Whats going on here then ??

[carbado]

Hi all,

wonder if anyone can answer me this, I work in well known takeaway / delivery pizza outlet. What i have come to notice is that whenever an order is placed its receipted in the normal way (i.e the customer is given the reciept whether del or a takeaway) but every so often the manager uses an invoice book (like the ones you can buy in stationary stores) to write and total and order and the customer is not given the receipt... I asked what the process was for once and the guy said its complicated to explain, a second time i asked a supervisor there and he was a bit cagey and said its not done nearly everynight (gives me the impression something dodgey) but that was about all he said...

anyone know whats going on here ??

[NORMANTHEDOG]

wake up son,they are fiddling the till and pocketing the money

[carbado]

i gathered something like that, but its the actual owners of the shop that say the it has to be done, would they not be robbing themselves as to make the food it costs money anyway ??

[Buenchico]

Your post states that you work in a well known' pizza place but it also refers to the shop as having 'owners'. From this, I assume that it's a franchise operation.

Franchise holders are only allowed to buy their supplies from the company which grants the franchise. (This, of course, is so that the customer will receive exactly the same product irrespective of which shop they go to).

However, franchise holders often find that they can buy cheaper products elsewhere and substitute these products for the 'official' ones (thus making bigger profits).

Obviously, this would quickly become apparent to the franchise company if the shop simply ceased buying the official products so only a certain percentage of 'fake' products are mixed in with the 'real' ones.

The franchise company has the right to check the sales figures of the shop and, obviously, these should match the purchase figures. It's for that reason that the franchise holder records the 'unofficial' sales separately (if he records them at all).

An additional advantage to the shop owner is that he will end up with a set of sales figures which he can truthfully say has been checked by the franchise company. It will be these figures which get presented to the tax man. The shopkeeper benefits twice over because he's made extra profits to start with and then he doesn't pay any tax on those profits.

I've not specifically heard of these practices taking place in pizza chains (although I've no doubt that they take place) but the quality of the coffee you get in certain branches of a well-known burger chain varies far more than should reasonably be expected. (i.e. it's evident that the franchise holders are buying cheap coffee and substituting it for the 'official' product).

Chris

[carbado]

Chris, i should have pointed out that it was a franchise originally, but thanks very much, that really makes a lot of sense...

[Trotbot]

There may also be a VAT angle to this - VAT on sales not through the till may not get reported to Customs

[gammaray]

if they were fiddling the till they wouldn't bother to write the order down in a reciept book. In a franchise operation the operators will pay the franchise owner a settlement every month for the license to operate the franchise. The settlement figure will be based on turnover and the less recorded turnover there is the less the settlement figure will be. The reason the orders are recored has something to do with Buenchicos answer. consumable items can only be bought from the franchisors approved supplier and stock losses will be accountable. If the two figures (turnover and stock useage) don't tally, it rings alarm bells (or atleast it should do) with the franchisor. The operator is keeping a note of the stock usage so he can massage the wastage figures to keep the two sets of figures reasonably even, thus not arousing suspicion.