Best Cash Register for a Small UK Business: Tills vs POS
The best cash register for small business owners in the UK who mainly accept cash is the Sharp XE-A137, a standalone till with no monthly subscription.
The best cash register for small business owners in the UK who mainly accept cash is the Sharp XE-A137. This standalone electronic till has 8 departments, up to 200 PLUs, a thermal printer and an SD card slot for backups, with no monthly subscription. If you take most payments by card or need stock tracking, a POS register such as Square Register or SumUp Register is a better fit.
This guide is based on Amazon UK listings, TechRepublic's cash register roundup (US prices), MerchantSwitch's POS hardware guide, provider pages from Square and SumUp, and GOV.UK. These tills have not been independently tested for this guide.
We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes our verdicts. How we review.
Quick picks
- Best basic till: Sharp XE-A137
Check price on Amazon - Best for a café or salon with scanning: SAM4S NR-510R. The listing showed low stock on 11 November 2026.
Check price on Amazon - Cheapest plug and go: CountLab 2 (department names and receipt header cannot be edited)
- Best compact till you can program from a PC: CountLab 5. The listing showed low stock on 11 November 2026.
- When to go POS instead: card-heavy sales, stock tracking or several sites: Square Register or SumUp Register. Check the current price on each provider's page. There is no Amazon button for either register.
- Skip: no-name tills without UK support or an easy source of paper rolls
Till or POS? Decision table
| Business type | Daily transactions (rule of thumb) | Card share | Stock tracking needed? | Upfront cost (source) | Monthly fees | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market stall, cash-heavy | Low | Low | No | Check the till's Amazon price | No till subscription | CountLab 2 or Sharp XE-A137 plus a separate card reader |
| Small shop, mostly cash | Low to medium | Mixed | No | Check the till's Amazon price | No till subscription | Sharp XE-A137 |
| Café or salon with set prices | Medium | Mixed | Light (PLUs) | Check the till's Amazon price | No till subscription | SAM4S NR-510R or CountLab 5 |
| Shop selling mostly by card | Medium to high | High | Yes | Check the current price on Square's page or SumUp's page | Card fees; see our card machine guide | POS register |
| Several tills or sites | High | High | Yes | As above | Card fees and any software plan | POS register |
An electronic cash register (ECR) cannot take card payments itself. You'll need a separate card reader. Record each card sale using the till's card tender key so the end-of-day report shows cash and card totals separately.
Running costs
- Paper rolls: Thermal rolls are the main ongoing expense. Check your till's manual for the correct width and diameter.
- Ink ribbons: None of the thermal tills covered here needs them.
- Power: Keep the mains adaptor safe, as replacements are sold separately.
Both paper packs below had a featured offer on 11 November 2026. The Sharp rolls were sold by the marketplace seller W & L Supplies. The 57 x 57 mm rolls were sold by EPOSGEAR. Another offer on the EPOSGEAR page was low stock. The Sharp-roll details table lists the paper finish as glossy, while the title calls them thermal rolls, so check the roll type and size on the listing before you order.
Check price on Amazon Check price on Amazon
What matters in a till
- Departments and PLUs. Departments group sales into categories such as drinks and cakes. PLUs are preset items with their own prices. Having more of both speeds up keying and gives you better reports.
- Receipt and journal. Thermal tills print receipts without ink. An electronic journal keeps the audit roll in memory rather than on paper.
- Drawer size. Check that the note and coin slots suit UK currency, and that the drawer fits your counter.
- Battery backup and memory. An SD card slot or USB software allows you to back up the till's program and sales data.
- X and Z reports. An X report lets you check totals during the day. A Z report closes the day and resets those totals.
- Editable header. Some cheaper tills have a fixed receipt header that cannot be changed.
- Support. Before buying an ECR, TechRepublic recommends checking whether the manufacturer still supports the model. Replacement parts and support may be difficult to find.
