Air Raid Alert During Store Closing: When to Generate the Z-Report

If an air raid alert covers the store’s scheduled closing time, sales staff must stop selling and leave the sales floor for a shelter. Do not delay leaving for the last customer, counting cash, or generating the fiscal report receipt (Z-report). According to the explanation from the State Tax Service of Ukraine (DPS), if the alert makes it impossible to generate the report, it must be generated no later than the next business day, before any new settlement transactions begin.

After it is safe to return, the responsible employee checks the register, the latest receipts, and the previous shift, completes the transmission of documents, and generates the deferred report. The manager should keep a record of the alert, the store’s usual closing time, the specific obstacle, and the outcome of closing the shift. This procedure applies to stores in Ukraine that use a settlement transaction registrar (RRO) or a software settlement transaction registrar (PRRO).

What the cashier should do when an alert begins just before closing

The DPS directly links the procedure for a deferred Z-report to stopping sales and staff leaving the sales floor. An entrepreneur’s duty to arrange civil protection measures, evacuation, and employee training is also set out in Article 20 of the Code of Civil Protection of Ukraine.

So the cashier can act without seeking additional approval, we recommend setting out the following steps in the store’s instructions in advance:

1. Stop accepting payments and making new sales. Do not serve the queue while leaving or stay behind to process one more receipt.
2. Follow the designated route to the shelter. Do not wait for printing to finish, a server response, or a cash count. A program message saying the shift must be closed must not delay leaving.
3. Notify the manager from a safe place. Say which register has an open shift and whether there was a transaction whose outcome you did not have time to check.
4. After it is safe to return, check the actual status of the documents. If the report has already been generated, check its details and confirmation before repeating the shift-closing command.

For any transaction interrupted by the alert, check two things separately: whether payment went through and whether the fiscal receipt was registered. The absence of a paper receipt alone is not grounds to charge the customer again or process the sale again.

When a Z-report is required and what deadline applies after an alert

Point 9 of Article 3 of Ukrainian Law No. 265/95-VR, “On the Use of Settlement Transaction Registrars in Trade, Catering, and Services”, requires fiscal report receipts to be generated daily if settlement transactions took place. This point provides an exception for machines selling goods or services. The Z-report contains the totals for completed transactions; generating it records those totals in the fiscal memory of an RRO or on the fiscal server for a PRRO.

In its official explanation, the DPS addresses the specific case where an alert continued into the scheduled closing time of the business premises and prevented the report from being generated. In that case, the deadline is the next business day, before the first new settlement transaction. The DPS applies the same approach to an emergency power outage that makes it impossible to generate the report.

So use the store’s actual operating schedule as your guide. The DPS wording does not require you to return to the register at midnight or necessarily on the next calendar day. At the same time, an alert that ended well before the scheduled closing time and did not prevent reporting does not, on its own, justify deferring the report.

Example. The store is open until 20:00; an alert begins at 19:50 and continues until 21:10. The store is closed the next day according to its schedule and reopens the day after at 10:00. Under the procedure described by the DPS, the report must be generated no later than that next business day and before the first new settlement transaction. The manager should arrange for the register to be checked before the store opens so customers do not have to wait while the previous shift is closed.

Generate the document using the actual date and time. Do not change the device clock or try to backdate the Z-report: the circumstances and supporting documents you keep explain the delay.

If there were no settlement transactions

The daily Z-report requirement under Point 9 of Article 3 of Law No. 265 applies when settlement transactions have taken place. If the store was closed and there were no such transactions, this point does not require a report solely because a new day has begun.

However, check whether a PRRO shift remains open. Under Points 3 and 5 of Section IV of the Procedure approved by Order No. 317 of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, only one shift may be open at a time, and a new shift can be opened only after the previous one is closed. To close it, the cashier generates a fiscal report receipt and submits it for registration. The cashier must close the previous shift before opening the next one, even if there were no sales. Under normal conditions, the cashier must close a PRRO shift no later than 24 hours after opening it. The DPS explanation on closing a PRRO shift states this maximum shift duration. Before resuming work, check when the previous shift was opened. If an alert covered the store’s scheduled closing time and prevented the report from being generated, follow the DPS procedure above: generate the report no later than the next business day, before new settlement transactions. Do not delay leaving for the shelter to meet the deadline.

The DPS explanation sets the deadline for a report that had to be deferred because an alert or an emergency power outage prevented it from being generated on time. Under normal conditions, if settlement transactions took place during the day, the cashier must generate the daily Z-report; closing the shift only before the next sale does not replace that obligation. Before resuming transactions, the cashier must close the previous shift and properly open the next one. If the program blocks closure, save the error message and contact support to complete the shift without processing already completed transactions again.

How to close the previous shift before resuming sales

We recommend assigning the check to one designated employee. If every cashier repeats the commands independently, it will be harder to establish which documents have already been registered.

