Tracking Scratch-Offs on Your POS

By the Lotto Proof team, who run their own liquor stores · Last updated October 15, 2026

A POS tells you what was rung up. Scratch-off (scratcher) inventory is about what physically left the rack, book by book. The two answer different questions, which is why most stores need both: the POS for sales, and a count of every book (also called a pack) at shift change to check the POS against. Set the register up so its totals can be checked, and the comparison takes minutes.

What a POS records, and what it doesn't

When a cashier rings up a scratch-off, the POS records a sale at a price. Whether it knows which book the ticket came from, or which ticket number it was, depends on the system and how it is set up. Even a POS that tracks books only knows about the tickets someone rang up. A ticket torn off and pocketed never reaches the register, so the register can't show it missing.

What the register sees versus what the rack count seesOnly the register sees double scans and wrong prices keyed. Only the rack count sees tickets that were never rung up and books that went missing. Both see tickets that were sold and rung up.Register (POS)Rack countDouble scansWrong pricekeyedSold andrung upNever rung upMissing books
A POS and a rack count each catch problems the other can't, which is why stores compare the two every shift.

Set up your register so it can be checked

Register keys for lottery that make shifts checkableOne scratch-off key per ticket price: $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20, $30, and $50. Separate department keys for draw games and for lottery payouts. Avoid a single open-amount lottery key, because its total can't be matched to a rack count.SCRATCH-OFFS: ONE KEY PER PRICE$1$2$3$5$10$20$30$50SEPARATE DEPARTMENTSDraw gamesLottery payoutsAVOIDLOTTERY $____One open amount for everythingcan't be matched to a count.
Use the prices your state actually sells. The point is that scratch-off sales, draw sales, and payouts land in separate totals that each match one source.
  1. One key per ticket price ($1, $2, $5, $10 and so on). Cashiers press the price of the ticket, so the scratch-off total is built from real prices.
  2. Separate departments for scratch-offs, draw games, and lottery payouts. Each reconciles against a different source.
  3. No open-amount “Lottery” key. One mixed total can't be matched to anything.
  4. Close out at shift change, at the same moment as the rack count, so both cover exactly the same period.
  5. Print or save the department totals with the count sheet, so the comparison can be checked later.

Reconciling a shift against the POS

  1. From the count sheet: tickets sold per book, times price, added up. Say $309.
  2. From the POS closeout: the scratch-off department total for the same shift. Say $299.
  3. The difference, $10, is the shift's short. It is exactly one $10 ticket.
  4. Check the register first: a double scan, a wrong key, a void. If nothing explains it, note it and watch the next shifts. See why lottery sales don't match for the common gaps.

From our own stores. The two can disagree in the other direction too. At our larger store, 19 books worth $12,400 were sold whole to customers. They were paid for at the counter but never went into the rack, so the rack count never saw them. Logged as whole-book sales, they balance. Left unlogged, they would have looked like $12,400 of missing books.

Questions to ask your POS provider

  • Does it track individual lottery books, or just lottery sales in dollars?
  • Does it know each book's ticket numbers, and which ticket is next to sell?
  • How would it show me a ticket that left the rack without being rung up?
  • Does it reconcile with the state lottery's activation, return, and settlement data?
  • Can I see results per shift, not just per day?
  • What does the cashier have to do at shift change, and how long does it take?

How Lotto Proof handles this

Lotto Proof doesn't connect to the POS, so there is nothing to integrate and it works alongside Clover, Square, or any other register. It supplies the half the POS can't: the cashier scans every book in the rack at shift change, and Lotto Proof calculates tickets sold and sales per shift from the books themselves and cross-references the lottery's data. Compare its shift total with your POS closeout and you have both halves.

Lotto Proof is a handheld scratch-off scanner with an owner dashboard: $39.99/month per location, scanner included (pricing). Start a 30-day free trial, or talk to us first.

Frequently asked questions

Can my POS track scratch-off inventory?

A POS records what was rung up. Inventory tracking needs what physically left the rack, book by book. Ask your POS provider whether it tracks individual books and ticket numbers, and how it would show you a ticket that left the rack without being rung up.

Does Clover or Square track scratch-offs?

Both can ring up scratch-off sales. Whether either tracks individual lottery books depends on how it is set up and which add-ons you use, so ask the provider directly. Either way, set up one key per ticket price and separate departments for draw games and payouts, so the totals can be checked against a count.

How do I track scratch-off sales on my POS?

Ring each scratch-off up under its price, not as an open lottery amount, keep draw games and payouts in their own departments, and close out the register at the same time as the shift count. Then compare tickets sold times price from the count with the scratch-off total for the shift.

Can I track activated lottery books without a POS?

Yes. Book tracking comes from counting the rack at every shift change and checking the lottery's list of activated books against those counts, not from the register.

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