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Guide to buying a Cash Register

There are two different routes you can take while looking for a new cash register for your business. This obviously depends on what type of business you have or are going to run, how much money you want to spend and most importantly what functions you want the machine to have.

One route is to purchase a machine straight out of the box, these can be bought through cash and carry outlets, stationery suppliers or over the internet. The only advantage to this is that you save money on the purchase however there are several disadvantages to this, the main ones being that you have to set up the cash register yourselves which often includes programming, there is often no telephone backup and also although there will be a guarantee what happens when it goes wrong? In most cases it involves returning the cash register to the original supplier and getting a replacement, starting the process of setting the machine up all over again.

The next route would be to purchase a machine off a specialist dealer such as us. We can supply three basic types: the stand alone electronic cash register (ECR) suitable for retail outlets, stand alone Electronic point of sale (EPOS) machines and also networked EPOS often with features such as a scanner and/or kitchen printer.
Restaurants, for example, can take the order sending the information to the kitchen printer which in turn sends the food straight to the table.
In all of these cases, we will do all the programming and set-up of the machine and training you and your staff on how to use the systems. It may therefore be more expensive than straight out of the box but you will get our after sales care and support as well. We provide a complete service from new and used tills to service and repairs to after sales care, we also supply till rolls (single or two ply rolls and thermal rolls) we even supply rolls for your credit card machine.

Print faint on your till rolls? Then maybe it needs a new ribbon or ink roller again we can supply these for you. Do you run a bar or fast food shop? The till may need protection from harmful substances i.e. fluids, salt & vinegar then we can supply wetcovers to cover your keyboard and protect it.

How often have you been confused when programming your cash register whilst updating products or prices, we can update your products for you contact us for a no obligation quote. We can also print a new Keyboard sheet for you just supply us with the information and current design.

Got a fault with your till and need it repairing then contact us either by phone or if just a query then email us and our highly trained service personnel will endeavour to repair your machine or help you the best way they can, our service department also place many cash registers under a maintenance scheme where you pay an annual fee to have the machine maintained and which covers all parts and labour (thermal heads excluded).

Email support?
Email us at cashregs@aol.com for all sales and support.

A cash register will last for 10 or 12 years, sometimes longer. But most businesses upgrade their tills every five to seven years on average. Obviously you don't have to do this, but this means occasionally we get second hand machines, which sell for less money. We sometimes trade them back when customers upgrade, we recondition them and sell them on. You then benefit from our after sales care on second hand cash registers.

What do you need from your machine?
The obvious - if not very helpful - answer to this is that everyone needs something different. And if you are managing on a tight budget you might want to allow this to dictate your choice.
If you have a small retail outlet there is a limit to the sophistication of the features a till will need. A basic electronic register - from under £400 - should suffice, with departments and simple till roll to give customer a receipt if they want one. The main thing in retail is that the till be quick to use. Customers won't want to spend ages waiting for your system to process their purchases. You need serve them quickly, and keep a record of what's been sold at the end of the day.

For a larger outlet you are likely to need more - with some degree of stock control. Independent stores for example, need such features to cope with busy periods.
The options for a restaurant system can see costs vary from £400 up to £3,000. A programmed cash register with a printed keyboard so that drinks and food can be entered as they are ordered will help you to keep track of orders and also print out itemised receipts.
Free quotations and customer site demonstrations on request. 

Don't discount the value of a good cash register - it can do more than just keep your cash safe until you take it to the bank Remember its there to help run your business not make it harder


Glossary to Buying a Cash Register

Single Roll Printer.
Basic tills have single rolls, with very basic details on the printout. They will only show a price enter against a department number.
These types of single roll machines are ideal for keeping a journal only or as a receipt roll only not both. Run as a receipt the detail is on the receipt is pretty limited and not ideally suitable to give to a customer as a receipt.
Twin Roll Printer.
If you need a receipt and journal, then you need to purchase a machine with a twin roll printer (this will enable you to keep a record for yourselves and also give a receipt to your customer. However you can purchase a single roll machine with electronic journal
Thermal Printing
Nearly all-new models of Cash Registers have a thermal printer. Thermal printers are quicker, quieter and more reliable. Thermal paper works by a heated printer burning the data onto special thermal rolls the roll is much easier to fit as in most cases the roll will just drop in to the printer compartment.
Electronic Journal
New single roll thermal printing cash registers keep the sales data in the tills memory electronically. The journal data must be printed out on a regular basis on the thermal printer to keep a detailed record also to free up memory as the till has a limitation on the amount of sales that can be recorded.


Departments (or Groups)
Departments are used to produce a breakdown to show you how much has been sold to a particular department. Plu's or bar codes can be linked to departments or groups and may not necessarily be keyboard for example in a pub or restaurant groups could be draught beers, spirits etc or maybe starters, mains courses and sweets.
PLU
PLU stands for Price Look Up, and is a unique reference code for a product. This product would consists of a Description, price and linked to a Department\Group. The PLU is printed on a flat keyboard easy use. Plu's can be used for checking a check stock sold!

Barcodes and Scanning
A bar code works in a similar way to a Plu but the data can be scanned into the register and again can be used for checking a check stock sold!

Stock Control
Stock control can be monitored from till readings taken from the Cash Register this can be done by taking readings at the end of shifts (daily stock) or over a period of time i.e. when a stock take comes or on a quarterly basis.
On some machines this may be done through a software package and a detailed stock report will be taken on your computer.

Till Readings
Cash registers can give various reports X readings will read the data but not clear the information while a Z reading will also give you a report but clear the machine at the same time a ZZ reading or Z2 will give you a periodic reading depending on when you need the data.
Some machines will give various readings
E.g. daily, weekly, department, PLU, hourly, staff readings.