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<blockquote data-quote="hexemaus2" data-source="post: 398194" data-attributes="member: 4560"><p>With POS systems, you have to program the bar code into the system. So when a store starts stocking XYZ Product for the first time, they have to scan the bar code and tell the system what the product is. Some fancier systems are able to identify certain products with certain types of bar codes and figure out what they are, but the administrator of the system can always change those options - they have to have access to that stuff to set prices & configure sales taxes. (Many states have different sales tax rates for different types of things like groceries, clothing, non-nessecity items, etc.) Odds are, stores that accept FS benefits for nonfood items have programmed their system to classify everything as a "grocery" item...which means their readings for stock/sales are going to be way off. However, they don't have to turn that information into anyone, as far as I know. They just have to report totals as part of their Sales & Use Tax forms. At least in Georgia, there's very little they have to do in terms of reporting specific types of items they've sold. There's gasoline, tangibles, services, wholesale, retail, etc., but no break down of grocery vs. nongrocery and that sort of thing.</p><p> </p><p>Private store owners are usually the ones who commit the most fraud in regards to FS. They have the most control over their POS systems. Heck, you can go to Office Depot and buy a complete POS system already set up for Quickbooks, etc. You program everything yourself from product descriptions to classifications for sales tax to pricing. You can set your system up to read a pack of cigarettes as a gallon of milk. The system doesn't know one way or the other. It just knows you told it to associate this bar code with that product, which gets that sales tax rate, and sells for this price. Heck, you don't even have to use a POS system. We have several small mom & pop grocerers and convenience-type stores here that still use the old electronic cash registers where you ring everything up by hand. When they accept FS cards, they use the same machine for those cards as they do credit cards. Without a POS system attached, you just enter the total, FS/Cash, and the customer enters their PIN. No reporting of individual items.</p><p> </p><p>That kind of thing used to drive me CRAZY when I did bookkeeping for clients. I had no way of helping them determine where they were losing money if I didn't know what was brought in, what was sold, what their inventory levels were, etc. All I could do was enter totals with the information I had and tell them...you lost X amount of dollars this month, or you had an X% profit this month. I couldn't tell them you're only selling X number of loaves of bread, so drop how many you order since you don't get return credit from xyz vendor. I couldn't tell them you're selling more X beer than Y beer, so adjust your orders accordingly. Drove me batty! I hated store owners with their own POS systems or old electronic cash registers. Their bookkeeping was always a mess.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hexemaus2, post: 398194, member: 4560"] With POS systems, you have to program the bar code into the system. So when a store starts stocking XYZ Product for the first time, they have to scan the bar code and tell the system what the product is. Some fancier systems are able to identify certain products with certain types of bar codes and figure out what they are, but the administrator of the system can always change those options - they have to have access to that stuff to set prices & configure sales taxes. (Many states have different sales tax rates for different types of things like groceries, clothing, non-nessecity items, etc.) Odds are, stores that accept FS benefits for nonfood items have programmed their system to classify everything as a "grocery" item...which means their readings for stock/sales are going to be way off. However, they don't have to turn that information into anyone, as far as I know. They just have to report totals as part of their Sales & Use Tax forms. At least in Georgia, there's very little they have to do in terms of reporting specific types of items they've sold. There's gasoline, tangibles, services, wholesale, retail, etc., but no break down of grocery vs. nongrocery and that sort of thing. Private store owners are usually the ones who commit the most fraud in regards to FS. They have the most control over their POS systems. Heck, you can go to Office Depot and buy a complete POS system already set up for Quickbooks, etc. You program everything yourself from product descriptions to classifications for sales tax to pricing. You can set your system up to read a pack of cigarettes as a gallon of milk. The system doesn't know one way or the other. It just knows you told it to associate this bar code with that product, which gets that sales tax rate, and sells for this price. Heck, you don't even have to use a POS system. We have several small mom & pop grocerers and convenience-type stores here that still use the old electronic cash registers where you ring everything up by hand. When they accept FS cards, they use the same machine for those cards as they do credit cards. Without a POS system attached, you just enter the total, FS/Cash, and the customer enters their PIN. No reporting of individual items. That kind of thing used to drive me CRAZY when I did bookkeeping for clients. I had no way of helping them determine where they were losing money if I didn't know what was brought in, what was sold, what their inventory levels were, etc. All I could do was enter totals with the information I had and tell them...you lost X amount of dollars this month, or you had an X% profit this month. I couldn't tell them you're only selling X number of loaves of bread, so drop how many you order since you don't get return credit from xyz vendor. I couldn't tell them you're selling more X beer than Y beer, so adjust your orders accordingly. Drove me batty! I hated store owners with their own POS systems or old electronic cash registers. Their bookkeeping was always a mess. [/QUOTE]
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