The Last Penny
On November 12, 2025, the U.S. Mint struck its final penny. After more than 230 years in circulation, the one-cent coin is done. No new pennies are coming. The ones already out there will slowly disappear from registers, jars, and couch cushions until they’re just gone.
The U.S. isn’t the first country to make this call. Canada did it over a decade ago, and the retail world kept moving. What it did require was a practical answer to a simple question: when a cash total lands on $15.22, what do you do?
That answer is cash rounding. And if your store accepts cash, it’s worth understanding before your next customer hands you a twenty.
What This Looks Like at Your Register
This is where most store owners expect extra complexity. A new policy usually means new training, new habits, and someone on your floor doing mental math mid-transaction. The good news?
Ricochet handles it automatically.
When a customer pays with cash, the system calculates the rounding adjustment and displays the updated total before the sale is completed. Your staff sees the adjusted number, completes the transaction, and moves on. No manual calculation. No guesswork. No explaining the math to a customer while a line forms behind them.
What Rounding Means for Cash Sales
Cash rounding adjusts the final total of a cash transaction to the nearest five cents. That’s it. Nothing changes on individual items, and nothing changes for card or digital payments. Those still process to the exact cent. Once the feature is enabled, you will simply see a rounded amount below the sale total on the POS screen.
Rounding applies after tax is calculated on the final total. Not on each item. Not on the subtotal. On the number your customer actually owes, in cash, at the end of the transaction. Every rounding adjustment is captured in your Sales Detail and Sales Summary reports, so your books stay accurate without any extra work on your end.
Here is how it will work:
- Ends in 1¢ or 2¢ → rounds down ($15.22 becomes $15.20)
- Ends in 3¢ or 4¢ → rounds up ($15.23 becomes $15.25)
- Ends in 6¢ or 7¢ → rounds down ($15.26 becomes $15.25)
- Ends in 8¢ or 9¢ → rounds up ($15.28 becomes $15.30)
- Ends in 0¢ or 5¢ → no change
Your Store Is Ready for What Comes Next
The penny’s exit from circulation is not a crisis. It is a minor operational shift that the right platform handles quietly in the background while you focus on running your store.
Cash rounding is live in Ricochet now. One toggle, and your register is ready for every cash transaction that walks through your door, whether pennies are scarce in your area today or completely gone tomorrow.
If you want to see how Cash Penny Rounding works in your store, visit our help article for a full walkthrough or reach out to our team to learn more.
