Archiving till data and preparing for a till inspection

Proper cash management is the focus of the tax audit. The Act on Protection against Manipulation of Digital Source Records (BGBl I 2016, p. 3152) enshrined the principle of the obligation to keep individual records in law – with effect from 29 December 2016.

Since 2018, the tax authorities have had the option of carrying out a cash register inspection. This is a separate procedure designed to clarify tax-relevant matters in a timely manner, including, amongst other things, the proper recording of business transactions. Cash register inspections are generally carried out at the taxpayer’s premises by an official from the tax authority – without prior notice and outside the scope of a field audit. The focus of cash register inspections lies at the software level, with the examination of GoBD exports (ensuring immutability, completeness and analysability), and at the data level, with the examination of immutability (analysis of databases, data structure, data management, log files and procedural documentation).

Electronic recording systems must be fitted with a certified technical security device comprising three components: a security module, a storage module and a digital interface.

Further changes are planned from 2020 onwards. From 1 January 2020, electronic recording systems must be fitted with a certified technical security device which, in accordance with Section 146a of the German Fiscal Code (AO), consists of three components: a security module, a storage module and a digital interface.

A tool for every occasion: Opti.List

A company operating in the point-of-sale sector can meet most requirements Opti.List already meets the requirements for tamper-proof data archiving. This is because Opti.List can be used not only for archiving financial, payroll and fixed asset accounting data, but also as a storage module and digital interface for archiving till data. The data, which complies with the description standard, can then be made immediately available during ad hoc cash register inspections. Proof of the data’s immutability can be easily provided, as the cash register data is stored in encrypted form in the data archive.

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The cash register data archiving system is currently already in use at Ernst Stackmann GmbH & Co. KG in Buxtehude. An interface transfers the till data from prohandel to Opti.List. The totals from the till book, which functions as a ledger, are regularly reconciled with the totals of the individual records in the archive and logged. The interface specification forms part of the procedural documentation.

Harald Uhlendorf, Head of Department at Ernst Stackmann GmbH & Co. KG, comments: „We remain undecided as to whether prohandel can comply with the requirement for the permanent storage of till data. We therefore use an „export option“ within prohandel. However, as this is not carried out in a timely manner, subsequent changes (e.g. to items) are certainly possible. We have been carrying out the immutable archiving of data for years using all Opti.List archiving solutions. In our opinion, the archiving of POS data is also well managed there. How promptly the archiving takes place is entirely up to the individual. We currently carry it out monthly using the automatic archiving function.“.

Opti.List’s analysis software offers macros such as the number of receipts, the number of customers, the date of the receipt, Benford’s law analysis, a histogram of receipt totals and much more…

Opti.List’s analysis software offers macros tailored to prohandel: number of receipts, number of customers, receipt date is Sunday, Benford’s law analysis, receipt total histogram, chi-squared test, duplicate receipt numbers, receipt total classification, branch turnover for business comparison, gaps in receipt numbers, zero receipts, cancellation overview, total of items scanned per product group, totals of invoiced amounts, daily takings for a weekday, and time series analysis by calendar day. Checking till data using these macros protects against till manipulation by the company’s own staff.

With these simple measures, you can face up to the requirement for individual transaction recording, cash register inspections and, in some cases, even the technical security measures with confidence. We would be happy to provide you with a quote that takes into account the components you have been using to date.

Would you like to find out more about our software solutions? Contact us today at https://www.hsp-software.de/kontakt/