1. Check the register and shift. Check the device’s fiscal number, the open shift number, the cashier, and the latest Z-report. If the store has several registers, check each one separately.
2. Check the latest transactions. Identify the documents being processed when printing was interrupted or power or connectivity was lost. Compare fiscal numbers, statuses, and payment outcomes.
3. Find out whether there are unsent documents. For a PRRO, check the offline document queue and delivery messages. Follow the required order for submitting receipts and the report.
4. Close the previous shift. If the Z-report has not been generated, generate it. If it has already been generated, check delivery and the closure result instead of generating another document without first checking.
5. Keep a record of the check. Record the Z-report number and actual time, server confirmation, and any unresolved errors.
6. Prepare the register to resume transactions. For a PRRO, check that the previous shift is closed and the new one is open. If cash remains in the register after the Z-report, including the change float, register the amount before the first settlement transaction using the “службове внесення” operation (cash deposit). Point 9 of Section IV of Procedure No. 317 provides for this operation to account for cash at the settlement location after a Z-report. Before accepting payment, make sure the program is ready to generate fiscal receipts.

If the outcome of the last sale is unknown, do not automatically process a refund or cancellation and repeat the sale. Check the original document first. Point 11 of Section V of Procedure No. 317 provides a separate way to resolve duplication when the server has registered an online receipt, but the PRRO did not receive a response and completed the transaction offline. Use it only after confirming that this is what happened.

What to do if power or internet also goes out

First take the steps needed to leave safely. Decide how to complete the shift after you return; the procedure depends on what is unavailable—the device’s power, its connection to the server, or the registrar itself.

How to generate and submit a PRRO Z-report offline

Under Point 7 of Section V of Procedure No. 317, if the reporting deadline falls during offline operation, the PRRO generates the report after the last settlement document of the shift and before the message announcing the opening of the next shift. Documents receive sequential numbers from the reserved range.

When switching to offline mode, the PRRO must generate a message using Form No. 4-PRRO, marked to show that offline mode has begun. Once the connection is restored, the PRRO generates a message that offline mode has ended, then a package containing both messages and the accumulated documents. The package is signed with the cashier’s electronic signature or the electronic seal of the entrepreneur or company for which the PRRO is registered, and sent to the fiscal server within an hour after the connection is restored. When checking submission, make sure the program also sent the messages about the start and end of offline mode. Copies of settlement documents must be submitted before the Z-report for the day on which those documents were generated. Documents remain stored on the PRRO until delivery is confirmed. These requirements are set out in Article 5 of Law No. 265 and Points 4 and 8 of Section V of Procedure No. 317.

In practice, restore power and connectivity, let the program submit the saved documents, and check for confirmation. Do not delete local data or reinstall the program while receipts remain unsent.

Article 5 of Law No. 265 sets the general limits for offline operation: 36 consecutive hours and 168 hours in a calendar month. At the same time, Point 13 of Section II of that Law allows these limits to be exceeded during martial law, a state of emergency, or force majeure circumstances. This special provision applies to offline operating time and the use of numbers. The requirement to have a range of fiscal numbers issued by the tax authority remains in force.

Check the capabilities of the specific program separately: it may technically block operation once its own set limits are reached. The legal allowance to exceed the time limit does not change the software settings. Also take into account Point 10 of Section V of Procedure No. 317: if the server registers no settlement documents online between the end of one offline period and the start of the next, that gap also counts toward offline operating time. A brief restoration of internet therefore does not, by itself, mean that the timer has restarted; check the remaining time shown by the PRRO or the Electronic Cabinet.

When a backup RRO and settlement book are needed

For a hardware RRO, Article 5 of Law No. 265 provides for transactions using a properly completed settlements record book and settlement book, or a registered backup RRO, while the device is faulty and being repaired, and when electricity is temporarily disconnected for no more than seven business days. If the entrepreneur stated when registering the RRO that transactions would stop in these circumstances, they may not continue without the prescribed backup arrangement.

If a PRRO is faulty, transactions through it must stop. Under Point 12 of Section II of Procedure No. 317, on the day the fault is found, the entrepreneur must send a notice using Form No. 2-PRRO to the tax authority, the PRRO manufacturer, and/or the service center, if there is one. Once the fault is fixed, the entrepreneur submits an application marked “Відновлення роботи” (“Resume operation”). If the application is not received within a month, a record cancelling the PRRO registration will be entered in the register. An ordinary loss of internet should not automatically be reported as a PRRO fault: offline operation is provided for in that case.

A handwritten revenue note, spreadsheet, or self-created report file does not replace a fiscal Z-report. A settlement book may also be used only under the procedure established by law.

