Oscar Fye has recently been hired as the manager of Janie’s Canyon Coffee, a national chain of franchised coffee shops. During his first month as store manager, Oscar encountered the following internal control situations:
a. Oscar caught an employee putting a case of 100 single-serving tea bags in her car. Not wanting to create a scene, Oscar smiled and said, “I don’t think you’re putting those tea bags on the right shelf. Don’t they belong inside the coffee shop?” The employee returned the tea bags to the stockroom.
b. Janie’s Canyon Coffee has one cash register. Prior to Oscar’s joining the coffee shop, each employee working on a shift would take a customer order, accept payment, and then prepare the order. Oscar made one employee on each shift responsible for taking orders and accepting the customer’s payment. Other employees prepare the orders.
c. Since only one employee uses the cash register, that employee is responsible for counting the cash at the end of the shift and verifying that the cash in the drawer matches the amount of cash sales recorded by the cash register. Oscar expects each cashier to balance the drawer to the penny every time—no exceptions.
State whether you agree or disagree with Oscar’s method of handling each situation and explain your answer.