Rounding or not: your choice (for now)
Not everyone is aware of this, but traders and professionals of the liberal professions have actually been allowed to round since October 1, 2014. This only concerns rounding to 0 or 5 euro cents on the total amount of a receipt.
For now, as a trader, you can still choose whether or not to round your grand totals. Do you choose to round to 0 or 5 euro cents? Then this is only allowed under these conditions:
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it concerns a full or partial cash payment
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you only round the total amount
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your rounding is consistent
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you have this pictogram, clearly visible and in color, to signal customers that you are working with rounding
Note that this measure has been relaxed since 2015 by also allowing rounding for electronic payments in physical stores.
Rounding to 0 and 5 cents (soon) mandatory
A little while ago, however, the Council of Ministers decided to make rounding to 0 and 5 cents mandatory from 1 December 2019. This obligation again only applies to cash payments. The reason behind the obligation is simple: only a few traders have taken advantage of the rounding option. Everyone is afraid of a negative opinion from the customer or consumer.
Practical: how do you go about rounding?
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xx,x1 and xx,x2 round down to xx,x0 eg. € 19,52 ➔ € 19,50
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xx,x3 and xx,x4 round up to xx,x5 eg. € 67,83 ➔ € 67,85
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xx,x6 and xx,x7 round down to xx,x5 eg. € 39,67 ➔ € 39,65
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xx,x8 and xx,x9 round up to xx,10 eg. € 99,98 ➔ € 100,00
The end of 1 and 2 cents
The ultimate goal of the rounding-off measure is clear: the smallest euro cent coins must gradually disappear from circulation. After all, both merchants and customers complain about the clumsiness of the small coins. Of course, the pennies will still be legal tender.
It may be an adjustment for traders, but in general the new measure is received positively. For example, De Tijd emphasizes that the trade organizations Comeos, Unizo and ICM support the mandatory completion.
Prepare yourself and your business for rounding
December 2019, that means that you have another year to prepare. However, keep in mind that your POS system may not yet be equipped with this rounding function. If you do not know how to set this up, or if you are not sure whether it is already provided for in your software, it is best to contact your supplier.
At AXITO we have certainly already added this functionality to the agenda of our programmers team. This way, our cashregister is ready to support the new legislation.