I bought a coffee yesterday for pennies: 173 pennies to be exact. It was the triumphant culmination of many months of the clothes dryer paying me for my efforts.
I even made my dramatic purchase in a drive-through as a flamboyant salute to this hard working currency. Although the full $1.73 value was there, it felt as though I was getting the coffee for free; I mean, what are a few pennies if nothing more than heavy?
That was the best cup of coffee I?d had in a while and I?m still reveling in my victory of offloading 173 of those happy little copper pieces. I encourage you to do the same this weekend. Empty those mason jars and take your friends out for coffee, buy the kids a package of gum, or find other ways of offloading pennies in time for this Monday?s transition to a penniless world.
The phase-out of the Canadian penny has quietly crept up on us over the fall and winter. Businesses knew this time would come yet many of them are unprepared for the transition.
Not to worry.
It seems that the Federal Government has made room for some flexibility and is offering encouragement to businesses rather than hard and fast rules. The following points will work as guidelines to help businesses prepare their staff for Monday, Feb. 4 after which the Royal Canadian Mint will no longer distribute pennies.
First and foremost, all non-cash transactions (i.e. debit, credit card, cheque) should continue to be processed after Feb. 4 as you do today. Nothing changes here. So, let?s focus all our attention on cash transactions only.
As of Monday, it has been suggested that businesses stop giving pennies as change in cash transactions. Instead, the practice of ?rounding? to the closest 5 cent increment should be encouraged among cashiers and front line staff. This will become a necessity once a business?s penny supply runs out as financial institutions will no longer give out pennies as currency, although they will accept pennies while they are available in circulation. Therefore, it may be better to establish clear and transparent rounding practices without delay, even going so far as to update your cash register settings to automatically calculate rounding on cash purchases that clearly show the rounding on the receipt. Also, the rounding practice only applies to the total cash purchase amount after any applicable taxes have been added; you never round before tax.
Remember that pennies will remain legal tender and it is completely up to the individual businesses whether they wish to accept and/or continue to distribute pennies as part of their financial processes. It is not as though after Feb. 4 the penny will be worthless. In fact, the penny will retain its value indefinitely and thus there is no time limit on the redemption of your jar of pennies.
Do you still have unanswered questions on the penny phase out?
Have all your questions answered at www.mint.ca .
Until next time, stay in the black and keep coming back.
Jennifer Brandle-McCall is the CEO of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce.
