Retailers Push for Cash Rounding Updates: Preparing Your Store for Common Cents Act Changes
August 19, 2026
If you’ve noticed that pennies seem to be getting harder to come by, you’re not imagining it. For retailers that handle a lot of cash, that can create a surprisingly practical problem: What happens when a customer’s total ends in an amount that can’t easily be paid with the coins available?
That’s the issue the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and retailers across the country are asking Congress to address. NACS has called on Congress to pass the Common Cents Act, with the goal of establishing a common nationwide standard for handling cash transactions as penny availability continues to decline.
The Common Cents Act is now one step closer to becoming law, which would establish a consistent approach to rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel. For convenience stores, tobacco retailers, grocery stores, and other businesses that process thousands of cash purchases, a standardized approach could make checkout a lot less complicated.
The legislation isn’t law yet, but it has moved significantly closer to becoming one. The House passed its version in July, and the Senate has now cleared its version. The House is expected to take up the Senate version next.
What Is the Common Cents Act?
Put simply, the Common Cents Act would create a nationwide framework for handling cash transactions when businesses don’t have enough pennies.
Under the legislation, businesses would be able to round cash transaction totals to the nearest five cents.
The idea isn’t to change the price of an item or make everything cost more. Instead, the adjustment would apply to the final cash transaction total when a customer pays with physical currency.
And this distinction matters: Customers paying with credit cards, debit cards, mobile wallets, or other electronic payment methods would still pay the exact transaction amount.
Think of it as a checkout adjustment rather than a change to the price tag.
What Is the Purpose Behind the Common Cents Act?
So, why is this becoming an issue now?
A big part of the conversation comes down to the declining availability of pennies. As they become harder to find, retailers need a consistent way to handle cash payments when they can’t provide exact change.
The U.S. Mint’s decision to suspend production of circulating pennies has added urgency to the discussion. At the same time, cash-rounding rules aren’t necessarily the same everywhere.
More than 15 states have already enacted laws governing cash rounding, creating another challenge for retailers operating across state lines. Keeping track of different requirements can be a lot to manage for something happening at the register thousands of times a day.
That’s why NACS and other retail advocates are pushing for a single federal standard. A nationwide rule could give retailers one consistent framework for handling cash transactions instead of requiring them to navigate different approaches from state to state. NACS has continued to advance its priorities around cash and payments as these issues develop.
The penny’s phaseout could have implications beyond the checkout counter.
Explore our guide to penny removal and what it means for retailers for a closer look.
Examples of Cash Rounding
The legislation would use the final cent amount of a cash transaction to determine whether the total is rounded up or down to the nearest nickel.
Here’s what that could look like:
| Final Transaction Cent Amount | Rounding Direction | Adjustment Amount | Final Cash Tender Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| .01 or .02 | Round DOWN | -$0.01 / -$0.02 | 0.00 |
| .03 or .04 | Round UP | +$0.02 / +$0.01 | 0.05 |
| .06 or .07 | Round DOWN | -$0.01 / -$0.02 | 0.05 |
| .08 or .09 | Round UP | +$0.02 / +$0.01 | 0.10 |
For example, if a customer’s final cash total is $12.03, the transaction could be rounded up to $12.05.
If the total is $12.02, it could instead be rounded down to $12.00.
The important part is that the adjustment applies to the final cash total, rather than changing individual item prices.
Reasons Why Businesses Want a Single Nationwide Standard
At first glance, rounding a few cents might not sound like a major operational issue. But multiply that by hundreds or thousands of cash transactions every day, and things get a little more complicated.
Penny Shortages
The most obvious issue is simply having enough pennies available.
When cash drawers don’t have the coins needed to make exact change, cashiers have to find another way to complete the transaction. Without a consistent process, that can lead to confusion at the register and inconsistent experiences for customers.
Struggles With Cash Transactions
Cash handling already requires accuracy. Poorly managed cash policies can create customer complaints, register errors, and discrepancies between expected and actual drawer totals.
A standardized rounding process gives employees a clear rule to follow instead of leaving them to figure out what to do transaction by transaction.
Varying Rounding Rules
This is where things can get particularly tricky for multi-location retailers.
For retailers operating across multiple states, keeping up with different cash-rounding requirements can become a compliance headache. A nationwide standard could make that process considerably easier by giving businesses one federal framework to work from.
