Working a register comes down to a handful of skills: ringing up items, handling cash and card payments, making correct change, and balancing your drawer at the end of a shift. Most modern point-of-sale (POS) systems walk you through each transaction on screen, so the learning curve is shorter than you might expect. Here’s what the job actually looks like from behind the counter.
Getting Familiar With the Register
Every register or POS system is different, but the core layout is similar. You’ll have a touchscreen or keyboard for entering items, a barcode scanner, a receipt printer, and a cash drawer that pops open when you complete a cash transaction. Before your first shift, spend a few minutes learning where the key buttons are: the item lookup or search function, the quantity button (for ringing up multiples of the same item), the subtotal and total keys, and the payment type buttons for cash, credit, debit, and gift cards.
Most retailers also have buttons or menu options for applying discounts, removing an item you scanned by mistake, and switching between departments or product categories. If your store uses a touchscreen POS system, these are usually organized in tabs or tiles. Ask a manager or experienced coworker to walk you through the layout once. Five minutes of orientation saves a lot of fumbling during a rush.
Ringing Up a Transaction
The basic flow is the same almost everywhere. Scan each item’s barcode, or type in the item code manually if the barcode won’t read. Watch the screen after each scan to confirm the right product and price appeared. If a customer is buying multiples of one item, you can usually hit a quantity key, type the number, then scan once instead of scanning the same item five times.
When everything is scanned, hit the subtotal or total key. The register calculates tax automatically based on how the system is programmed, so you don’t need to do that math yourself. Tell the customer the total, then select the payment method they’re using.
Cash Payments
When a customer pays with cash, enter the exact amount they hand you. The register calculates the change owed and displays it on screen. Count the bills and coins before handing them over. If the register ever goes down or you want to double-check your math, you can count change back manually using the “count up” method: start from the purchase total and add coins and bills until you reach the amount the customer gave you.
For example, if the total is $7.38 and the customer hands you a $20 bill, you’d grab two pennies to reach $7.40, then a dime to reach $7.50, two quarters to reach $8.00, two ones to reach $10.00, and a ten to reach $20.00. You hand those coins and bills to the customer in that same order, counting aloud: “7.40, 7.50, 8, 9, 10, 20.” This method eliminates the need to do subtraction in your head and makes errors easy to catch.
Card Payments
For credit or debit cards, select the card payment option and let the customer tap, insert, or swipe on the card reader. The system handles authorization automatically. You may need to wait a few seconds for approval. Once it goes through, a receipt prints (or the customer gets a digital one). You generally don’t need to verify a signature for most transactions anymore, though your store’s policy may differ for large purchases.
Other Payment Types
Gift cards, mobile wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay, and store credit each have their own button or menu option on the register. Gift cards are usually swiped or scanned like a credit card. Mobile wallets work through the same tap terminal as contactless credit cards. If a customer wants to split payment between two methods (part cash, part card, for instance), most POS systems let you enter the first payment amount, then apply the remaining balance to the second method.
Fixing Mistakes During a Sale
You will scan the wrong item or ring something up twice. It happens to everyone. Most registers have a void line or delete item button that removes the last scanned item from the transaction. On touchscreen systems you can often tap the item in the on-screen list and then hit a remove or void button. This is routine and takes a second.
If you need to cancel an entire transaction before the customer has paid, look for a cancel transaction or void sale button. This clears everything and lets you start over. Some systems require a manager’s code or key turn to void a full transaction, so don’t panic if a prompt comes up asking for authorization.
Processing Returns and Refunds
There’s a practical difference between voiding a transaction and issuing a refund. A void cancels a transaction before the payment has fully settled, meaning money never actually transfers from the customer’s account to the store. You can typically only void a transaction on the same day it happened. A refund, on the other hand, is processed after the sale has already settled, and it sends money back to the customer. Card refunds can take anywhere from 48 hours to 30 days to appear on the customer’s statement.
Most stores have a dedicated return or refund function on the register. You’ll scan the item being returned (or look up the original transaction using the receipt), confirm the return reason if prompted, and select the refund method. Follow your store’s return policy on whether to refund to the original payment method, issue store credit, or give cash back. If you’re new, ask a manager to walk you through your first return so you’re comfortable with the steps.
Opening Your Cash Drawer
At the start of your shift, you’ll receive a cash drawer (sometimes called a “till”) with a set starting amount, often somewhere between $100 and $200 in assorted bills and coins. Count it before you begin. Confirm the total matches what your manager says should be there, and let them know immediately if it’s off. This protects you from being blamed for someone else’s shortage.
Organize the drawer so bills face the same direction with the largest denominations on the left (or right, depending on your store’s convention) and coins sorted in their compartments. Keeping your drawer neat makes it faster to make change and harder to grab the wrong bill during a rush.
Balancing Your Drawer at Shift End
When your shift ends, you’ll close out the register and count your drawer. The process works like this:
- Print or pull your shift report. The register generates a summary showing total cash sales, card sales, returns, and voids for your shift.
- Count every bill and coin in the drawer. Write down the totals on a cash count sheet if your store uses one. Subtract the starting amount you began with. The remainder is your cash sales for the shift.
- Compare your count to the register report. If your cash count matches the report’s cash sales total, your drawer is balanced. If it’s off by a small amount (a dollar or two), note the difference. If it’s significantly off, flag it to your manager right away.
Small discrepancies happen, especially when you’re learning. A customer hands you $10.25 and you accidentally enter $10.00, or you give back a five instead of a one. Most stores track overages and shortages over time rather than treating a single small discrepancy as a problem. Consistent large shortages, however, will raise concerns.
Tips for Staying Accurate
Place the customer’s bill on top of the drawer or on the ledge beside it until you’ve handed back change and the customer has accepted it. This prevents the “I gave you a twenty, not a ten” dispute, because the bill is still visible to both of you. Only put it in the drawer after the transaction is complete.
When it’s busy, resist the urge to rush. Scanning an item twice or handing back the wrong change creates more delay than taking an extra second to be careful. If you lose track of where you are in a transaction, glance at the screen. The register keeps a running record of everything you’ve done.
Keep your drawer closed between transactions. An open drawer is both a security risk and a tripping hazard for your workflow. Most registers lock the drawer automatically after each transaction, and it only opens again when you complete the next payment or hit a “no sale” key (which is usually logged and tracked by management).
If a customer questions a price, don’t argue. Do a price check using the register’s lookup function or call a coworker to verify the shelf tag. Getting it right matters more than getting it fast, and customers remember how you handle the moment more than the few seconds it takes.