| Cash registers are devices that are used by | | | | sales, calculating discounts and inventory control. |
| businesses for cash transactions and other types of | | | | In smaller retail establishments, shop owners or |
| transactions. The earliest cash registers were more | | | | managers often manually total and count out all the |
| like totaling machines or calculators. These systems | | | | registers in their store. This is not possible in larger |
| had a device that would ring every time the cashier | | | | establishments, like supermarkets. Larger |
| clicked the totaling button. These registers were | | | | establishments are often equipped with a point-of-sale |
| equipped with a safety device, which enabled the cash | | | | system. The multiple electronic cash registers |
| drawer to be opened only when a sale was recorded. | | | | connected to a central processing unit. All transactions |
| The only other way the cash drawer could be opened | | | | are recorded here, allowing for an easier end of day |
| was with a key, which was often kept by the shop | | | | process. |
| owner only. | | | | The most basic components of a simple cash register |
| The cash registers today are built to scan bar codes | | | | are the customer and operator displays, the keyboard, |
| or universal product codes and this makes it possible | | | | the printer for printing receipts and the internal memory |
| to retrieve prices from a central database. They are | | | | of the machine. The choice of a cash register system |
| often connected to computers that record cash | | | | depends on the size of the establishment and the |
| transactions and automatically calculate tax. Other | | | | volume of business. |
| common functions of a cash register are recording | | | | |