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Multiple POS but one cash drawer

How can I connect multiple POS stands to a single cash drawer so my cash drawer report is not off at the end of the day?

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Admin

Hey @JW4624,

 

Thanks for bringing this up. Cash drawer sharing isn't an option a this time, though some sellers did bring up this request in another thread. Have a look here for more context: Can I connect two iPad stands to one USB Cash Drawer?

 

So that I can share more insight with our Point of Sale team, can you provide more information on why this kind of setup would be beneficial for your business? Appreciate your patience as we work to improve.

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
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We have multiple pads to take orders at the bar but only require one cash drawer. Pretty simple to understand why Square should implement  this feature unless they prefer all their customers to buy multiple cash drawers and increase Square's profit margin.

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Beta Member

This is something we'd like to throw our name on the list for. 

 

We have 7 iPads floating around to take orders. Our space and staff requirements don't allow for us to have a single checkout station. We've had trouble figuring out a good system for tracking cash since the iPads can't share a single cash source. 

 

This has been a long-time request. It would be nice to see some progress.

 

I know there are some work-arounds, but they seem to be more complicated than just leaving cash management off and counting the drawer and comparing to the daily sales report on the dashboard. 

 

This works ok for us, but for those who don't have staff that can be allowed to have this level of access to the dashboard, I could see it being an issue. 

 

Although, I would prefer being able to log cash in/out daily in Square and have reports to refer to. 

 

I guess what I really want, in the most simplest form is the ability to log a drawer report at the end of the day for the entire shop. I could do this on a spreadsheet or other system, but I'd prefer to do it in square. From the dashboard would be perfectly fine. It could just close out all iPad stations and consolidate it to the dashboard where I enter the closing amount. Ideally it would allow me to open a master drawer from the dashboard for the day and close said drawer at the end.

 

I could see how this would be very complicated turning on the cash management on multiple iPads, but this could be a master cash drawer in the dashboard if you are not using cash management on individual iPads.

 

I'm trying to be detailed and not too wordy.... 

 

I guess what I'm saying is, if the dashboard could open/close a drawer of its own, leave iPads with cash management off, the manager/trusted staff could manage the drawer from the dashboard and keep a log in square. It would also be nice if there were at least a note section for the person opening and closing to "sign" or initial who did it.

 

This doesn't keep individuals accountable, but at least keeps a daily record. 

Our staff are generally too busy to bother the drawer and it is watched fairly solidly.  It would at least tighten the reins. You can't hold individuals accountable when multiple people are using the same drawer anyway... There's no proof.

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Alumni

Thanks for the detailed post @crystalimages-

 

I can see the convenience of having a feature like this and understand this has been a popular request for some time now, however the ability to manage a shared cash drawer from the Dashboard or POS is something Square doesn't support at the moment. 

 

I hope to see some traction in this area soon, but as of now, I don't have a shareable timeline on when this feature will become available. 

 

Thanks for sticking with us through the process. If anything new comes up, we'll be sure to let you know on this thread.

Justin
Community Moderator, Square
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Please hurry to remedy this issue.  Too many companies would benefit from having the cash drawer connect to multiple POS tablets.  I truly don't understand why this isn't already occurring.  Seems like all too common of a problem.  We would love to have this for our business.  Would make life easier.

Please tell your team that we need it asap.

rdb
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Beta Member

I have had a long-time need for this option, and an absolute need for it at a new restaurant I'm opening. Patience doesn't seem to ever pay off with Square feature developments. If it isn't a feature by July, I have to drop Square.

Would shaming you into it work?
I had an old, horrible, PC-based system that was expensive and difficult to use. It had this feature in 2002.

Toast does this. Toast also can use two cash drawers for one terminal.
Upserve does this.

Lightspeed does this, for years.

 

PLEASE, dedicate some development to making Retail and Restaurants a real, fully-featured POS system. Things like this are leaving Square hovering slightly above "a credit card machine with some extra features."

