Best Cash Registers for Small Businesses 2023

Square users who accept cash payments will either need to purchase a cash drawer separately from Square or from a third-party vendor. Additionally, if you plan to use an iPad or smartphone as your main register, you’ll need to connect it to a card reader. Users who subscribe to one of Square’s POS packages—Square for Retail and Square for Restaurants—will get a free card reader from Square.

Others can find smartphone- and iPad-compatible Square readers at major office supply retailers for around $9.99 for a swipe reader and $49 for a contactless reader. If you operate Square on an iPhone 11 or later, you can accept tapped payments without a card reader.

Square recently added tap-to-pay on iPhone11 and later models, so you can accept payments without an attached card reader. (source: Square)

Square’s features include:

• Sales and checkout: Square’s touch-screen registers also support barcode item sales and accept credit card and contactless payments. The system also records cash and checks, adds discounts and coupons, tracks open tabs, splits payments, and logs tips. Digital receipts are Square’s default—allowing you to collect customer contact information and save paper—but you print thermal receipts by attaching an optional thermal printer.
• Mobile sales: Square supports online sales via its free Square Online Store website in addition to in-person sales. You can receive online orders for pick up, delivery, or shipping directly in your Square register.
• Taxes and reporting: You can add and manage taxes from your Square online dashboard or the Square app on your register. Taxes automatically tally per set rules.
• Interconnectivity: Square’s register allows you to record sales and process cash payments without an internet or cellular connection. You can also spool credit card payments that will run automatically when you regain an internet connection. But, be careful; when you accept offline credit card payments, you will have to accept the loss for any declined cards. A basic Square POS subscription allows you to operate Square on an unlimited number of devices.
• Inventory management: Your Square system stores detailed product lists and adjusts your inventory in real time as you sell items in-store or online. You can easily add new products from any internet-enabled device by logging into your Square dashboard.
• Employee management: Like Lightspeed, Square supports unlimited staff logins, while the electronic registers on this list are limited to 10 to 50 staff log-ins. You can easily track employee sales and use your Square system to log employee hours for payroll. If you opt for the Free POS subscription, however, you’ll need to keep in mind that, at that tier, you can only have a single permission level—so all employees will have access to the same functions on the register. If you need customized permissions, you’ll need to upgrade to the Premium level.
• Customer management: Unlike the ECRs on this list, Square saves customer contact information and tracks sales by customer. You can use this information to help guide customers to items they might like on future visits or use it to feed customized marketing and promotions.

Read our full Square POS review for more information.

Toast users can operate their POS system from a Toast device or access the management dashboard from any computer. If you are planning on accepting cash payments, you will either need to purchase a cash drawer from Toast or a third-party vendor—one is not provided in the starter kits.

There is also a lack of transparency from Toast in terms of the hardware options that are available for the Custom plan. All of its paid plans allow you to “choose your own hardware,” but the only way to view the expanded hardware kit options is to work with a salesperson.

Toast cash register features include:

• Restaurant-grade hardware: Restaurant POS systems take a lot of damage, but Toast is ready for anything with an IP54 spill-proof rating, fast processing times, and sleek minimal design to fit any brand.
• Tableside service: With order-ready notifications, tableside payments, and guest feedback portals at checkout, your staff will be able to deliver better and faster service.
• Menu management: Sync your menu with your inventory so that you can stay on top of diminishing ingredients and view what items are low with inventory countdowns.
• Online ordering: Integrate your online orders onto your POS device so the kitchen doesn’t miss a thing—and neither do your inventory controls.
• Training and installation: All Toast account holders will get free installation of all POS systems as well as in-person training and 24/7 phone support.

Learn more with our full Toast review.

The 180u is an all-in-one cash register unit; you don’t need to purchase a separate cash drawer and receipt printer—unlike the build-your-own cash registers from the POS systems on our list. However, you’ll have to add a standalone terminal from your merchant account provider to process credit cards. This model does not have a connection to an integrated credit card terminal.

Sam4s ER-180u’s features include:

• Sales and checkout: You can get your 180u with either a standard greyscale, numerical keyboard, or a programmable, color-coded keyboard. This register tracks cash, check, or credit card payments, though you must run cards on an external card reader. You can also accept split tender payments (i.e., cash and charge). Change due will show on the cashier and customer-facing displays for cash payments.
• Taxes and reporting: You can program up to four different tax rates into your 180u. Tax can be applied as an additional line item on the receipt, or you can set the register to roll the tax into the item price. The 180u tracks and stores up to 2,000 lines of sales transactions in an electronic journal, and it includes some basic built-in reports such as a financial report and those for cash declaration, price code look-ups, and sales by cashier. You can also print your entire electronic journal to use that information to complete other reports.
• Interconnectivity: This register does not need internet access to operate. But, whatever external card reader you get will likely need internet or phone line access to process card payments.
• Inventory management: While it is not exactly inventory tracking, you can use the information from your electronic journal to update your inventory. If you need real-time inventory tracking, you’ll be better served by Square or Lightspeed.
• Employees: The 180u features separate profiles and sales tracking for up to 10 employees. This is the lowest number of employee profiles available from any register on this list, but for small retailers, 10 may be enough.

