The Penny Is Going Away: What Cash Rounding Means for Your Restaurant (2026 Guide)

The short answer

The U.S. Mint stopped making pennies in November 2025, so the coins are slowly disappearing from cash drawers even though every penny you have is still legal tender. To deal with the shortage, Congress advanced the Common Cents Act, which lets — but does not require — businesses to round cash totals to the nearest five cents when they can’t make exact change. Card, digital, gift-card, and check payments still settle to the exact cent. So the practical question for your restaurant isn’t “do I have to change everything?” It’s “how do I handle the cash drawer fairly, set up my POS, and train my team so a missing penny never turns into an argument at the register?”

That’s the whole thing. Below is how it actually works and what to do this week.

What actually happened to the penny?

Production ended. The last penny was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in November 2025, closing out more than two centuries of penny production. The Treasury halted new pennies because each one costs more than a cent to make. What did not happen: pennies were not banned or demonetized. Every penny in your till, your customers’ pockets, and the bank’s coin room is still worth one cent and is still legal tender for all debts and payments.

So this is a gradual change, not an overnight switch. Pennies will keep circulating for a while, then thin out. The friction shows up at the cash register, one transaction at a time, when the drawer can’t produce that last cent or two of change.

Is the Common Cents Act law yet?

Not quite — and this is where the headlines get ahead of the facts. As of mid-August 2026, both chambers of Congress have passed matching versions of the Common Cents Act, but because the House and Senate passed different bill numbers, one more procedural vote is needed before it can go to the President’s desk to be signed. In short: it has cleared both chambers, it enjoys bipartisan support, and it’s very likely headed for enactment — but it is not signed law yet.

Why does that matter to you? Because until it’s signed, there is no federal rounding rule at all. What’s filling the gap right now is a patchwork of state laws (more on that below). The upside of the federal bill is that it would give businesses a clear national framework — and, importantly, a safe harbor so an operator who rounds under its rules isn’t exposed to lawsuits over a penny.

Do I have to round cash transactions?

No. The version of the Common Cents Act that passed makes rounding permissive — opt-in — not mandatory. If you have enough pennies to give exact change, you can keep doing that. The bill simply says that when exact change isn’t available, you may round the final cash total to the nearest nickel, and if you do, you’re operating inside a clear framework instead of guessing.

Three limits are worth memorizing:

1. Rounding applies to the final total of the transaction, not to individual menu items or the tax line.
2. It applies only when exact change can’t be provided.
3. It applies to cash only.

How does rounding to the nearest nickel work?

The rule is symmetric and easy to teach. Look at the last digit of the cash total:

A couple of edge cases: a tiny cash total of 1¢ or 2¢ rounds up to a nickel, and the customer chooses to pay cash. Because the rounding is symmetric — sometimes in the customer’s favor, sometimes in yours — it roughly washes out over thousands of transactions, which is the whole point of doing it this way instead of always rounding one direction.

Does rounding apply to card and digital payments?

No. Credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, checks, mobile wallets, and electronic transfers all settle to the exact cent, exactly as they do today. There’s no coin involved, so there’s nothing to round. This is the single most important thing to teach your staff, because the vast majority of restaurant transactions are now cashless — meaning for most of your guests, nothing changes at all.

Rounding only ever touches the cash guest who’s owed change your drawer can’t produce down to the penny.

Will rounding cost my restaurant money?

It can — but only if you do it wrong. The concern operators raised in Washington is real: many businesses, worried about being sued for shorting a customer even by a cent, have defaulted to always rounding down in the customer’s favor. Industry estimates put the cost of that habit, across all U.S. restaurants, in the range of $168 million a year. Consumer-side estimates for symmetric rounding, by contrast, are tiny — a few million dollars nationally.

The takeaway for your restaurant: round symmetrically, not always down. Use the table above, apply it consistently, and the pennies you “lose” rounding down are offset by the pennies you “gain” rounding up. The lawsuit fear is exactly what the federal safe harbor is designed to remove once the Act is signed.

What about sales tax and tips?

Two quick clarifications, because these trip people up:

• Sales tax is still calculated on the actual price of the food, the normal way. Rounding happens after everything is totaled — only on the final cash amount due, and only when you can’t make exact change. You are not rounding the tax itself or the menu prices.
• Tips are unaffected. A tip added on a card settles to the exact cent. A cash tip is whatever the guest leaves. Rounding never applies to the tip line.

Isn’t there also a patchwork of state rules?

