The definition of the cash register, according to Wikipedia.com, is as follows:

"A cash register is a mechanical or electronic device for calculating and recording sales transactions, and an attached cash drawer for storing currency. The cash register also usually prints a receipt for the customer."

Everyone has at least seen a cash register, if not used one at one point in their life. They are really an integral part of business today. The cash register was invented by James Ritty after the American Civil War. He invented it out of necessity as he was a saloon owner in Ohio and he wanted his employees to stop skimming money from his profits. He got the idea after seeing a tool that counted revolutions of a propeller for steamships. The cash register was patented in 1883. James soon sold his cash register business to Jacob Eckert, who formed the National Manufacturing Company. Eckert quickly sold it to John Patterson who renamed the company the National Cash Register Company and he also invented a paper roll that became the cash register paper or cash register roll that recorded the transactions, becoming the receipt we all know to hang on to today.

The cash register today has come a long way from the original registers. No longer are there huge buttons you have to really push down on to record the transaction, nor are there number tabs that pop up to show you the amount being rung. No, today most cash registers are computerized. Computer cash registers come in many forms from a simple program that you place on your actual desktop computer that acts as a cash register to entire pos systems with a bar-code scanner, a till drawer and a register all in one. Pos cash registers is what most large retailers use today.

Highly advanced, the pos cash register or computer cash registers can pretty much do anything and everything from ringing up the customer's purchases to practically doing your taxes. Many systems come with an inventory program which helps to streamline processes and save you money by not having to do physical inventory all the time. Options like bar-code scanners and laser receipt printers help to keep things organized and going smoothly.

Touch screen cash registers are the cash register of choice for restaurants and many grocery stores.  These registers are great for displaying menu choices and options and make for a quick order by just pressing the choice on the screen.  Restaurant cash registers are also hooked into the kitchen so that a waiter or waitress can place the order at the waiter station and the kitchen simultaneously receives the order so they can begin preparing.

Many touch screen cash registers come with age verification software which is especially handy in the bar business.  Just like other pos cash registers, the touch screen variety allows for unique user identifications that allow you to keep track of each person who uses the register and track their sales.  Many will download the days business to programs such as Quickbooks for easy tax purposes.

Cash register tape might not seem like an important addition to this article, especially deserving of it's own section, yet you would be surprised at the choices and the differences in types.  Most of use are used to the thermal paper register roll.  This thermal paper is what most retailers and restaurants now use for their cash register roll.  These rolls require special thermal printers to burn the image onto the paper.  Sometimes these places use laser printers as well for their receipt paper.  These types of receipt paper rolls are efficient and very fast.  They do not require ink so there is one less expense there, but they do cost more upfront than your average paper printer.

That brings us to the old standard, the paper roll.  Most people these days may not even know what a good old standard paper receipt is.  Small business with small cash registers seem to be the only folks still using the traditional paper rolls.  Paper receipt printers require ink and print much slower and louder than a thermal printer.  Still, today many cash registers use the paper receipt roll, usually your smaller type standard cash register and not the big fancy pos cash register.

Below is a list of what you can expect to pay for the cash register of your choice:

• 8 Department Standard Electronic Cash Register (recommended for small businesses) starting at around $100
• 40 to 99 Department Standard Electronic Cash Register (recommended for small to midsized businesses) from $200-$350
• Touch Screen Cash Register (varies depending on size and bundles/options, recommended for restaurants and bars) $500-$2500
• POS Systems (varies depending on size and options) $1500-$3200
  

The video below is an example of a pos system that would be excellent for a variety of businesses.