Cash Drawers

Do People Still Use Cash Drawers?

POS technology changes rapidly, but the one POS hardware component that has remained constant is a metal box used to securely store cash. Despite the movement to a cashless consumer economy, cash drawers are still a vital component of a point of sale system. A cash drawer has distinct compartments for coins and bills of different values, which allows cashiers to quickly and accurately count customer change without shuffling through bills and coins. Cash drawers take the brunt of everyday wear and tear, so it’s common to need replacement parts such as tills, mounting brackets, and spare keys.

How do cash drawers pop open?

Interestingly enough, a cable from the receipt printer to the cash drawer prompts the device to open when a cash transaction is completed. The cable looks like a phone line, and it is specific to the brand of printer. If a customer's cash drawer won't open, 99 percent of the time it's because the drawer isn't connected to the receipt printer.

Are all cash drawers the same?

Pretty much, yes. Cash drawers offer different dimensions. Some are built with reinforced metal and others can be mounted, but they're basically all the same.

What about cash drawer counts? Or a specific cash drawer for a clerk or waitress?

Properly setting up your cash drawers to flow with your business processes can increase productivity. For example, some businesses perform cash counts at the end of a shift, even if the business is still serving customers. To avoid downtime while counting the drawer, many customers employ a two-till system in which they simply swap tills (the plastic insert that holds the cash and coins) and keep the register open.

A second common request we have is for each clerk or staff member to maintain a separate cash drawer so that a cash count discrepancy can be easily associated with the appropriate clerk. This is a fairly simple setup that only requires two cash drawers.