Buy the Sam4s ER-180

Lightspeed users can build a cash register solution to meet their exact needs—they can build a cash register around an iPad tablet or a Mac or PC, plus they can use Android tablets and iPhones as mobile registers. All of these connect to the shining star of Lightspeed’s feature set—advanced inventory management.

A top reason small businesses choose a POS register over an electronic cash register is for the ability to track stock counts, pricing options, and customer data in real time. Here, Lightspeed truly delivers. Its advanced inventory management tools are top-notch, plus it has a robust purchase order system. Plus, you can oversee stock across store locations or in backroom and warehouse storage. For all these reasons, Lightspeed is our top pick for leading POS inventory systems.

Lightspeed’s features include:

• Sales and checkout: Lightspeed supports touch-screen or computer-controlled checkout screens and barcode scanning for item entry. You can also program discount codes and coupons to apply via code entry or barcode scan and handle open tickets and tabs for restaurant sales. Your Lightspeed register saves customer data and transaction history for quick returns. As with Square, you can print receipts or send them via email and SMS message.
• Taxes and reporting: Taxes automatically tally per rules that you set in the Lightspeed dashboard. Lightspeed’s reporting is the most detailed of any system on this list. You can print standard reports for sales, labor, and stock counts and integrate your performance data with accounting software to automate administrative tasks. The system contains hundreds of preset reports that you can view by custom timeframes to drill into your store’s key performance metrics.
• Interconnectivity: Lightspeed has an “offline mode” to continue operating even if the internet connection is interrupted. However, you should know that some networking functions won’t operate in offline mode and you assume the additional risk for card payments that are processed in offline mode. If the card is later declined, you’ll be out of that money.
• Inventory management: Users can store detailed inventory lists, track parts and ingredients, and sync inventory with an online store and multiple locations. Lightspeed also has granular ingredient-level stock tracking, features to manage product variants and custom orders, and sophisticated inventory reporting. Your system will alert you when inventory is running low, complete purchase orders, and track your vendors.
• Employees: As with all the systems on this list, Lightspeed allows you to create different employee logins to track sales by employee. You can also set customized permissions to block access to certain features. Technically the electronic registers support this same function with manager codes and keys, but with Lightspeed, you can create unlimited users with customized permissions directly in the Lightspeed management dashboard.

See more features in our full Lightspeed review.

The SAM4S SAP-630 combines the ease of a POS with the simplicity of an electronic cash register. The keypad and touchscreen combo allows your cashiers to choose the checkout process that is easiest for them, and also supports direct communication with the cloud-based SAM4POS app.

• Sales and checkout: The SAP-630R includes a keypad for quick entry, a touchscreen for deeper level functions like product searches, a cash drawer, and a digital customer-facing display. The only thing you’ll need to attach is an optional card reader and a barcode scanner if you use one.  On the touchscreen, you can search products by UPC or item description.
• Taxes and reporting: You can navigate reports on the register using the report mode on the touchscreen. Or—like the POS-driven models on this list—you can access reports via the cloud on your smartphone. Though unlocking mobile reporting functions on the SAP-630, you’ll need to pay an extra fee for the SAM4POS app. Unlike the other SAM4S registers, the SAP-630 does not clear your data whenever you print a “Z” report. You can pull reports for custom date ranges from the register or the reporting app, just like a POS.
• Interconnectivity: This register can accept EBT payments and integrates with tobacco company loyalty programs to drive tobacco sales. You also have the option to connect a handheld tablet via Wi-Fi, so you can process payments on the sales floor or count inventory. Additionally, you can network multiple SAP-630 registers via ethernet connection and communicate with remote label printers via Wi-Fi
• Inventory management: An optional BTP-L520 label printer prints high-resolution item and shelf labels for quick inventory scanning. The register can connect to mobile scales to weigh items sold by weight and subtract tares.
• Employees: This register can track an unlimited number of employees The touchscreen includes fast log in tools that prompt your employees to clock in and out directly on the register. So, you won’t need an additional timetracking system. You also have the option to use Dallas keys for employee or manager access.

TouchBistro was designed to support small, independent businesses that are often overlooked by the larger POS brands. So, their terminals are streamlined and the user interface is pretty foolproof. Management dashboards and order screens are easy to navigate, and everything from employee time keeping to inventory updates and reporting can be done directly in the register.

