Staff permissions for small shops: who should see and do what

In a shop with two or three staff, it feels awkward to talk about access. You know these people. But permissions are not about distrust. They are about setting things up so that one mistake, one bad day or one weak moment cannot damage the business.

They also protect the information that gives you an edge: what you pay suppliers and what you earn on each product. If a cashier leaves for a competitor, or simply talks, those numbers travel with them. Staff do not need them to do the job.

Use this as a starting point and adjust to your shop. A trusted long-term manager may need more. A new part-timer needs less.

Separation of duties means that no one person controls a whole money process from start to finish. In a big firm, that is a formal rule. In a small shop it can be a few habits:

• The person who sells does not cash up alone. Someone else, ideally the owner, checks the count.
• Refunds and voids are visible. The cashier can process one, but it stays on record, and the owner reviews them.
• Stock adjustments have reasons. Write-offs are recorded with a reason, and large ones are checked by the owner.
• The person who receives stock is not always the person who sells it. Where possible, a second person checks deliveries. See how to receive stock deliveries.
• Counts are done by someone other than the usual stock handler at least sometimes. See how to do a stock count.

With one or two staff you cannot separate everything. Choose the two or three controls that matter most, usually cash-up, refunds and write-offs, and stick to them.

A shop lets cashiers refund any amount in cash with no record. One cashier handles a $40 refund for a returned item. The item is placed on the shelf. The $40 comes out of the drawer. Nothing is recorded. At closing, the cash is $40 short and stock shows one fewer than the shelf holds.

Was the refund real? Nobody can tell. The cashier is honest, but now carries the suspicion. Compare a shop where refunds are recorded against the original sale and stay on record. The owner can see the refund, the product and the time. The $40 gap has an explanation, the item goes back into stock as a return, and nobody is accused. Good controls clear honest people as much as they catch dishonest ones. See how to handle refunds and returns.

1. Explain the why

   "This is how the system works for everyone, including me." Present it as policy, not suspicion.

2. Give each person their own access

   Never share one login. Shared logins make it impossible to know who did what.

3. Start tight, loosen with trust

   It is easier to give access later than to take it away.

4. Remove access the day someone leaves

   Do not wait. Change any shared codes, and collect keys.

5. Review monthly

   Does each person still need what they have?

Cover this in training too. See how to train a new cashier, and for the bigger picture on loss, shop cash security.

• "My staff are family." Then the controls protect the relationship. Money disputes between relatives are the hardest ones, and a record prevents most of them.
• "It will slow things down." Not if permissions are set once. A cashier who can only see the selling screen actually moves faster, with fewer places to get lost.
• "I want my manager to see everything." That is fine. Give them more access than a cashier, but still keep your own login for settings and the numbers you want only you to see.
• "I will remember what everyone can do." Write it down. When someone new joins or someone leaves, a written list is how you remember to change things.

Shopkeepa has two kinds of access: owner and cashier. Cashiers can use the point of sale, search and scan products, take sales and record the payment type. They cannot see cost or profit, and they cannot change settings. The owner sees everything, including reports, the stock ledger and settings such as currency and sales tax.

Refunds and voids are kept on record, and every stock change is a movement with a reason, so each action leaves a trail. That supports the separation-of-duties habits above: cashiers sell, and the owner reviews. Learn more about the point of sale. Shopkeepa is in development, and early access shops will help shape it.