As of January 1, 2020, the receipt issuance requirement (colloquially also known as "receipt obligation") comes into force in Germany. Find out here how to comply with this requirement as a Belbo user and what you need to pay attention to.
This article is particularly relevant for users from Germany.
Print receipts
In Belbo, you can print receipts. After completing the checkout process, you will see the "Print Invoice" button on the cash register completion screen (or "Print Receipt" when printer integration is active).
If your receipt printer is correctly connected to the device you are using, the receipt can be printed this way.
Print or email A-4 invoices
You can also print A-4 invoices or send them to customers by email. Especially in light of paper waste and the resulting generation of waste and costs, electronic transmission makes sense. The Federal Ministry of Finance explicitly points out that this complies with legal requirements:
The receipt issuance requirement is deliberately designed to be technology-neutral. It remains at the discretion of cash register operators to issue receipts, for example, via email or to a mobile phone.
If you cannot find the "A4 Invoice" button in the completed checkout process, it can be added under Settings > Cash Register > Receipt Design.
After clicking "A4 Invoice", you will see the invoice sending dialog. You can download the PDF and print it yourself to give it to the customer, or send the invoice with one click to the customer's email address.
Invoice elements
Receipts generated via the Belbo cash register can be provided with the legally required data. This includes:
Name and address of the service provider (your company)
Date of receipt issuance
Time of transaction
Quantity and type of services provided
Consideration
Tax amount
Please check your receipts and invoices for the corresponding data. Date and time are always displayed; all individual data can be entered or corrected under Settings > Cash Register > Receipt Design.
Automatic receipt printing
If you want to automatically print a receipt after each checkout, you can set this in Printer Integration. Please note that Belbo Satellite must be installed for this.
If your business exceeds the small invoice threshold of § 33 sentence 1 USTDV, you must add additional data such as the customer's name and address to the receipt and invoice. This is possible with Belbo if this data is maintained in the customer file. Learn more here.
If you want the customer's address to be displayed on your invoice, you can use certain placeholders. To do this, open the Receipt Design function and edit the "Invoice header". Under "Text placeholders" in the "Customer" category, you will find the fields "Street", "Postal Code", "City". Please note that you must create additional customer fields with exactly these names.
If you want to allow your customers to pay for services and products received by invoice, i.e., by bank transfer, you can do this in Belbo.
If you don't yet have a payment method "Invoice" in addition to payment methods such as "Cash" or "Debit Card", please feel free to contact our customer service via the help chat or email at info@belbo.com. It is helpful (but not required) if you have already learned from your tax advisor which (usually 4-digit) accounting account should be used for this.
Check out the appointment as usual and select "Invoice" as the payment method in the last step.
Click "A4 Invoice" in the completed checkout process and send the invoice by email or print it out for the customer.
Customer does not show up / fails to attend appointment without excuse
If you have specified in your terms and conditions that customers who fail to attend their appointment should receive an invoice, you can proceed as follows:
Click on the missed appointment and then "Check out".
If you charge the full appointment, you can check it out normally.
You can also create a service called "No-show fee" and add this service instead in the checkout process.
If you only charge e.g. 50% of the appointment value, you can grant a discount of 50%.
Click on "Payment method" and select "Invoice" or "Bank transfer" etc.* and complete the process.
As described above, click "A4 Invoice" and print the invoice or send it directly by email to the customer.
If you don't yet have a payment method "Invoice" in addition to payment methods such as "Cash" or "Debit Card", please feel free to contact our customer service via the help chat or email at info@belbo.com. It is helpful (but not required) if you have already learned from your tax advisor which (usually 4-digit) accounting account should be used for this.
Customer changes mind and wants to pay in cash or by debit card a few days later
In some cases, the customer comes to your business after some time and wants to settle the outstanding invoice with cash. In this case, it is not permitted to accept the cash and put it in the cash register, as this affects the cash balance without a booking being made.
Ask the customer to transfer the invoice. If they insist on paying, put the money in an envelope, which you carefully label (e.g. "Invoice from customer name, date, time") and take it to the bank with your next deposit.
Please inform your tax advisor of this special payment afterwards.
If payment by debit card has already been made, please ask your tax advisor how this should be recorded.
All information is provided without warranty. Due to the legal situation, we are not permitted to advise you on tax matters. Please discuss any specific tax issues with your tax advisor.
Es kommt vor, dass Kunden gekaufte Waren zurückbringen. Sie können hierfür den Retoure-Button an Ihrer Kasse nutzen. Dies gewährleistet, dass Kasse und Bestand immer korrekt sind.
