It started on February 4th 2013. Canadian financial institutions are no longer able to give out pennies.
Pennies are still in circulations but since they cannot be replaced eventually they will not exist.
Some of the larger big box retailers have reportedly spent $100,000 and more upgrading their computer systems to accommodate rounding but what is a small business to do?
First off I should explain in which circumstances do you need to round?
When you use cash. That’s it.
Do you accept PayPal, debit or credit? No need to round.
Personal cheques or email money transfers? Just charge the same amount you do now.
The Government of Canada has set out guidelines of how you should round.
- .01 and .02 round down to .00
- .03 and .04 round up to .05
- .06 and .07 round down to .05
- .08 and .09 round up to .10
Image from http://www.fin.gc.ca/1cent/index-eng.asp
These are just guideline you can choose to round whichever way you wish.
To download the pdf of the official notice to consumers please click here.
For my business the penny will have little impact. My online sales are through PayPal and when I do sell in person I always round my prices anyways.
Has the disappearance of the penny impacted your business?
Do you wish we still had the penny?
