Certified Cash Register Software in 2026: What Really Changed

Quick answer. The duty to use secure cash register software never disappeared: it has applied since 2018 (article 286, I, 3° bis of the French Tax Code). What changed in 2026 is the proof. The 2026 Finance Act (Law no. 2026-103, article 125) reinstated, as of 21 February 2026, the publisher's attestation as an alternative to a certificate from an accredited body.

The topic has flipped three times in two years, and many business owners lost track. Let us set the record straight.

Since 1 January 2018, any VAT-registered business that collects payments from private customers through cash register software or a point-of-sale system must use a secured tool. This duty stems from article 105 of Law no. 2017-1837 of 30 December 2017 and is set out in article 286, I, 3° bis of the French Tax Code (CGI). Its purpose is to fight software that lets revenue be erased.

The 2025 Finance Act (Law no. 2025-127 of 14 February 2025, article 43) tightened the proof regime: it removed the attestation a publisher could issue itself, leaving only the certificate from an accredited body. That removal was due to take full effect on 1 September 2026, after a deadline extension recorded in the BOFiP, the French tax doctrine database.

Facing a backlog at the certifying bodies and concern among publishers, the 2026 Finance Act (Law no. 2026-103 of 19 February 2026, article 125) reversed course. Since 21 February 2026, the publisher's individual attestation is again a valid supporting document, alongside the accredited certificate.

In short: it is not the obligation that is back, it is the flexibility in how to prove it. The nuance matters, because it dictates what you must request from your supplier.

The duty applies to VAT-registered businesses that sell to private customers and record those payments through cash register software or a point-of-sale system. In practice, almost every retail business and direct-collection activity is concerned.

Typically caught are restaurants, caterers, bars, bakeries, hair and beauty salons, retail shops, driving schools, professionals collecting from individuals, and tobacconists. Our firm regularly supports these profiles, for example through our accounting support for caterers or our accounting guide for the restaurant trade.

Conversely, some situations fall outside the rule. Businesses benefiting from the VAT exemption scheme (franchise en base) are not subject to it. Businesses dealing only with other professionals (B2B), with no private clientele, are not concerned either. Finally, simply keeping accounts on a spreadsheet, without payment-collection software, does not trigger the duty, even if it is rarely advisable.

A point often missed: management software with a built-in till function, or a point-of-sale terminal, falls within scope. What matters is not the name of the tool but its function of recording payments.

The four substantive conditions to meet#

Whatever the proof, the software must meet four cumulative conditions, often summed up by the ISCA acronym:

• Inalterability : recorded data cannot be changed or deleted once validated.
• Security : transactions are traced and protected.
• Conservation : daily, monthly and annual closings are archived.
• Archiving : the data can be produced to the tax authority over a defined period.

These four requirements are the core of the system. The proof merely documents that they are met.

Since 21 February 2026, you have two ways to prove compliance. Here is how to weigh them.

In both cases, you, the user, must hold the supporting document and be able to present it to the tax authority. The publisher provides it, but keeping it current at each version change is your responsibility.

Our view: for the vast majority of small businesses, the publisher's attestation is sufficient and is the sensible choice, provided the publisher is serious and the attestation is named, dated and states the exact software version. The accredited certificate remains an asset in audit-prone sectors or to reassure a buyer during a sale.

Failure to hold a supporting document is heavily penalised. Article 1770 duodecies of the CGI provides for a fine of 7,500 EUR per cash register software or system concerned. For an owner running several outlets, the bill can therefore add up.

The business then has sixty days to come into compliance, running from the delivery or receipt of the official report or notification. After that period without action, it is again liable for the same 7,500 EUR fine per till.

The tax authority can carry out an unannounced check focused solely on holding the attestation or certificate. This check is separate from a standard accounting audit: it only concerns the supporting document, and it is quick. That is why we advise anticipating it, as we explain in our article on how to anticipate a tax audit.

Here is the procedure we apply in the files of our retail and restaurant clients.

1. List every payment point : main till, secondary tills, mobile terminals, the till module of your management software. Each system is concerned individually.
2. Request an up-to-date document from each publisher : a named individual attestation or accredited certificate, stating the exact software version in use.
3. Check the date and version number : an expired attestation, or one covering an old version, is worthless in a check.
4. File the documents in your permanent records : paper and digital, immediately accessible.
5. Schedule an annual review : after each major software update, request a refreshed attestation.

This documentary discipline takes thirty minutes a year and neutralises a risk of 7,500 EUR per till. The effort-to-risk ratio is unbeatable.

Bars and tobacconists. The tobacco activity follows a commission regime, but collecting other sales (press, lottery, drinks) goes through the till and remains subject to the duty. We detail this in our accounting guide for a bar-tabac.

Driving schools. Packages paid by individual learners fall within scope as soon as they go through payment software. See our dedicated page for the accountant for driving schools.

Micro-entrepreneurs. They are not exempt by default. A micro-entrepreneur who is VAT-registered and collects from individuals through a till must hold the supporting document. Only the VAT exemption scheme relieves them of it.

Exclusively B2B activity. A wholesaler or provider billing only professionals is not concerned by the certified till, but remains fully subject to e-invoicing, whose reception obligation as of 1 September 2026 is approaching.

The underestimated risk, in most files, is not the total absence of compliant software: it is the expired attestation, not refreshed after a version upgrade. Many owners believe they are covered because their till displays a logo, without holding the dated document matching the installed version.

A second blind spot: confusing the NF525 standard with the legal obligation. NF525, issued by Infocert, is a recognised private certification, but it is not the only proof accepted by law. A compliant publisher attestation is legally sufficient. Do not pay for a certification your situation does not require.

Third point: the recodification of the CGI into the Code on taxes on goods and services (CIBS) takes effect on 1 September 2026. The duty will move to article L. 216-48 of the CIBS, but the substance does not change. Do not be confused by a change in numbering.

Recently, an owner running two fast-food outlets called on us after receiving a notice asking him to present his attestation. He was sure he was compliant: his till was recent and had been sold to him as compliant. In fact, he held no written document, and the publisher had since released two major versions. Within a few days we obtained two refreshed named attestations, one per outlet, and built a proof file. The potential exposure, twice 7,500 EUR, was neutralised without litigation.

This case illustrates a conviction we hold as a firm registered with the French Order of Chartered Accountants: till compliance is not a technical matter left to the publisher, it is a governance matter for the owner. The supporting document belongs to you, keeping it current is your duty, and you are the one answering for the fine.

Reinstating the publisher attestation in 2026 is good news for small-business cash flow, as it avoids external certification costs that were sometimes disproportionate. But it should not lower your guard: a flexible document is still a document to hold and to keep current. We systematically build this check into our bookkeeping and accounts review engagements and our 2026 compliance support.

Hayot Expertise tip. Ask your publisher now for a named, dated attestation stating the exact version of your software, for each till in use. File it in your permanent records and re-request it at every major update. If you operate in an audit-prone sector, consider an accredited certificate. To secure the whole set-up, have your framework validated at your next year-end closing.