- A review of up to 90 days of available POS exception data.
- A written Profit Leak Findings Report.
- A ranked list of the top control gaps or patterns to investigate.
- Store-by-store and employee-by-employee review where the data supports it.
- A one-hour findings call with Blake Smith.
- A 7-day action plan for the highest-risk issue.
MarginHero services
Two decades of asset protection experience, built to help you protect more profit.
Start with a fixed-price Profit Leak Audit when your POS data suggests something is off. The audit can also expand through the MarginHero survey, giving us a wider view of cash handling, refunds and voids, camera coverage, training records, incident documentation, inventory visibility, and store routines. Add on-site assessment, incident response, or ongoing AP leadership when the situation needs deeper operating support.
Virtual assessment
Find the profit leaks hiding in refunds, voids, discounts, no-sales, and drawer variance.
Most retail losses do not show up as one dramatic event. They show up as repeated patterns: a refund rate that is too high at one location, voids clustered around one employee, manual discounts after close, no-sales that line up with shortages, or drawer variance that never gets tied back to a cause.
The MarginHero Profit Leak Audit is a fixed-price review of recent POS exception activity. You send the reports. MarginHero reviews the patterns like an asset-protection operator, then gives you a plain-language findings report showing where money may be leaking, what to check first, and what control changes would reduce repeat exposure.
- Refund volume, refund dollar amount, and refund timing patterns.
- Voids, cancels, paid-outs, and no-sale activity.
- Manual discounts, employee discounts, overrides, and price adjustments.
- Drawer shortages, overages, and repeat register variance.
- Location, employee, shift, opening, closing, and high-risk-hour outliers.
- Paper-trail gaps that make follow-up harder.
Data handling
You send what your POS can export. Perfect data is not required.
Before any POS exports are shared, MarginHero provides a Confidentiality and POS Data Handling Addendum explaining what data is requested, how it is used, who can access it, and when raw exports are deleted.
- Refund report.
- Void or cancel report.
- Discount or override report.
- No-sale or drawer-open report, if available.
- Cash drawer shortage or overage report, if available.
- Sales by store for the same period.
- Employee or cashier names or IDs, if available.
- Store list and store numbers.
- Manager list.
- Refund, void, discount, and cash-handling policies.
- Recent incident notes, if there is a specific concern.
- Known problem store or employee concerns you want tested against the data.
MarginHero does not need full payment card numbers, CVV codes, bank account numbers, Social Security numbers, passwords, payroll files, or private HR files for this audit.
Process
Clear steps from purchase to findings call.
- Book the audit.You purchase the fixed-price audit and receive the intake checklist and Control Snapshot link.
- Sign the data addendum.MarginHero and the client sign the confidentiality addendum before files are shared.
- Send exports.You send POS reports by secure upload or approved restricted shared folder.
- Confirm receipt.MarginHero confirms which files were received and pauses if unnecessary sensitive data appears included.
- Review patterns.Blake compares stores, finds outliers, separates process gaps from possible abuse indicators, and identifies what to check first.
- Receive the report.You get ranked findings, practical next steps, and a 7-day action plan.
- Walk it together.You get a one-hour findings call to review what the data shows and what to do first.
- Delete raw exports.Unless a pilot starts or longer retention is agreed in writing, raw POS exports are deleted after the audit review window.
Important note
Operational review, not an accusation engine.
The Profit Leak Audit is for education, control improvement, and decision support. It is not legal, accounting, tax, insurance, HR, employment, private security, law enforcement, or regulatory advice. Findings should not be used as the sole basis for accusing, disciplining, terminating, or reporting any person. Business outcomes depend on data quality, implementation, local law, store conditions, employee behavior, technology systems, and management decisions.
When the data needs a store walk.
In-person assessment of physical security, camera coverage, live cash-handling observation, staff interviews, and available POS data. Each additional store on the same trip is +$1,000. 50% is credited toward an annual commitment.
* On-site availability is location, schedule, and travel dependent. Priority service is currently focused on the Mid-Atlantic region.
View details Incident response $1,500When something just happened.
Support for owners who caught a serious issue and need neutral documentation, evidence organization, follow-up questions, and next-step controls before the record gets messy.
View details Fractional AP director $2,500/moOngoing AP leadership without a full-time hire.
Monthly review, coaching, controls, and accountability for operators who need recurring asset-protection attention. Limited Availability.
View details