Retoure buchen
Um eine Retoure korrekt zu buchen, gehen Sie wie folgt vor:
Klicken Sie auf den Kassierer in der Hauptnavigation. Hier finden Sie den Button „Retoure".
Wählen Sie das Kaufdatum des Produktes und klicken Sie dann auf das zurückgegebene Produkt.
Sollte der Kunde ein anderes Produkt kaufen, kann dieses zum Kassiervorgang hinzugefügt werden.
Wählen Sie die Zahlungsweise, mit der dem Kunden die Ware erstattet wird, üblicherweise bar, und schließen Sie den Vorgang ab.
Bei Barerstattung entnehmen Sie das Geld aus der Kasse und erstatten es dem Kunden.
It can happen that customers return purchased goods. To record these, you can use the return button in your cash register. This ensures that your cash register balance and inventory are always correct.
Recording a return and paying out cash
To correctly record a return, proceed as follows:
Click on the cash register in the main navigation. Here you will find the "Return" button.
Select the purchase date of the goods and then click on the returned product.
If the customer purchases another product, it can be added to the transaction.
Click on "Payment" and select the payment method with which the customer will be refunded for the goods. Normally this is cash, and complete the process.
In the case of cash refunds, take the money from the cash register and hand it to the customer.
Issuing the return value as a voucher
If you want to issue the customer a voucher instead of cash for the amount of the returned product, proceed as follows:
Click on the cash register in the main navigation. Here you will find the "Return" button.
Select the purchase date of the goods and then click on the returned product.
Click on "+ Voucher" and change the voucher price to the same value that the voucher should have.
The total price should now be 0.00.
Click on "Payment" and complete the process.
A payment method does not need to be selected for an invoice total of 0.00, but you can print a receipt or issue an A4 invoice for the transaction.
Transfer the amount instead of paying cash
Prerequisite: There must be a payment method "Transfer" (or "Invoice" or similar). If this is not the case in your cash register, please contact your tax office to find out the accounting account number for this payment method. Please share this with us afterwards (info@belbo.com).
Click on the cash register in the main navigation. Here you will find the "Return" button.
Select the purchase date of the goods and then click on the returned product.
If the customer purchases another product, it can be added to the transaction.
Click on "Payment" and select the payment method with which the customer will be refunded for the goods. In this case "Transfer" (name may differ in your cash register).
With the help of the cashier menu, you can simplify the cashier process for your employees. This way, you can create buttons that your employees can simply select during cashiering.
You can access this area via Settings > Cashier Menu
If this function is not activated, it can be activated via "Settings > Add Function".
Cashier Menu Function
If the cashier menu is not activated, all services you have created can be selected from a selection menu. If the cashier menu is activated and correctly configured, simple buttons can be selected during the cashier process to add the desired services.
Attention: if the cashier menu is only activated but not yet configured, it is not possible to add services during the cashier process.
Short video on how to use the cashier menu:
Setting up the Cashier Menu
Under Settings > Cashier Menu you can access the settings area for this function. If it is not activated, you can activate it under "Add Function". It is best not to do this during active business operations, as the cashier function may not be fully available during the setup time. If you want to start the setup and continue it at a later time, you can deactivate the module and activate it again on a later day without losing your settings.
Requirements for using the Cashier Menu
The cashier menu refers to the services you have already created. Before you can set up the cashier menu, you must first complete the setup of your services.
Adding buttons to the Cashier Menu
To add services to your cashier menu, open the cashier menu on the settings page and select the "Menu Definition" tab. Here you select + Add Group to create a new button element.
Give your button the desired name and an individual color so that your employees have easy visual orientation.
Adding Services
After you have created a new button, you can select the services that will be added to the cashier process when this button is selected.
The button is named exactly like the assigned service and also receives its color. To color the buttons of the service in the desired color, define the color within the service.
Repeat this process for each service grouped under the menu button and then save your settings.
Using the Cashier Menu
Once you have finished setting up your cashier menu, it can be used. If a service is added to a recorded appointment or a walk-in customer appointment during the cashier process, your employees can use the buttons you have created.
With the "Combined Receipt" function, you can pay for multiple appointments together.
You will find this function when you click on "Cashier" in the top right corner and then on "Combined Receipt".
Activate the function
If you cannot find a Combined Receipt button in your cashier, the function must be activated first.
Under Settings > Cashier System select the "Basic Settings" tab.
