Cash drawer and drawer openings

The kassaskuff (cash drawer) is where the cash lives. Because a drawer can be opened without anything being registered, the law has special rules for it: the drawer must be connected to the cash register system, every opening must be counted, and nobody may register anything while it is open. How to use the drawer in practice is described in The cash drawer.

The requirements

How Cmerce does it

An integrated drawer per register

The drawer is connected to the drawer port on the register's Star printer, and the printer opens it when the till asks. For each register you choose whether it has an integrated cash drawer: go to «Kasse (POS)» → «Kasser» (Registers), open the register and use the «Kassen har integrert kassaskuff» (The till has an integrated cash drawer) switch in the «Kassaskuff» (Cash drawer) section.

• On: The drawer opens automatically on cash sales (including when only part is paid in cash) and on returns paid back in cash. Every opening is journalled and counted, and the till is blocked while the drawer is open.
• Off: You declare that the register falls under an exemption, typically a till that does not accept notes and coins. Nothing is blocked, and the reports show 0 drawer openings.

You are the one who knows how each till is used, so this is a per-register choice. A new register has the setting off until you switch it on. Changes to the setting are recorded in the audit trail.

Every opening is counted

Every time the drawer opens, a signed entry is written to the electronic journal with the reason: sale, return or opening without a sale. Cmerce also counts openings the till did not ask for – the printer reports when the drawer opens. The law counts openings, not only authorised openings. The number appears as «Kassaskuff åpnet» (Cash drawer opened) on the X- and Z-reports, including when it is zero.

Opening the drawer without a sale requires a separate permission, so you decide who may do it.

No registrations while the drawer is open

While the drawer is open, the till refuses all registrations – not just new sales. That covers adding, changing or removing items, discounts, the customer on the sale, parking and resuming sales, cancelling a sale, returns, handing over click-and-collect orders and starting a payment. The till shows the message «Kassaskuffen er åpen. Lukk kassaskuffen før du fortsetter.» (The cash drawer is open. Close the cash drawer before continuing.)

These are not blocked, because they are not registrations: a card or Vipps payment already in progress (it completes), X- and Z-reports and cash counting, printing and sending receipts, and «Åpne skuff» (Open drawer) itself.

• The printer stops responding with the drawer open? The till then stays blocked until the printer reports the drawer closed, or for at most 10 minutes. After that the till is released, so a broken printer does not close the shop – and the audit trail records when it happened.
• No switch to turn the block off. The only thing that controls it is whether the register is declared with an integrated drawer.

What you must do yourself

• Declare each register correctly. If the register accepts cash, it must have an integrated drawer and the setting must be on. If you are unsure whether an exemption applies to you, talk to your accountant or auditor.
• Use the right equipment. The drawer must be connected to a Star network printer (CloudPRNT). Built-in printers, for example in a payment terminal, have no drawer port. Choose a setup with a drawer sensor, so the till can see when the drawer is open.
• Close the drawer immediately after each payment and any other opening.
• Register the opening float when you open the till for the day (the «Veksel i kassen» (Float in the till) field).
• Document cash withdrawals during the day, and keep the documentation in the drawer. The till has no function of its own for deposits or withdrawals, so you produce this documentation outside the till.

In short

• Registers where you accept cash must have an integrated cash drawer.
• Every opening – including without a sale and without the till asking – is journalled and shown on the X- and Z-reports.
• The till blocks registrations while the drawer is open; the block cannot be switched off.
• You choose per register whether it has an integrated drawer, and you must close the drawer, register the float and document withdrawals.