The picks
Sharp XE-A137: best basic till
According to Amazon UK listings of this model, the Sharp XE-A137 has 8 departments with 12-character text, up to 200 PLUs and a thermal printer that runs at 7 lines per second. It also has an electronic journal, a HELP key that prints set-up instructions and an SD card slot for program backup.
Its lockable drawer has 3 note and 6 coin compartments. You can edit department names and print your shop name on receipts. The footprint is 335 x 360 x 190 mm. The listing linked below describes 4 programmable department buttons, so confirm the department count on the page before you buy.
On 11 November 2026 the featured offer was in stock and sold by the marketplace seller Cashregistergroup, not by Amazon.
Who it's for: small shops and start-ups that mainly take cash. Who it isn't for: businesses needing stock control or integrated card payments.
Check price on AmazonSAM4S NR-510R: best for a café or salon with scanning
The Amazon listing specifies a single-station thermal printer, 12 direct sales buttons and 6,000 scanning PLUs. There is also a training mode, plus refund and cancel functions. You can add a barcode scanner at extra cost. See the barcode scanner guide for more detail.
Who it's for: cafés, salons and shops with a fixed price list or barcoded stock. Who it isn't for: stalls needing a very small till.
Watch out: the listing showed low stock on 11 November 2026 and was sold by the marketplace seller Cashregistergroup. This page does not quote a unit count, because stock changes.
Check price on AmazonCountLab 2: cheapest plug and go
The CountLab 2 comes with a 58 mm thermal receipt printer, 16 preset department buttons and a key lock with separate cashier and manager keys. Its sales report separates cash and card payments.
One catch: the listing says department text and the receipt header are fixed and cannot be edited.
On 11 November 2026 the featured offer was in stock and sold by SHOPSTUFF UK LTD.
Who it's for: stalls and pop-ups wanting a till that's ready out of the box. Who it isn't for: businesses wanting their name printed on receipts.
Check price on AmazonCountLab 5: compact till you program from a PC
The CountLab 5 offers 16 departments and USB programming software. Its compact drawer has 4 note and 8 coin holders and measures 34 cm wide by 37 cm deep, according to the listing. You can give departments a preset price or leave them open.
Watch out: the listing showed low stock on 11 November 2026 and was sold by SHOPSTUFF UK LTD. This page does not quote a unit count, because stock changes.
Who it's for: small counters where space is tight. Who it isn't for: high-volume sites that need stock tracking.
Check price on AmazonWhen a POS register is the better buy
Square Register has two screens and built-in contactless and chip and PIN payments. Square's page states that it needs an internet connection, although offline payments are available. Check the current price there.
SumUp lists its countertop SumUp Register on its comparison page. Check the current price on that page.
For payment charges, read the card machine guide. For other hardware, see the cash drawer and receipt printer guides.
Tax and records
A till's Z reports provide a useful daily record, but they do not cover every record-keeping requirement. Sole traders must keep records of business income and expenses for Self Assessment (GOV.UK). Limited companies must keep financial and accounting records for 6 years from the end of the last financial year they relate to (GOV.UK).
This is not tax advice. Speak to an accountant. If you're just starting out, see how to register as a sole trader.
FAQ
Do I need a cash register or a POS system?
A simple till makes sense for cash-heavy sales. Choose a POS system if you take more card payments, need stock tracking or operate at more than one site.
What is the cheapest cash register?
Budget models such as the CountLab 2 are at the cheaper end. Check the latest price on Amazon. Its receipt text is fixed, though.
Can a cash register take card payments?
An ECR cannot take card payments directly. Pair it with a separate card reader and enter each payment using the card key.
Are cash registers MTD or VAT compliant?
A cash register alone does not make a business compliant. Follow GOV.UK's record-keeping rules and speak to an accountant.
What is an ECR?
ECR stands for electronic cash register. It is a standalone till with a drawer, printer and keypad, but no cloud software.
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