Accountant 911

The installation of POS terminals for businesses is gradually becoming a mandatory legal requirement. They must be used by:

• from January 1, 2025, entrepreneurs in settlements with a population of less than 5,000.

• From January 1, 2026, all Sole Proprietors (SP), including SP 1st group on single tax, regardless of the city's population, and entrepreneurs selling through vending machines, at markets, or conducting outdoor trade. This is outlined in Resolution No. 894.

What do these changes mean for SPs?

The main goal of these changes is to provide consumers with broader payment options. At the same time, tax authorities and fiscal authorities will monitor cases of restrictions and obstacles to card payments.

Fines will be imposed for the absence of terminals, ranging from 1700 to 3400 UAH for the first violation and from 8500 to 17,000 UAH for subsequent violations within one year.

If you already accept or plan to accept cashless payments, it’s important to ensure that you are doing so correctly from a legal standpoint and conveniently from a business perspective.

How to conduct business legally to avoid misunderstandings with the tax authorities?

Legal requirements for forming fiscal receipts for cashless transactions

In addition to the above, according to the Law on ECR (Electronic Cash Registers), when selling goods, including through a bank terminal, the seller must generate a fiscal receipt. This can be done using automated accounting systems such as software-based ECR or fiscal ECR.

According to the Ministry of Finance Order No. 601 dated 22.11.2024 (Regulation No. 13), starting January 1, 2025, the parameters of the bank terminal in the fiscal receipt for goods or services must contain the following mandatory details:

• identifier of the acquirer and the merchant or other details that allow them to be identified (line 11);

• identifier of the payment device (line 12);

• commission fee amount (if any) (line 13);

• type of operation (line 14);

• payment instrument details (payment card), security rules for payment systems (for electronic payment instruments used in payment system transactions), preceded by the large letters “EPI”, and also the details of the electronic payment instruments. However, these details are not always required unless specified by the payment system (Mastercard, Visa, etc.) (line 15);

• text “PAYMENT SYSTEM” (name of the payment system whose payment instrument is used, authorization code, or another code that identifies the transaction in the payment system and/or the transaction code in the payment system, value of the code) (line 16);

• cashier’s signature (if required by payment system rules), preceded by the text “Cashier” (line 17);

• electronic payment device holder’s signature (if required by payment system rules) in separate lines, preceded by the text “Cashier” and “EPI Holder” (line 18);

Lines 11-18 of the fiscal receipt are filled out when a payment is made by card through a bank terminal connected to a cash register (ECR).

The updates in Regulation No. 13 introduced a simplified form of fiscal receipt filling starting January 1, 2025. This is available only to Sole Proprietors in groups 1 and 2, who do not pay VAT. It allows shortening product or service names in receipts, except for high-risk goods. Also, a QR code linking to the tax website is mandatory.

Why is it important to connect a bank terminal to a software-based ECR?

As required by the ECR Law, all financial transactions conducted through bank POS terminals must include terminal information in the fiscal receipt. To save costs, some entrepreneurs enter payment information manually. Although this is not prohibited by law, it can lead to time wastage and mistakes in submitting data to the tax authorities.

However, some print receipts as cash payments, simply attaching a bank receipt. This is a violation of the law, as tax authorities set specific requirements for filling out fiscal receipts, and ignoring these standards can lead to fines and further checks of operations for the entire period.

Choose the payment format that works best for you with Torgsoft

To avoid fines and errors in sales, entrepreneurs should use two essential options for automating cashless payments: software-based ECR and connecting a bank terminal to the accounting software. Only this way can accurate and legal accounting be maintained.

What does the Ukrainian accounting program Torgsoft offer for these tasks for retail stores, online trading, manufacturing, and warehouses?

The Torgsoft accounting program receives all necessary information from the terminal for printing on the fiscal receipt. The payment amount is automatically transferred to the bank terminal, and if the payment is successful, the sale will be marked as paid.

The parameters of the bank terminal are transmitted after activating the additional option “Bank terminal connection”. This option links the software-based ECR with the bank terminal.

Thanks to the synchronization of the bank terminal and the software-based ECR, the correct payment type will be shown on the fiscal receipt: cash, card, or cashless if the funds were transferred between accounts. If a software-based ECR is installed, the fiscal receipt for payment will be printed on a receipt printer.

In the case of cashless transactions, the following terminal information will appear on the fiscal receipt:

• type of operation,

• seller’s identifier,

• transaction number,

• authorization code,

• payment system,

• acquirer’s name, etc.

All settings can be done in minutes in the "Payment Types" form.

Thus, combining bank payment devices with a modern accounting system provides the entrepreneur with many advantages:

• Compliance with legislation regarding fiscal receipts for cashless transactions,

• synchronization with software-based ECR for fiscal sales accounting,

• automatic transfer of sales amount directly to the accounting program and its fixation,

• correct terminal data displayed in the ECR receipt,

• elimination of errors that often occur when manually entering payment amounts.

Remember, Torgsoft is running a New Year promotion until January 14, 2025: discounts up to 25% on accounting and business automation software, plus 50+ additional options for managing trade and a one-year service contract.