CASH REGISTER, a re cording, calculating and checking machine used to help a mer chant control his business, assist salespeople in serving customers and keep a record of different transactions. In various forms it has come into very wide use.
The machines make records of a transaction, both for the cus tomer and for the merchant, facilitate the handling of transactions and protect against mistakes and dishonesty.
There are a number of different types of cash registers, some for small business having only one total and others having as many as twenty-seven totals. These totals can be used to classify records in a number of different ways, such as sales of nine de partments, nine salespeople and nine different kinds of transac tions, such as charge sales, money received on account, money paid out, etc.
The first cash regieter did nothing but indicate the amount of a sale on a dial. Then came registers which punched a hole in a roll of paper ruled in columns. By adding up the number of holes in each column a total could be computed. Then came de tail adders, with an adding counter on each key. Then the total adder with the total shown on adding wheels. The most advanced form is the total printer in which the total or totals as the case may be are printed on paper.
A register has certain fundamental features and functions. It indicates the amount of a transaction at the top of the register, so that it can be seen by both customer and salesman. It keeps sepa rate totals of sales by various classifications. It prints and issues a receipt on cash sales or overprints a record of the transaction on a sales docket on charge sales or received on account. It keeps within the register an "audit strip" which is a complete printed record of every transaction that has been made. It has special counters which show the number of customers handled, number of each kind of transaction and similar information. For every total showing the amount of any kind of transaction there can be an adding counter showing the number of items which were concerned. The number of features varies according to the size and type of the register.