they have any smaller bills to swap instead. Be
sure you make change correctly, with an exact swap for the same amount!
If someone offers a $50.00 or $100.00 bill to pay for a small charge, inquire
whether they have any smaller bills or another way to pay (such as by check or
charge) so as not to “wipe out” our cash drawer. If they have no other way to pay,
accept the large bill and make change, and then get a supervisor to make the
necessary exchanges to replenish the bill supply in the drawer.
• If you make a mistake in entering a transaction and notice
it right away, before you have hit the payment type
button, hit the red “-/Error correct” button to erase the
last entry you made.
• If you make a mistake, and have already hit the payment
type button that finalizes the transaction, leave a record
about the mistaken transaction (what you actually did and
also what it should have been) on the “Cash Register
Mistake Log”, which is on a clipboard hanging under the
Circulation counter. You can also put a note in the
Circulation supervisor’s wooden box if the log isn’t
sufficient to note all the details. This record is necessary
so the appropriate adjustments can be made when the
register tape is reconciled and the bank deposit is made.
• Important: Whenever someone pays for a fine or fee on
their library account in Voyager, REMEMBER TO “PAY”
THE COMPUTER and resolve the charge in Voyager, as
well as entering the transaction in the register.
• If the cash register runs out of paper, get a supervisor.
Occasionally, a patron may ask for a receipt for
what has been purchased or paid.
Buswell Library Receipt forms are located in the
drawer near the cash register.
• Write in each item purchased or the type of
fee that’s been paid.
• Write the amount paid for each in the
appropriate place.
• Enter the total.
• Write your name on the “Employee” line and
complete the other blanks.
• Give the receipt to the patron.
BML Receipt Form
Handling Money 1: Cash Register & Receipts Questions
Write a short answer to fill in the blanks of each statement.
1. Patrons can pay library fees by cash, ______________, or credit card.
2. If a patron is paying a $25.00 alumni guest account fee, you should press
the “_________ and New Accounts” button on the cash register to
designate the account.
3. Checks should be made payable to _____________ ______________.
4. Credit card charges should be for the ________________ amount of the
transaction.
5. To clear the register for the next transaction, press the red ____________
button.
6. If you make an error on the cash register, and have already finalized the
transaction by pressing the payment type button, record your error on the
Cash Register __________________ Log, which is on a clipboard hanging
under the counter.
7. A “BML ________________ Form” can be completed upon request for
patrons who want proof of a payment transaction.