Training Notes: Smart Money

Hello,

As of today, everyone should have scheduled themselves for a Smart Money training. (If you have not scheduled yourself for a training, please let me know so that you can be scheduled by the end of this week.)

Below are a few notes Jose and I took at our training. Please let us know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Also: if any of you attended a training at another location, please let me know if you received any new information so that it may be added to this post.

My goal is to make sure everyone is informed regarding the information presented at these trainings.

Major Points - Melissa:

• The 2nd signature on the cash drawer count needs to be either the manager or the person-in-charge (PIC). (Going forward, the PIC at the location will be scheduled to do deposit. - MR)
• Staff should always count the money in the morning prior to placing funds in the drawer.
• If a mistake is made during a transaction, make a note on the cash drawer form. For serious matters that need immediate attention, email or call Dimitri Revada in Financial Services.
• There is no need to do a daily reconciliation form or to submit a monthly deposit report.
• Refunds can be done on Telecheck, but only managers are allowed to process refunds. Refunds through Telecheck must be done on the same day the transaction happened. Anytime after that and refunds must be processed through Financial Services. 
• Staff can use the Miscellaneous Items description in Smart Money to take monies collected for doing print jobs at the CSD, but staff must also make a note on the cash drawer form/merchandise category report what the Miscellaneous Items were for. Please initial or sign next to the description.
• Staff are not to give change from the cash drawer for any reason. Staff are also not to take money from the drawer. (In other words, we do not give refunds from the drawer. That must go through Financial Services.)
• If a credit card is declined through Telecheck, staff can ask for another form of payment but do not re-swipe card. Refer customer to Telecheck. 
• In Smart Money, for credit card payments, the form does not and should not be filled in completely because HPL does not store customer information in Smart Money. The only fields that should be filled in are the Transaction ID field and the Card Type field (we do not accept American Express).
• When processing credit cards and/or checks, use Telecheck first and then Smart Money.
• Dimitri is checking to see if there is a minimum amount that customers need to pay prior to paying with check or credit card (staff at the meeting stated that some customers have paid $0.20 fines with a credit card), but the maximum amount that can be paid by card is $200.
• There are no refunds or voids done in Smart Money. There are no refunds handed out through the cash drawer.

Major Points - Jose:

• Telecheck is used for credit card and check payments. It will prompt user if there are not enough funds for the credit card/payment to be accepted, at which point staff should ask patron if he or she would like to use a different payment option.
• When using SMM and a staff member needs to step away from the station, the staff member needs to log off/out of the system so no one can conduct transactions under the user's ID.
• There is no voiding or waiving in SMM.
• Staff can delete items while on SMM (before processing a transaction) and are encouraged to do so if needed.
• Do not remove fines in Sirsi if patron paid fines online and payment is not yet reflected on customer's account. First, call Financial Services and have them approve the removal of fines. They are currently having issues with PayPal and that is causing a delay in payment processing.
• No refunds at all should be given out of the cash drawer. All refunds come from financial services in the form of a check from the City of Houston. Financial Services can be reached at 832-393-1344.
• It is okay to process any overage funds as booksale in SMM the next day.
• If checks are not inserted the proper way into Telecheck, they will not be processed. Just keep on inserting the check into SMM until the proper way is met.
• The screen will prompt the user for check number - type in the number of the check.
• It is okay to use "No Sale" in SMM but always enter 0 for the amount. Staff might use this to see if change is needed or to complete drawer count at end of the day.
• If there is not enough change to separate monies for the deposit at the end of the day, it is okay to send just one envelope with the un-separated monies, as long as the total deposit amount is sent.
• Do not sign any report unless you actually count the money at the end of the day. Printed name or legible signature on report is okay. If signature is illegible, then printed name is needed next to the signature.

Thank you,

MR