• Sales and checkout: Touchbistro operates like a big iPhone and supports customizable speed screens for order combos. You can attach a second iPad to create a customer-facing display, and purchase cash drawers, barcode scanners, and card readers separately for custom-quoted prices.
• Taxes and reporting: TouchBistro includes all the necessary reports to track your sales, labor, and costs by shift, day, week and month. The reports are templatized, so you don’t need to waste time building them and most reports auto-generate charts and graphs so you can quickly analyze your data at a glance. You can charge and track multiple tax settings for state and local sales tax, alcohol tax, and more in the management dashboard.
• Interconnectivity: TouchBistro terminals easily network to one another, and you can self-configure your hardware by following the system’s detailed tutorials. They include multiple configuration plans for food trucks and other small food service operations. The POS also integrates directly with popular tools for online ordering and delivery, loyalty, and automated inventory tracking.
• Inventory Management: TouchBistro includes ingredient-level inventory management in the baseline POS for no extra cost (unlike Toast and Lightspeed which charge extra). You can manage stock levels directly from the POS.
• Employees: TouchBistro includes an unlimited number of employee log-ins with customized permission levels. The terminals also act as your timeclock so you can track employee hours and tips for payroll reporting. You can pull detailed reports for employee productivity, showing how often they apply voids and discounts, alongside their sales and tip data. Timesheet reports are detailed, showing you paid and unpaid breaks, overtime, and even penalties accrued for New York State’s Spread of Hours law.

See more features by reading our full TouchBistro review.

The ER-925 register connects to a credit card terminal to integrate payments into your checkout. So, it beats the basic 180u right out of the gate since that register has no terminal connections.

Like the 180u, though, the ER-925 can’t match a POS-driven register’s inventory management and inventory tracking tools. However, it does include an SD card that can transfer your sales data to your accounting or reporting software, which helps with basic labor and inventory tracking. This solution isn’t quite as streamlined as a complete POS system, but it’s a solid middle-ground for shopkeepers with administrative time to spare.

Sam4s ER-925’s features include:

• Sales and checkout: Dual displays show transactions to customers and cashiers in real time. You can accept cash, check, EBT, gift cards, and credit/debit card payments, split tenders, and process voids, returns, and discounts in the register. You can also attach an optional barcode scanner, scale, pole display, and change dispenser. Busy shops may also want to attach the optional second cash drawer so that two cashiers can work out of the same register.
• Taxes and reporting: The ER-925 supports X reports (which display totals without resetting your system) and Z reports (which reset your register when printed). This register includes a number of reports that its sister register, the 180u, lacks. In addition to basic sales and financial reports, you get stock reports, discount and void reports, and segmented sales reports by category or tender type. The register’s PC utility lets you transfer your reporting information to a desktop computer via an internal SD card or direct PC link for deeper reporting and further analysis.
• Interconnectivity: The register does not require an internet connection for cash transactions and reporting. However, if you accept credit cards, you’ll need an ethernet connection to feed the integrated card reader.
• Inventory management: The ER-925 detailed sales by product category and waste tracking features give you much more control over your inventory than the 180u. But, they still do not come close to the real-time stock alerts provided by a POS-driven register. If inventory management is an essential feature for you, check out Square or Lightspeed.
• Employees: This register tracks up to 50 employee logins. An optional Dallas Key port allows cashiers to access the register quickly by attaching their personal electronic fob. The ER-925 also includes a training mode, so you can train new employees on the register without compromising your daily reports.

Buy Sam4s ER-925 on Amazon

The best cash register for your business is the one that securely accepts and tracks your most commonly accepted payment types. If you accept a large volume of cash, the best register will include lockable cash drawers, and possibly even dual cash drawers so two cashiers can use the same register. If you accept card payments, you’ll need a register with an integrated or attached card reader. In either case, you’ll also want a register that tracks transactions by cashier so you can easily identify errors or a pattern of suspicious transactions.

Depending on your business type, you can use a smartphone, iPad, or other touch-screen tablet as a cash register. All you need to do to turn one of these devices into a register is download a POS or payment app and attach a cash drawer or bank account to receive cash and digital payments.

For solopreneurs, mobile business, and service businesses that accept card payments a smartphone, a card reader and an attached bank account is all you need. Brick-and-mortar stores that want to securely accept cash will want a stationary tablet with an attached cash drawer.

The best brand of cash register varies by business type and your budget. For many business types our retail and food service experts have found Square’s suite of registers to be the best for the widest range of business types. You can learn more about what we specifically like about these systems by reading our reviews of Square POS, Square for Retail, and Square for Restaurants.

Discontinued and used cash registers are available on sites like Amazon and eBay. Because configuring a cash register can be a tedious, sensitive process we do not recommend buying discontinued cash registers, though. Managing your business’s money—especially if you deal in a high volume of cash—is simply too important to rely on a product that does not come with active customer support or hardware warranties.