The handbook · Build the place
Checkout and payment
The checkout is the one thing in the restaurant where Skatteverket has detailed technical rules. Get it right from the start, it is simple once you know the rules.
Summary
If you sell food for cash or card you have to have a certified kassaregister, a cash register, with a kontrollenhet, a control unit, and it has to be reported to Skatteverket. A receipt must be offered to the guest. Restaurants also have to keep a personalliggare, a staff ledger, every day. Count on 1 to 2 percent in fees on every card payment.
Numbers to plan with
- Certified
- kassaregister with a kontrollenhet is required in every restaurant
- 1 to 2 %
- of every card purchase goes to card fees
- 12,500 kr
- common penalty fee when the personalliggare does not match
- Every shift
- the staff go in and out of the ledger, family members included
The requirement for a certified kassaregister
The law says that anyone who sells goods or services for cash or card has to have a certified kassaregister. A restaurant counts from day one.
There is an exception for small sales, under four prisbasbelopp per year. That sits around a quarter of a million kronor, but the amount changes every year, so check the level with Skatteverket before you rely on the exception.
- The kassaregister has to be connected to a kontrollenhet or an approved control system
- The register has to be reported to Skatteverket, and that costs nothing
- Report it as well when you change register, move it or close the business
- A receipt must always be offered to the guest, also for Swish and card
- Skatteverket may make unannounced control visits and test purchases
Personalliggare every day
Restaurants have to keep a personalliggare. Everyone who works has to be signed in when they start and out when they finish, including you and including your brother who helps out one Saturday without pay.
Skatteverket turns up unannounced and counts the people in the kitchen against the ledger. If it does not match there is a penalty fee of 12,500 kronor plus an amount for each person missing. The amounts are adjusted, so keep track of the current level.
- A digital ledger on the phone or the tablet is simplest and gets forgotten less often
- Sign yourself in. Owners standing in the kitchen without being in the ledger is a very common remark.
- The ledger has to be available in the premises
- Keep the records as long as the rules require, the register supplier usually handles that automatically
Card, Swish and cash
Many Swedish guests pay by card or Swish. Cash still exists in some towns and in some types of business, but the share drops year by year.
Compare terminal contracts carefully. The difference between two providers can be ten thousand kronor per year for a restaurant with normal turnover.
| Payment method | Cost | Things to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Card in terminal | Roughly 1 to 2 percent | Ask for the price per card type, company cards cost more |
| Swish for business | Fixed fee per payment | Simple for takeaway and delivery |
| Cash | No fee, but time | Counting, a change float and risk when you deposit it |
| Invoice to companies | Admin work | Good for lunch deals with offices nearby |
The checkout and the kitchen have to talk to each other
An order written on a note and carried into the kitchen goes wrong sooner or later. Let the register send the order straight to a printer or a screen by the stove.
The same goes for online orders. If they arrive in a separate system someone has to type them into the register again, and then the daily total is never right.
- A receipt printer in the kitchen with clear text and an order signal you can hear
- Let online orders land in the same register as the guests in the dining room
- Set up buttons for the ten most common dishes. Seconds at the register become minutes in the queue.
- Have a simple routine for refunds and wrong entries, otherwise the staff will sort it out their own way
Common questions
Do I need a kassaregister if I only take Swish?
Yes. Swish counts as an electronic payment on site and falls under the same rules. What decides it is whether you sell on site for immediate payment, not which payment method the guest picks.
What does a register system cost per month?
Cloud registers sit at hundreds of kronor a month per register, plus card fees. If you buy the hardware, the terminal, printer and tablet together cost 15,000 to 40,000 kronor.
Can I use an ordinary tablet as a register?
Yes, if the app is a certified kassaregister and is connected to a kontrollenhet or an approved control system. Ask the supplier for the certificate, they should be able to show it right away.
What happens during a control visit?
Skatteverket can turn up unannounced, make a test purchase and ask to see the kassaregister and the personalliggare. If you have receipts, the ledger and the right notification the visit takes fifteen minutes. If something is missing you get a fee, not a prosecution.