Here you can activate the "Combined Receipt" function.
Save your entry.
Collect payment for multiple appointments together
To start a joint payment, you need at least 2 open appointments.
Example: Anna and Maria Müller are mother and daughter and they pay together for the booked services.
When you click on Combined Receipt, you first get a list of all open appointments. In this step, you mark the appointments that should be paid together.
The next step is the joint payment process. In the payment process you can see the booked services of the individual customers. Here you can edit or add services or products.
Once you have reviewed everything, click on Payment and complete the payment process.
This is what the joint payment process looks like. In our example, the booked services for each customer cost 25.00 euros each. By clicking the green button, the payment process is completed.
There are various reasons why you might want to cancel an invoice. For example, you may have confused the payment method or forgotten an invoice item – many things can happen in the daily work routine.
You can find this function by clicking on an appointment and then clicking View Invoice > Cancel Invoice.
When you click on Cancel Invoice, you will be prompted to select a reason. If your reason is not on the list, you can describe your reason for canceling in the text field.
After you have selected your reason and clicked Save, you can correct the error in the next step. You can change the price or the payment method, add new services and products, or change the customer.
Once you have corrected the error, close the checkout process as usual.
Attention: If a daily closing has already been created for the day on which the correction was made, it must be recreated – as well as on the following days until the present if the cash register balance was affected by the change.
You can charge a walk-in customer by clicking on Register and then selecting "Charge walk-in customer".
Learn how to charge an appointment in the calendar here.
Please note that the Employee PIN function should be active for charging walk-in customers.
Charge a walk-in customer
Click "Register" in the top right of the main navigation
Click on "Charge walk-in customer", select the employee and enter your personal PIN.
Add the service or products to be billed.
Add discounts using the discount button and document why a discount was given.
Change the quantity of services via the quantity link.
Click on "Payment" (this button only appears once at least one service has been added).
You can properly record tips regardless of whether they are given in cash, by card payment, or with the voucher balance. With this function, tips paid by card can be recorded.
Please discuss with your tax office which of your employees need to pay taxes on their tips.
You can access this area via Settings > Tip Rules
If this function is not enabled, it can be activated via "Settings > Add Function".
Set Up Tip Rules
Record tip: Set the account here to which tip payments made by card should be recorded. Once you set an account here, tip payments will be shown on daily and monthly statements as well as in the DATEV export (see below). Please use a tip account that has been explicitly confirmed by your tax office, which may need to be created in your own chart of accounts. We would be happy to support you in setting this up.
Keep tip in cash register: This function controls the timing and method of payment of tips to your employees.
Disabled (Default): The system assumes that tips are immediately withdrawn in cash from the register and handed to the employee. The cash balance is reduced accordingly.
Enabled ("Do not remove tip from register"): The tip remains physically and mathematically in the cash register or in the business account.
Use case: Use this option if you collect tips and pay them out to the team in bulk (e.g., at the end of the month via transfer with payroll).
In the daily and monthly statements, you can see how much tip you received. If you want to distinguish between different employees, please create separate tip accounts for each employee (see menu item "Overview")!
Change for card payment: Specify whether overpayments should be withdrawn from the register. In this case, the amount to be withdrawn will be displayed in the payment process and must be taken from the register by the employee. You can find more information about this further down on this page.
Enabled ("Always record overpayment for card payment as tip"): If a customer pays a higher amount by card than the service costs (e.g., €55 instead of €50), Belbo automatically recognizes the difference of €5 as a tip.
No "change" is paid out in cash.
Disabled:
If this option is not active, the remaining amount is recorded as a tip for both cash and card payments.
Overview
Check the box in the overview for people whose tips must be taxed.
If you wish, you can assign individual tip accounts to individual employees.
Tips
In the "Tips" menu item you will find an overview of all tips received.
Record Tips via Card Payment
If tips are also paid by card or credit card in your business, these can be properly recorded in Belbo.
Click on the desired card payment method in the payment method selection.
Enter the actual amount paid including tip in the number field.
Click the green confirmation button.
Subsequently, the tip paid must be withdrawn from the cash register!
In the cash system, the tip is withdrawn from the cash register, so the evening's cash balance accounts for the tip withdrawal.
Tip Payments on Daily and Monthly Statements
If an account has been entered in the tip function, tip payments will also be shown on the statements.
Example of tips in the daily closing PDF
You can download a detailed cash register documentation here.
This article is particularly relevant for users from Germany.
