So you don’t think it will happen to you. You believe your staff are loyal and honest as the day is long. There are enough stories about business owners who had that same trust and have been left with the shattering realization that profits have been skimmed by those ‘loyal and trusted staff’. In one year alone, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners recorded small business (defined as less than 100 employees) fraud at $2.9 trillion dollars. And more sobering is that 82% of small to medium size businesses report some form of employee theft. The odds are that just maybe it is happening to you right now and you don’t even know. The median loss was reported at $200K and this fraudulent activity was taken over a two to three year period.
If your business receives cash payments and checks or is a cash business, a drop safe is an excellent first level security measure. Cash in cash registers can be regularly swept and deposited into the safe where it is kept secure until the next banking cycle. Where a business takes cash or checks for payment of services a drop safe secures the payments until a responsible person, eg a manager, reconciles the deposits and banks the monies. Places you will see drop safes used include motels, restaurants, churches and gas stations.
Drop safes can be relatively simple affairs having a slot at the top for depositing valuables and a door to access the contents. For daily security processes this simplicity is an asset that provides value as a quick and easy to use repository for cash and documents. Designed for mid to low security and in the main being non-fireproof, these types of safe or drop boxes as they are sometimes called, should only be used for the temporary security of valuables.
Where cash and valuables cannot be secured in a bank overnight it is very important that you do not leave goods in the drop safe. The contents of these safes should always be transferred to more secure storage at night. Fireproof home safes or office safes and especially fireproof burglary safes should be used. For businesses such as bars and nightclubs that operate at night burglary rated drop safes are available and should be installed. When choosing drop safes there are a number of security features to be considered.
If you have a cash business then you need to recognize you are in the high risk category for employee fraud and that you need to have in place security measures to minimize potential losses. For many organizations large or small investing in one or more drop safes should be a first consideration. There is a range of options and sizes that will meet your security requirements.