The new law on online cash desks: how the maintenance of trading equipment is changing



    Image: Rusty Clark , Flickr

    In our blog earlier we talked about changes in the law on the procedure for the use of cash registers related to the transition to online data transfer to the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation. FZ-54 is seriously changing the whole scheme of work of retail enterprises and the service sector in the Russian Federation. Starting July 1, 2017, the law will work in full, which obliges all organizations in the field of trade to completely switch to new equipment or upgrade old KKM.

    Not only the equipment itself will change, but also the principle of its maintenance. Today we’ll talk about what the new scheme will look like and what business will need to do to bring the equipment into compliance with the requirements of the law and maintain it in working condition in the future.

    How everything worked before


    Until July 1, maintenance of cash register equipment registered according to the old scheme, using EKLZ, is carried out according to the scenario worked out over the years. There are three main participants in it:

    • user - the store where the cashier is installed;
    • Service Center (hereinafter referred to as TEC ) - a company that specializes in serving the CMC;
    • FTS - tax service.

    According to this scheme, the central heating centers were the controllers of the implementation of fiscal norms for the use of cash registers, ensuring the operation of devices with ECLZ and their timely replacement. Service centers underwent licensing at the Federal Tax Service with the acquisition of the status of a central heating service center, received accreditation from a general supplier of equipment, which allowed them to service KKM used by businesses in a certain territory.

    For example, the repair of equipment in the central heating station was accompanied by the preparation of documents that recorded indications of cumulative totals of cash stored in the unregulated memory of the cash register. Before and after the repair - only after the submission of these documents, the tax inspectorate gave permission to put the KKM into operation again.

    What is changing


    The new FZ-54 standards are seriously changing the described scheme. Now, greater end-user choice is gained by end-users of cash registers - that is, companies and entrepreneurs, since the use of CCPs no longer requires the obligatory conclusion of a service contract with a central heating service. They can independently purchase equipment and necessary consumables, including fiscal drives that replaced EKLZ ( we wrote about changes in hardware here in detail ), and then independently register the equipment with the Federal Tax Service and service it at any service center that has undergone training at the supplier of KKM. All manipulations with equipment (registration of CCPs, re-registration of CCPs, deregistration of CCPs) can now be performed in your personal account on the tax service website.

    In fact, the central heating facilities were simply excluded from the scheme - now the representatives of the organization operating the CCV can resort to the services of any company located not only in their region. Similarly, service centers can expand the number of customers without being constrained by geographical boundaries.

    Expectations vs Reality


    I must say that on paper the new opportunities that open up to business look good. However, in reality, few people want to use the new rights. It’s easier for companies to continue to work with a partner who used to be called a DHC, and now has become a simple “service center”.

    There are quite objective reasons for this - the specialists of such a company have been working with specific cash registers used in stores for a long time and know all its features. In addition, a good understanding of the features of the software that is installed on this equipment is also important. Business does not need risks - the level of trust that develops between the two companies during the cooperation is important. Finally, changing the service center entails additional verification and evaluation in the future service partner business - in one case, there is already a valid service contract with a reliable, trusted service partner, in another it must be re-entered with an unverified service center.

    We see by our own example that the business is not ready to make efforts to take advantage of the right prescribed by law to work with any service center. Most customers both turned to us and turn to us - for example, they ask us to modernize their cash registers so that they comply with the changes in the FZ-54 standards and help register them with the Federal Tax Service.

    Large retailers will never start risky experiments, although there are times when small companies and entrepreneurs try to save money by doing everything on their own. However, in this case, the likelihood of making mistakes increases, which professionals still ask for correction - and these are just the former TSOs. Now, the central heating centers will not play the role of controllers of the implementation of fiscal standards for the application of CCPs, but the maintenance of the equipment is carried out exactly as they did before. And even more than that - they can do it all over the country, and not on a specific territory.

    For small trading enterprises, this opens up the possibility of cooperation with more experienced service centers than those in their region. This is especially important during the transition period - before July 1, 2017, the business should switch to the use of a new type of online cash desk, for which it is necessary to replace or upgrade equipment. All this is fraught with great difficulties and the need to replace versions of system software, elements of cash registers, conducting tests, as well as improvements to new technics that are unavoidable during the first year or two after the entry into force of the new law. And here the help of experienced professionals will be practically necessary.

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