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Why are there so many posts for feature requests that are two, three, even 5 years old? Why don't these features get implemented when so many of your customers need them?

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I know Lightspeed POS enables multiple tablets/mobile devices sharing a single cash drawer. I am on a free Square Restaurants trial, but am considering switching based on the lack of these features in square, poor backend data analytics, and the lack of preauthorization of credit cards associated with guest checks or tabs.  But more importantly, the fact that square is slow to develop features that appear no-brainers...as if there is a distrust for the customer using or suggesting the feature.  It's poor design research and UX design...textbook.

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Lightspeed's Upserve does indeed support this feature.  However, we are switching to Square for Restaurants due to a number of reasons that include...

1.  Very expensive and unreasonable gift-card company.

2.  Really bad support this past year (hours on the phone)

3.  A demand that we upgrade the POS software despite AWFUL reviews.  Now they won't reimburse lost payments because we didn't upgrade but I would rather lose a few payments than upgrade to software that doesn't work.

Be careful if you go with them, their contract terms are crazy - they want over $8000 to break our contract which is 2/3 the way through a three-year term.

It would be really nice if Square for Restaurants implemented this feature quickly.  In our early sales meeting they touted the fact that they are quick to implement customer-requested features.  We have also provided them with a long list of other features we would like to see - nothing major, mainly just little things.

 

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Super Seller

We could also use this feature. During most of the year we only run one register at each location but Thanksgiving through Christmas we set up extra registers at each location. We just put signs up that say credit only but inevitably someone gets in the wrong line and then we have to save cart at payment time and have people switch registers. It sees like an easy fix to just have multiple drawers and one full count out per location at the end of the night.

Abby
Owner, Abigail's Gift Boutique and Abigail's Boutique St. Louis, MO
https://www.facebook.com/abigailsgiftboutique
https://www.instagram.com/abigails_stl/
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Super Seller

So a bunch of Business owners want this feature and Square has not been able to do this for Square for Restaurants or Square for retail yet, but allow us to connect more than 1 Device to a Network Cash Drawer. 

 

So here I have an Idea:

1)  Most places have 1 main Register that they would be counting the Cash Drawer at.  Probably near the actual Cash Drawer.   So what if the business owner would have to assign one device as MAIN cash Drawer etc for example.   Then when the cash Drawer is started, there is a starting balance like currently.  Use this Balance like you would an ITEM so when Cash is added or subtracted it shows what is Expected as a Balance.    Now each Device would have to also have a Cash record of How much it contributed at the end of the day and its transactions.  But Square already does this with Device Codes all except the adding and Subtracting and keeping track of the Cash for EACH device.

 

Each device when an Item is sold from inventory in retail, is subtracted from the Inventory Item sold, or can be added when a return or an item is received and it does not have to go through 1 certain device to add or subtract or even make adjustments to inventory.

 

Yes us business owners do know there could be risk of multiple Hands in one cash Drawer, so have this as a Toggle (on/Off) feature for those that do not want it.  Some smaller businesses like mine only have immediate family working in these locations.   I know sometimes you can not even trust Family. 

 

Square already has the Feature for Device Codes so if the Drawer is off we can try to figure out from which device, or use Square Team assignments to see who opened the Drawer and for what amounts. 

 

Even with one person or device to a Cash Drawer that multiple people have access to the drawer can be off and its hard to pin point how.  Someone is bad at counting cash and gives back too much change for example.  It has happened here when it gets busy.  As someone mentioned we have a Cash and CC checkout, and then a CC only for when it gets busy, but now people can not read or choose NOT to read and think they are entitled to do as they please and end up in the wrong checkout.

 

Square makes it Easy for people to use their Sell Phones and Tablets to help customers away from a normal POS station, which is Great.  I could walk around my store do a Sale, Print out a receipt for a customer buying 1 item, but only if they use a CC.  I know I would not be walking around with a Cash Drawer attached to my hip, but Restaurants do this all the time.  A server going to a table to take payments and each Server does not have their own Cash Drawer.

Keith
Owner
Pocono Candle

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