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Cash Registers and Revenue

The Revenue Office has certain requirements which retailers who use a cash register must adhere to. These requirements mainly relate to record keeping.

As a retailer, you are required to retain:

  • A full record of all transactions that may affect your tax liability and/or tax deduction entitlements. Each transaction must have a unique identification number as well as the time and date of the transaction.
  • Daily sales reports (Z reports)
  • Any other reports or records you use in the running of your business.

These records must be maintained for a period of six years.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your cash register is set up to correctly retain this information. There are several different approaches you can use, depending on the nature of your business and the capabilities of the cash register.

Some cash registers record their transaction data in what is known as an electronic journal. This means the data is retained in the till's memory. The electronic journal can be printed off at any time. Some tills will also allow you to transfer it to a computer.

If your till doesn't have enough memory to store 6 years' worth of transactions, you'll need to upgrade its memory or periodically copy the journal to a PC or other device. You can also print the journal on the till's receipt printer. Once you've made an electronic or paper copy of the journal, you can clear the journal from your cash register's memory and continue with new transactions. Most tills won't allow you to put sales through if the journal memory is full.

Electronic journal data may be lost if you allow your cash register's memory protection batteries to run low and/or if the till loses mains power for an extended period.

More basic cash registers may not have an electronic journal. In some cases, such cash registers will have two printers, one for customer receipts and one for printing the journal as sales are put through.

If there is no second printer and no electronic journal, the cash register will usually be set up by default to use its printer to print the journal as you ring up sales. In these cases, you will not be able to give your customer a receipt from the till.

If you need to be able to issue customer receipts, you have several possible options:

  • Use 2-ply paper which creates a copy of each receipt (this will only work with tills that have impact printers and which can accept 2-ply paper).
  • Make a copy of the customer receipt. Many tills allow you to do this by pressing the Cash/Tender button again immediately after putting through a sale (refer to your cash register's manual for more).

More information about Revenue's requirements can be found on the Revenue website at www.revenue.ie. Information found on the Revenue website supersedes the information presented here.

CashDrawers.ie advises you to read your cash register's manual thoroughly to ensure it is set up to meet all Revenue requirements. In some cases, you may have to reprogram certain system options.