High Cash Transaction Volume
For a retailer processing only a handful of cash purchases each day, rounding may seem like a minor inconvenience.
For a convenience store, tobacco shop, grocery store, or another cash-heavy retailer, it’s a different story.
When cash transactions happen continuously throughout the day, even a small operational change can have a noticeable impact on cashier workflows, customer wait times, and reconciliation.
Legal Protection
There’s also the question of consistency and legal protection.
Without a federal standard, rounding cash transactions can create compliance concerns for retailers, particularly those operating in states with different requirements. NACS says the lack of federal legislation could also expose retailers to potential legal challenges, including class action lawsuits. Some retailers have been rounding only in the customer’s favor, which can create an unplanned cost for the business and may violate certain state laws.
A nationwide standard could give retailers a clearer framework for handling cash transactions and greater confidence that their rounding practices are compliant.
What the Common Cents Act Could Mean for Retailers
If enacted, the Common Cents Act would establish a standardized approach to cash rounding. The legislation has already cleared the Senate, while the House passed its version in July. The House is expected to take up the Senate version next.
Cash transactions would be rounded to the nearest $0.05, following the established rounding rules.
Other payment methods would remain exact. So, if a customer’s purchase totals $12.03, the customer paying with cash could have a rounded total, while someone paying with a credit card, debit card, or mobile payment would still be charged exactly $12.03.
That distinction could make the process easier for retailers to manage because the rounding would be tied specifically to cash payments.
A nationwide rule could also reduce the need for retailers to maintain different cash-handling procedures based on state. For businesses with locations throughout the country, that could mean fewer compliance concerns and more consistent checkout procedures.
And then there’s the operational side.
Once the rules are clear, retailers could configure their point-of-sale (POS) systems to handle the calculations automatically. Instead of asking cashiers to manually determine whether a transaction should go up or down, the system could calculate the appropriate adjustment at checkout.
Less mental math for the cashier. Fewer opportunities for mistakes. A smoother transaction for everyone.
Why It Matters to High Cash-Heavy Retailers
For retailers that process a lot of cash, the impact could be felt pretty quickly.
Consider a busy convenience store during a morning rush. Customers are grabbing coffee, snacks, lottery tickets, tobacco products, and other items while cashiers are trying to keep the line moving.
Now imagine adding a manual rounding calculation to every cash transaction.
Even if each calculation takes only a few extra seconds, those seconds add up.
That’s why automated rounding could be particularly useful for convenience stores, tobacco retailers, grocery stores, and other high-volume cash businesses.
A POS system that handles the calculation automatically could help cashiers move through transactions without stopping to figure out whether a total should be rounded up or down.
It could also make training easier. Rather than asking every employee to memorize a complicated process, the POS can apply the appropriate rounding rule as part of the normal checkout workflow.
For busy retailers, that’s the real value here. It’s not necessarily about saving a couple of cents on an individual transaction. It’s about making thousands of transactions easier to manage accurately and consistently.
What’s Next for the Common Cents Act?
The Common Cents Act has passed both chambers in different versions. The House passed H.R. 3074 on July 14, while the Senate cleared S. 1525 by unanimous consent in August. The House is expected to take up the Senate version next before the legislation can become law.
The legislation is not yet a nationwide requirement, but retailers can start preparing by reviewing cash-handling procedures, employee training, and whether their POS system can automatically handle cash rounding.
Conclusion
Cash handling is changing, and the Common Cents Act is now closer than ever to becoming law. The House passed its version in July, and the Senate has since cleared its version, leaving the House expected to take up the Senate legislation next.
That doesn’t mean retailers should wait until the legislation becomes law to start paying attention.
Businesses—particularly convenience stores, tobacco retailers, grocery stores, and other cash-heavy operations—should keep an eye on federal and state updates and start thinking about how their current checkout processes would handle cash rounding.
If the legislation becomes law, retailers may need to update cash-handling procedures, employee training, and POS settings to support the new rules.
The good news? A capable POS system can take much of the math out of the cashier’s hands.
As cash continues to evolve, retailers need technology that can adapt with it. Reviewing your POS capabilities now can help make the transition easier if the Common Cents Act becomes law.
Have Questions About Penny Rounding?
The rules around cash rounding are changing, and you may be wondering what they could mean for your store. Get in touch with our team to learn more about penny rounding and how FTx POS can help you prepare.