Bank tellers , who perform similar duties but work in financial institutions, are discussed elsewhere in the Handbook . They must count their bank to ensure that it contains the correct amount of money and that there is an adequate supply of change. At the end of their shift, they once again count the drawers' contents and compare the totals with sales data. An occasional shortage of small amounts may be overlooked, but repeated shortages are grounds for dismissal in many establishments. In addition to counting the contents of their drawer at the end of their shift, cashiers usually separate charge forms, return slips, coupons, and any other noncash items.
Cashiers also handle returns and exchanges.
They must ensure that the merchandise is in good condition and determine where and when it was purchased and the type of payment used. Cashiers traditionally have rung up customers' purchases using a cash register-manually entering the price of each product the consumer was buying. However, most establishments are now using more sophisticated equipment, such as scanners and computers. In stores with scanners, the cashier passes the product's Universal Product Code over the scanning device, which transmits the code number to a computer. The computer identifies the item and its price.