Cash Register - in Current Use

In Current Use

Cash registers include a key labeled "NS", which is abbreviated for "No Sale", and opens the drawer, printing a receipt stating "No Sale" and recording it in the register log that the register was opened. Some other cash registers require a numeric password or physical key to be used when attempting to open the till. In some jurisdictions the law also requires customers to collect the receipt and keep it at least for a short while after leaving the shop, again to check that the shop records sales, so that it cannot evade sales taxes.

Often cash registers are attached to scales, barcode scanners, checkstands, and debit card or credit card terminals. Increasingly, dedicated cash registers are being replaced with general purpose computers with POS software. Cash Registers use bitmap characters.

Today, scan the barcode (usually EAN or Universal Product Code (UPC)) for each item, retrieve the price from a database, calculate deductions for items on sale (or, in British retail terminology, "special offer", "multibuy" or "BOGOF"), calculate the sales tax or VAT, calculate differential rates for preferred customers, actualize inventory, time and date stamp the transaction, record the transaction in detail including each item purchased, record the method of payment, keep totals for each product or type of product sold as well as total sales for specified periods, and do other tasks as well. These POS terminals will often also identify the cashier on the receipt, and carry additional information or offers.

Currently, many cash registers are individual computers. They may be DOS, Windows or Unix based. Many of them have touch screens. They may be connected to computerized Point of sale networks using any type of protocol. Such systems may be accessed remotely for the purpose of obtaining records or troubleshooting.