What records the store manager should keep

The DPS explains that the circumstances must objectively prevent the obligation from being fulfilled. We therefore recommend making an internal record of the event once employees are safe. It should include:

• the store address, date, and usual closing time;
• the start and end times of the alert in the relevant area and the source of that information;
• the cashier’s name, RRO or PRRO fiscal number, and shift number;
• when sales stopped and why the report could not be generated at the scheduled time;
• whether there was a power outage, loss of connectivity, or malfunction, and which error messages were saved;
• the actual date, time, and number of the Z-report generated, the results of document submission, and the shift closure check;
• who checked the register before transactions resumed.

Attach any available supporting evidence to the record: alert notifications, the work schedule, screenshots of program errors, communication logs, support requests, and server responses. If the report could not be generated on the next business day either, separately record the reason for the further delay and the steps taken to resolve it. Referring to the earlier alert does not explain any later delay.

For an actual hardware RRO malfunction, Point 16 of Article 3 of Law No. 265 also sets notification deadlines: the service center must be notified on the business day the malfunction is found, and the tax authority within two business days after that day.

How to assess liability for a delayed report

An air raid alert does not, by itself, exempt a business from liability for every cash register violation. Subparagraph 112.8.9 of Article 112 of the Tax Code of Ukraine provides exemption from financial liability where the act resulted from force majeure circumstances. For a specific case, the connection between the event and the inability to fulfill the obligation must be established. An internal record or certificate does not automatically exempt the business from sanctions.

Do not assume that every late Z-report carries a penalty equal to the value of sales. Point 1 of Article 17 of Law No. 265 provides for 100% of the sale amount for the first violation and 150% for each subsequent violation in the cases it specifies, including failure to process a settlement through a fiscal registrar or failure to issue a proper settlement document.

Point 10 of that article separately sets a penalty for failing to submit required reports and copies of documents: 30 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens. The grounds for liability depend on the violation actually established. Separately, Article 26 of Law No. 265 provides for administrative liability under the law for officials and retail employees who violate its requirements. So the consequences of a delayed report are not limited to financial sanctions against the entrepreneur or company.

Point 14 of Section II of Law No. 265 provides a territorial exemption from liability for violations committed while selling goods or providing services in temporarily occupied territories and areas of active or possible hostilities, within the periods established for those areas. It does not apply to violations of settlement procedures when selling excisable goods. To assess whether this provision applies, check the status of the specific territory and the relevant dates against the official list. An alert announced in another locality does not create this territorial exemption.

How to close a PRRO shift in Torgsoft after an alert

The paid “Програмний РРО” option (Software RRO) is paid for annually for each device used to fiscalize sales. It works with Torgsoft Start, Ultra, and Terminal licenses. Activate “Підключення програмного РРО” (Connect Software RRO) in the “Налаштування” (Settings) menu in advance, register the business location, PRRO, and cashiers, and check that the qualified electronic signature (QES) is valid. Usually, the cashier selects their name using a badge or from a list and works with their own key. When linking sales to a salesperson in “Для кожного товару” (For each product) mode, the program uses the shared PRRO key; limit access to authorized people. After it is safe to return, check the latest Z-report, receipt statuses, and unsent documents. According to the cashier guide, in the “Реалізація” (Sale) form, open “Фіскальний чек” (Fiscal receipt) → “Друк Z-звіту” (Print Z-report), and check the shift closure message.

According to the offline mode documentation, Torgsoft allows you to generate a Z-report without a connection, saves documents locally, and sends them automatically once the connection is restored. An internet connection is required to open the first shift. Before making new sales, check that the previous shift is closed and the next one is ready. If the connection is restored, check document delivery and server confirmation; if there is no connection, check that offline operation is allowed and verify the remaining numbers and time. The program blocks offline operation after 36 consecutive hours, 168 hours in a calendar month, or when the numbers run out; the legal exception does not remove these technical limits. Do not reinstall the program or clear the database while receipts remain unsent. If you do not know whether a document was fiscalized, check with the administrator or support before taking the same action again.

Rules and official guidance for checking the procedure

• Ukrainian Law No. 265/95-VR on the Use of Settlement Transaction Registrars: Article 2—definition of a report; Points 7, 9, and 16 of Article 3—document submission, daily reporting, and malfunctions; Article 5—backup and offline procedures; Article 17—financial sanctions; Points 13 and 14 of Section II—special conditions.
• Procedure for the Registration, Maintenance of the Register, and Use of Software Settlement Transaction Registrars, approved by Order No. 317 of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine: Point 12 of Section II—malfunctions; Points 3 and 5 of Section IV—opening and closing a shift; Section V—offline documents and their submission.
• Code of Civil Protection of Ukraine No. 5403-VI: Articles 20 and 21—entrepreneur obligations and rules of conduct for citizens.
• Tax Code of Ukraine No. 2755-VI: Article 112, including Subparagraph 112.8.9—conditions for financial liability and force majeure circumstances.
• DPS explanation on the Z-report when an alert covers the store’s scheduled closing time—deadline is the next business day, before new settlement transactions begin.