If you work as a cashier or with a cash register, you should always state the purchase price aloud to the customer and then state the amount of money that they handed you. Let's say the purchase price is $5.22, and the buyer hands you a ten-dollar bill. You would say, $5.22 out of $10. This will help both you and the customer remember the purchase price and amount of money given. You can then begin to calculate the amount of change in your mind. You should never put the cash directly into the till in case you forget the exact amount they gave you. Instead, keep the money on the counter so that you can see the exact amount of money given as well as the total price. These are the two numbers you will need in order to calculate the amount of change owed to the customer. By keeping the cash visible, you can refer back to it if necessary. For example, the customer may think they gave you a $20 instead of a $10. By keeping the amount they paid out of the till until the end of the transaction, you can avoid this sort of confusion. If you are working with a cash register, then you can usually rely on the cash register to do the calculations for you. For example, if the cost of an item is $5.23 and the customer pays $10, you should enter the amount paid as $10 and the cash register will provide the amount that you owe the customer. In this case, the customer is owed $4.77. Count out $4.77 from the till, beginning with bills and moving to coins.  Make sure that you familiarize yourself with the cash register that you are using so that you know how to properly cash out a customer. If you ever run into any errors while using a cash register, ask your manager or a colleague for help. If you do not have a cash register, or it is broken, or you entered an item incorrectly, you can always count out change using mental math. This is an excellent skill to have and is essential if you are working as a cashier. A good method is to count out change from the purchase price and stop when you get to the amount paid. Begin with the smallest coins and work your way up. For example, if the the price of an item is $12.48 and the customer gave $20, here is how to count out the change:  Count out the pennies starting at $12.48: $12.49...$12.50 (2 pennies) Count out quarters starting at $12.50: $12.75...$13.00 (2 quarters) Count out dollar bills starting at $13.00: $14.00...$15.00 (2 dollars) Count out five dollar bills starting at $15.00: $20.00 (1 five dollar bill) Total change owed is $7.52 Once you have determined the correct amount of change, you should count the change aloud as you give it to the customer. This way, they will know that you are giving them the correct amount of change. This can be done in the exact same way as the above step, but this time, you are saying it out loud as you hand it to the customer. For example, if the price of an item was $10.25 and the customer gave $20.00, give them the change while counting out loud. Hand them 3 quarters and say $11.00, 4 dollar bills and say $15.00, and 1 five dollar bill and say $20.00. This way they can see that you have provided them with the correct amount of change.

Summary:
State aloud the purchase price. Place the money on the register or counter. Count out change based on what the cash register has calculated. Determine change using mental math. Count change aloud to the customer.