Burger King penny and cash rounding policy

What Burger King does with cash totals

In October 2025 a Burger King spokesperson told Nexstar that its U.S. restaurants still accept pennies but that “exact change may not be possible” because of the shortage, and that affected locations may encourage exact change for cash payments. The company did not describe a rounding method.

At store level, some restaurants have posted their own rules. A Burger King in Cheektowaga, New York, posted a sign saying cash orders would be rounded up or down to the nearest nickel, while card payments would be charged the exact price. Treat any single store’s sign as that store’s policy, not the chain’s.

What you pay in cash

This is how a store using a nearest-nickel sign would round. Other Burger King restaurants may ask for exact change instead.

Does it vary by state?

Where a store rounds to the nearest nickel, it matches most state laws, including Arizona (when a seller is not using pennies) and Georgia require symmetric rounding of cash totals, and California will from July 1, 2027. In Connecticut, state consumer protection guidance says to round cash totals down only until the state’s rounding law takes effect on January 1, 2027. In Washington you may pay the exact, unrounded total if you have the coins, and Georgia’s law requires merchants to accept exact payment including pennies. New York had no rounding law in effect as of October 31, 2026; its bill A9274-A was awaiting the governor (see the state tracker).

Card vs cash

Card and app payments are charged the exact amount. The store sign reported in New York said so explicitly.

Tips for customers

• Look for a sign at the counter or drive-thru window: it tells you whether that restaurant rounds or wants exact change.
• Burger King says restaurants still accept pennies, so exact change is always a safe bet.
• Use a card or the app if you want to pay the exact menu price.

What the company has said

• “exact change may not be possible” (Burger King spokesperson, to Nexstar, Oct. 2025)

Checked against the sources below as of October 31, 2026. Store policies change; if your store does something different, the sign at the register and your receipt are the best guide. Compare other chains on the store policies page, or check a total with the calculator.