Cash sales – cash registers, daily settlement and documentation

If the customer pays on delivery – in cash, by card or with Vipps – the sale is a cash sale under the bookkeeping rules. So a business that almost never handles notes can still be covered by the cash register rules.

What counts as a cash sale?

A cash sale means a sale where the customer settles the payment on delivery. That covers cash, debit and credit cards, and other payment solutions where the customer pays at the same time as the goods or service are delivered. Payment by card is therefore a cash sale under the bookkeeping rules even though the money only reaches the business's bank account later. An ordinary invoiced sale with payment later is not a cash sale. Skatteetaten's guidance on cash register systems and cash sales is useful for keeping up with the rules.

Does everyone need a cash register system?

No. The general rule is a declared cash register system, but the Bookkeeping Regulations contain several exemptions. One important exemption applies to businesses with cash sales of no more than NOK 50,000 excluding VAT during the financial year. For mobile or occasional cash sales there is a separate exemption where turnover does not exceed three times the National Insurance basic amount (folketrygdens grunnbeløp) during the year. Even where the business is exempt from the cash register requirement, sales still have to be documented as they happen. There are other special exemptions for particular types of sale.

What does «declared cash register system» mean?

A declared system (produkterklært kassasystem) is one where the supplier has declared that the product meets the requirements of the cash register rules. So «declared» is more accurate than «approved by Skatteetaten». The system has to maintain the audit trail and produce the reports and receipts the rules require.

Every trading day ends with a daily settlement

At the end of the day the business has to produce a Z-report from each till point, produce a report from each payment terminal, count the actual cash on hand, compare the cash on hand with the Z-report, compare the card payments with the Z-report, and explain any differences. The Z-report can be stored electronically in the cash register system provided it can be printed later. The regulations require the daily settlement to be dated and to show who counted the cash and who reconciled the cash sales. The current rule does not expressly require a handwritten signature.

Till differences, withdrawals and corrections

If the till physically holds less or more than the Z-report indicates, there is a till difference. Such differences have to be explained. What matters is not making the till balance artificially, but documenting the actual holding and what you know about the difference. Persistent or large unexplained differences can matter on an inspection. If someone takes money out of the till during the day, that has to be documented separately with at least the date and time, the amount and who took it. The documentation is kept with the till records until the daily settlement. Mis-rings and returns should not be deleted from the history. The cash register system has to preserve the audit trail, so that it is possible later to see what was originally registered, what was corrected and why.

What about tips?

Tips have their own rules. Where the cash register system has functionality for registering tips separately, cash tips can be kept in the till drawer in accordance with the rules. Where tips are not registered separately in the system, cash tips have to be kept out of the till drawer, counted separately and shown in the daily settlement. That is in addition to the rules on tax and payroll reporting of tips to employees.

Does the cash have to be banked every day?

No. The bookkeeping rules do not require a daily physical bank deposit. What matters is that the business can follow the money through an audit trail: registered sales, daily settlement, physical cash on hand, documented withdrawals and any later bank deposit. A daily deposit can be good internal security practice or a condition of an insurance policy, but that is a different thing from a general bookkeeping requirement. If the bank has started asking about large cash deposits, that is the bank's perspective – see How to make a cash-heavy business bank-friendly.

How long does the documentation have to be kept?

Z-reports, daily settlements and other documentation of entries form part of the accounting records that have to be retained. The general rule for such documentation is five years after the end of the financial year. The Z-report and the payment terminal report have to be kept together with the reconciliation of the cash sales.

Some industries have extra requirements

Serving venues can have their own requirements to break turnover and purchases down by particular product groups, and in many cases have to keep a staff register. Hairdressing and beauty businesses have their own requirements including breakdown of product sales and treatment services, price lists, documentation of appointments, treatment type and a staff register. Garages and car valeting are also covered by the staff register rules. These requirements come on top of the cash register rules.

What can happen if the till routines are not followed?

Breaches of the rules on registering and documenting cash sales can attract an administrative fine. The rates are tied to the court fee and should be checked against later updates. Skatteetaten can also issue a bookkeeping order requiring the routines to be put right. If the order is not complied with by the deadline, a running enforcement fine can follow. Serious failures can matter in a tax or VAT audit. Skatteetaten can use a discretionary assessment where the information filed does not give a sound basis. But that does not happen automatically because one Z-report is missing – there has to be an overall assessment of how serious the errors are and how far they undermine confidence in the accounts. Any additional tax is a separate assessment again.

A practical checklist

For a restaurant, hairdresser, shop or valeting business with cash sales: Use a declared cash register system unless an exemption applies. Register every cash sale as it happens. Give the customer a sales receipt as required. Produce a Z-report from each till point at the end of the day, and a terminal report from each payment terminal. Count the cash every day. Reconcile cash and card against the Z-report. Explain till differences. Document withdrawals from the till drawer. Use the system's correction and return functions. Keep the daily settlement and its supporting records together. Follow the rules specific to your industry. The industries with their own till and documentation requirements each have their own article: restaurants and serving, hairdressing and beauty and garages and car valeting

This is general guidance, not advice on your specific case. Deadlines, rates and amounts change – always check the current rules, or get in touch with us.

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We can work out what actually has to be done, what documentation exists and how quickly it can be sorted. You can also reach us in the evenings and at weekends.

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