Yes, and this is the part that actually governs you today, before the federal bill is signed. As of mid-2026, roughly 20 states have enacted their own rounding laws, and more have legislation in progress — but the rules aren’t identical. Most are permissive; at least one state (Arizona) has an outright mandate. That means a multi-location operator can face different rounding rules in different markets, which is exactly the confusion the federal Act is meant to clean up.

Practical implication: check your own state’s current rule before you finalize your register policy, and if you operate across state lines, don’t assume one policy fits all locations. When the federal law is signed, it will provide a national floor and a safe harbor — but until then, your state’s law (or absence of one) is what applies.

What should my restaurant do right now?

Here’s the operator’s checklist. None of it is heavy lifting, but doing it before pennies get truly scarce saves you the register-line headaches:

1. Update your POS. Most modern point-of-sale systems already have a “cash rounding” or “nickel rounding” setting. Turn it on for cash tender only, set it to symmetric (nearest nickel, both directions), and confirm it rounds the final total, not line items or tax. Ask your POS vendor if you’re not sure — they’ve almost certainly built this already.
2. Keep the pennies you have. They’re still legal tender. Use them to make exact change as long as you can; you only round when the drawer can’t.
3. Right-size your coin order. Talk to your bank about shifting your coin order toward nickels as pennies thin out.
4. Post small, clear signage at the register: something like “When exact change isn’t available, cash totals are rounded to the nearest 5¢. Card and digital payments are charged to the exact cent.” Transparency kills disputes.
5. Train every cashier and manager on the two rules that matter: rounding is cash-only and only when exact change isn’t available, and it’s symmetric (use the table). This is a five-minute pre-shift talk.
6. Set your accounting/reconciliation expectation. Tell whoever counts the drawer that a few cents of rounding variance per shift is normal and expected — so nobody chases a phantom shortage. Ask your bookkeeper how they want rounding recorded (many POS systems post it to a dedicated “cash rounding” account).
7. Mind cash-dependent guests. Some guests — including certain SNAP/EBT and unbanked customers — rely on cash. Symmetric rounding and honest signage protect them and you. Where you can easily make exact change, do it.

How do I keep this fair — and keep customer trust?

The reputation risk here isn’t the money; it’s the feeling that you’re nickel-and-diming people. You avoid that with two habits: round both directions (never quietly always-up), and be transparent with a small sign so there are no surprises. Handled that way, most guests won’t even notice — and the ones who do will see a business that’s on top of a national change, not one cutting corners at the register.

This is the same operating mindset your ServSafe-certified managers already bring to the rest of the floor: get the system right once, train it into the team, and it stops being a per-shift judgment call.

Frequently asked questions

Are pennies still worth anything?
Yes. Every existing penny remains legal tender at one cent. Production stopped, but the coins were not demonetized.

Do I have to round cash transactions at my restaurant?
No. Under the Common Cents Act as passed, rounding is optional (opt-in). You round only when you can’t make exact change, and only on cash. If a state you operate in has its own rule, follow that state’s law.

How do I round to the nearest nickel?
Look at the last digit of the cash total: totals ending in 1, 2, 6, or 7 round down; totals ending in 3, 4, 8, or 9 round up; totals ending in 0 or 5 stay the same.

Does rounding apply to credit card or mobile payments?
No. Cards, debit, gift cards, checks, and digital wallets all charge the exact cent. Rounding only affects cash when exact change isn’t available.

Do I round the sales tax?
No. Tax is calculated normally on the price of the food. Rounding applies only to the final cash total, after everything is added up, and only when exact change can’t be given.

Is the Common Cents Act signed into law?
As of August 2026, both chambers of Congress have passed matching versions, but one more procedural vote is needed before it can be signed by the President. Until then, no federal rounding rule is in effect and state laws govern.

Will rounding cost my restaurant money?
Only if you always round down. Rounding symmetrically — up and down per the rule — roughly evens out over time. Always rounding in the customer’s favor is what adds up across thousands of transactions.

What if a customer objects to being rounded up a few cents?
Post clear signage, offer exact change when your drawer can make it, and explain that rounding only happens when exact change isn’t available and applies to cash only. Card users are never rounded.

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Free help for your restaurant

The penny change is small per transaction but it touches every cash drawer, so it’s worth getting your POS setting, signage, and staff talk squared away now.

Have questions about setting up cash rounding, training your team, or getting your managers ServSafe-certified? Reach out to Ken Kuscher at 561-703-7196 — glad to help or get training scheduled.

This article provides general information as of August 2026 and is not legal, tax, or accounting advice. Federal legislation is still being finalized and state rules vary — confirm the current requirement for your state with your POS provider, your accountant, or the appropriate agency before finalizing your register policy.