Cash rounding at the till: check the total and receipt

Test the till with both cash and electronic payments. Use the examples to inspect records, then have the GST and export treatment checked for your actual system before changing settings.

Separate three different rounding questions

The product's advertised price, the calculated GST amount and the cash handed over are different figures. Rounding the final cash settlement doesn't mean changing every product price to a five-cent increment. It also doesn't justify automatically applying the same adjustment to card transactions.

The ACCC's 2000 cash-rounding guidance describes rounding the final cash payment where one- and two-cent coins are unavailable and says electronic totals need not be rounded. It is historical payment guidance; it doesn't establish the current GST coding for your merchant system.

Basket total	Cash paid	Adjustment	Electronic payment
$12.41	$12.40	-$0.01	$12.41
$12.43	$12.45	+$0.02	$12.43
$12.45	$12.45	$0.00	$12.45
$12.47	$12.45	-$0.02	$12.47
$12.49	$12.50	+$0.01	$12.49

Fictional final-payment examples following the cited ACCC convention. No GST calculation or tax-code treatment is implied by this table.

Test a full basket, then change the tender

Build the same fictional basket in a vendor-approved test environment. Save the total before payment, choose cash and inspect the adjustment. Run the basket again with an electronic method and compare the result. Keep both test references.

Include a discount and a basket with items requiring different tax treatment, with the classifications already confirmed by your practitioner. Avoid changing catalogue prices to make the final cash number agree; that changes a different part of the sale.

Check how the receipt explains the amount

The receipt should let you follow the basket total to the amount settled. Ask the vendor where it displays the rounding adjustment and where that amount appears in reports. If the cash drawer expects $12.43 but staff receive $12.45, find the missing two-cent movement before accepting the configuration.

Test a refund separately. Confirm whether the system restores the original tender amount or recalculates a current rounded amount, and ask how it handles partial refunds. Don't infer the result from a full-sale example.

Take the GST question to the right reviewer

Give your BAS or tax practitioner the before-and-after receipt, GST summary and exported transaction. Ask whether the tax amount changes, which account holds the adjustment and how mixed baskets are treated. Keep their answer attached to the test record. The payment arithmetic above cannot answer that tax question.

The tax invoice guide covers the document requirements, while cash-drawer reconciliation checks the final cash movement. Keep these checks together in the payments and POS hub when reviewing a new till.

Key takeaways

• Keep item pricing, GST calculation and final cash settlement separate.
• Compare the same basket paid in cash and electronically.
• Confirm rounding exports and refunds with the vendor and your practitioner.

POS / version / rounding setting:
Basket total before rounding:
Tender type:
Cash amount and adjustment:
Electronic comparator:
GST shown before / after:
Export account and tax code:
Refund behaviour:
Practitioner confirmation and test references:

Where to get help

• ACCC: cash rounding guidance (2000)