“Custom cash drawer” means two different things depending on who’s asking. For the IT person, it’s a piece of hardware: a drawer that isn’t the model your vendor recommended, or one plugged into a new register station. For the visitor services manager, it’s a way of working: a drawer shared by two cashiers, a float that’s bigger on weekends, a gift shop drawer kept apart from admissions. Altru treats those two problems very differently, so it helps to know which one you’re solving before you start changing settings.
Part 1: Getting a drawer to open from Altru
Altru doesn’t really talk to the cash drawer directly. In most front-desk setups, the drawer is connected to the receipt printer, usually through a small phone-style jack on the back of the printer. When a cash sale finishes and a receipt prints, the printer sends a “kick” signal down that cable and the drawer pops open. That means the question “will this drawer work with Altru?” is mostly a question about the printer and its Windows driver.
If you’re adding a drawer that isn’t on Blackbaud’s list of tested hardware, these checks will save you an afternoon:
- Match the connector and voltage. Printer-driven drawers come in different voltages (commonly 12V or 24V) and pin layouts. A drawer can be physically plugged in and still never open because the printer can’t fire it. The drawer’s spec sheet and the printer’s manual both list this.
- Find the drawer setting in the printer driver. Most receipt printer drivers have an option to open the drawer before or after printing. If it’s off, Altru can print receipts all day and the drawer will stay shut.
- Confirm the workstation is pointed at the right printer. Altru remembers hardware choices per workstation. A drawer that works at Register 1 won’t open at Register 2 if Register 2 is sending receipts to a different printer or to a PDF driver.
- Test outside Altru first. Print a test page from the driver itself. If the drawer opens, the hardware chain is good and anything left is an Altru workstation setting. If it doesn’t open, Altru isn’t the problem yet.
Some drawers connect by USB or a serial port instead of through the printer. Those usually need their own software or a driver that makes them appear as a printer device. Whether Altru can trigger a standalone USB drawer depends on your version and setup, and we wouldn’t assume it can. Check Blackbaud’s current hardware documentation or ask Blackbaud support before buying, and test one unit before you order for every station.
Part 2: Drawer setups that fit how your desk actually runs
On the process side, Altru’s daily sales reconciliation is organized around who rang the sales and when, not around a physical drawer as its own object. That’s the main limit to understand. If you were hoping to define a named drawer with its own starting bank, denominations, and sign-in rules, Altru may not offer that in the form you’re picturing. Test it in a sandbox or ask support before you design a process around it.
What you can do is shape your procedures so Altru’s reports line up with your physical cash. A few patterns that work well:
One cashier, one drawer
This is the cleanest setup. Each person logs into Altru under their own account and has their own till. At close, the cash they count should match their sales in Altru for that shift. If you can staff it this way, do. It makes every variance traceable to a person and a time window.
Shared drawers
When two people work one register, you lose that clean match. If you have to share, write down a rule: either both cashiers count out together at a handoff, or the drawer is counted at each shift change and reconciled against each person’s sales separately. Avoid having staff log in under one shared account to make the totals “easier.” It hides who did what and makes refunds and voids harder to trace.
Separate drawers for separate revenue
Gift shop, admissions, and event sales often live at different counters. Keep them in separate drawers even when one person covers both. Your finance team will want to see those streams apart, and mixing cash makes it hard to tell which counter is short.
Starting banks and safe drops
Keep a simple paper or spreadsheet log for each drawer’s starting amount, mid-day drops to the safe, and the closing count. Altru reports what was sold. Your log covers what was physically put in and taken out. You need both to explain a variance, and an auditor will ask for both.
A close-out routine worth writing down
- Count the drawer before looking at the Altru totals, so the count isn’t nudged toward the expected number.
- Subtract the starting bank and any recorded drops.
- Compare what’s left against that cashier’s cash sales in Altru for the shift.
- Note any variance and the reason, even small ones. Patterns show up over weeks, not single days.
- Have a second person verify counts above an amount your finance team sets.
Then let your Altru reconciliation and deposit steps follow your usual process. The drawer routine sits in front of that work. It doesn’t replace it.
Quick answers
Why does the drawer open on some sales but not others?
Usually because it’s tied to receipt printing. If a sale doesn’t print a receipt, or the payment type isn’t set to open the drawer, nothing triggers it. Check the printer driver’s settings and how your payment methods are configured.
Can I open the drawer without a sale?
Many receipt printer utilities include a manual “open drawer” command, and most drawers have a key. Whether Altru offers a no-sale button depends on your setup, so confirm with Blackbaud support. Either way, log every no-sale opening.
Do I need special hardware to make this work?
Not usually. A printer-driven drawer that matches your receipt printer’s connector and voltage is the most common, least fussy setup.
