Till slip or receipt – call them what you want, love them or hate them, we still interact with them on a daily basis. You would think that we would understand the need and use for them by now. Yet here we are.
For the most part, we stuff our till slips in our wallets as fast as possible, to avoid annoying the person waiting behind us in the queue and move on to the next shop to punish our wallets some more.
What Is the Point of a Till Slip?
The point of a till slip is simple – it is your proof of purchase. However, we can go a bit deeper and explore what to do with the different categories of till slips and hopefully give you a bit more clarity.
Consumables
Unless the purchased consumables are for business purposes, you can trash these till slips as they are not tax deductible.
Business Related
You are required, by law, to keep all business-related papers – yes, that includes till slips too – for tax purposes. Please, have mercy on your accountant and try to keep your till slips for business-related purchases in some form of order. A simple way of doing this is to:
As soon as you receive your till slip, make a note on the back as a reference to your purchase
File your till slip
Use an envelope which is clearly marked with at least the month and year
Add your latest slips to the back of the filed slips as this keeps them in date order
Clothing
Keep clothing till slips until the refund date expires. Once the refund date has passed, you can get rid of that till slip without worrying too much.
Appliances & Big-Ticket Items
Buying an appliance is a costly exercise and this is one till slip you do not want to lose. You absolutely have to be in possession of this till slip if you need to return or exchange the item due to it being faulty.
Doctors & Medication
You will need these till slips for tax purposes so make sure that you hold on to them. A good idea would be to file them in a clearly marked envelope till you need them for tax season.
What Is Recorded on The Till Slip
Your till slip should display a lot of very important information which includes:
- Name of the business where you purchased the item/items
- Description of the item/items you purchased
- Date and time of your purchase
- Last date when you will be able to get a refund if needed
The most important thing to remember is that you will only receive a till slip once you have paid for the item you are purchasing and that it is your proof of payment.
Why DoTill Slips Fade?
To answer this accurately, we need to differentiate between the two different types of till slips:
- Thermal Till Slips
- Bond Till Slips
- Thermal Till Slips
Gustav Prinsloo, founder and director of Paper Boss explained that thermal till slips are created when heat is applied to chemically coated paper. This heat transfer produces the information that makes up your till slip. There is no ink or toner used in this process.
“Thermal paper is sensitive to heat, humidity, and light. When thermal paper is exposed to either, heat or light, over a period of time, it causes the ‘image’ to fade.”
If your thermal till slip is kept in a cool and dark environment and still fades, the quality of the thermal till roll paper could be a contributing factor.
How To Recover Information from A Faded Thermal Till Slip
The simplest way to try and recover information from a faded thermal till slip is to take a hairdryer and apply low to medium heat to the back of the paper. Keep applying gentle heat until the information on the front starts to become visible again.
Remember – you must only apply gentle heat to the reverse of the thermal paper. If you apply it to the front, it will not work.
Please, also note that this may not always work due to external factors but it never hurts to try.
Bond Till Slips
Bond paper is what we use in our home or business printers every day. When a bond till slip starts to fade it is usually due to the quality of the ink or toner used as well as exposure to light.
The thickness of the paper may also play a role; however, this may be unavoidable due to the requirements of a specific printer.
How To Avoid Losing Important Information on Your Till Slip
Things happen – we think we have put a slip somewhere safe and then when we look for it, it is nowhere to be found. Whether it is due to losing a till slip or because the slip has faded, you need to safeguard against losing the information on your till slip.
The simplest way of doing this is to keep a digital copy of all your important till slips. When you get home from your next shopping trip, take out your accumulated till slips, take a photo on your phone or with your digital camera and save your digital copies in a safe place.
Once you have confirmed that you have all your digital copies in a safe place, you can throw away the hard copies and allow your poor wallet a bit of breathing space.
Paper Boss – Till Slip Suppliers South Africa
We are suppliers of high-quality till slip rolls in South Africa. We deliver all over the country and offer free delivery in the Greater Cape Peninsula. Contact us for more information.