Process a POS Order

This guide covers building an order on the POS screen, from adding products to the cart through order creation. Payment collection is covered separately in Accept Terminal Payments and Manage POS Orders.

Prerequisites

• POS is enabled (see Set Up POS)
• At least one product synced (see Create POS Products)

The POS Screen Layout

Navigate to Dashboard > POS. The screen has two main areas:

• Left side -- Product Grid: Shows all active products as clickable cards with images, names, and prices. Products marked as taxable show a "+ tax" indicator.
• Right side -- Cart: Displays the current order with line items, quantities, totals, and the checkout button.

The header shows the product count, last sync time, and buttons for Sync Products, Orders, and Settings.

Step 1: Add Products to the Cart

Click any product card in the grid to add it to the cart. Each click adds one unit.

• If the product is already in the cart, its quantity increases by one.
• If the product is new to the cart, a new line item appears.

Adjusting Quantities

For each item in the cart:

• Click the + button to increase the quantity.
• Click the - button to decrease the quantity. If the quantity reaches zero, the item is removed.
• Click the X button on the item to remove it entirely.

Quick Sale (Custom Items)

Currently, POS orders use products from the synced catalog. To sell something not in your catalog, add it as a product in Stripe and sync, or create a generic product (e.g., "Miscellaneous") with a flexible price.

Step 2: Apply a Discount (Optional)

Below the cart items, there is a Discount field. Enter a dollar amount to subtract from the order.

• The discount is applied to the taxable subtotal before tax is calculated.
• The discount cannot be negative.
• There is no percentage-based discount field on the POS screen; calculate the dollar amount and enter it directly.

Step 3: Review the Order Summary

The cart summary shows a breakdown of the order:

The item count is displayed in the cart header.

Step 4: Create the Order

1. Review the cart summary.
2. Click Create Order.
3. The system validates the order:
   • At least one item is required.
   • If Require Customer Selection is enabled in settings, a customer must be attached.
   • The discount cannot be negative.
   • Each item must have a name, a quantity greater than zero, and a non-negative price.
4. If validation passes, the order is created with status Pending and an auto-generated order number in the format POS-YYYYMMDD-NNNN (e.g., POS-20260402-0001).
5. You are redirected to the order detail page to collect payment.

Clearing the Cart

Click Clear in the cart header to remove all items, reset the discount, and clear any notes. This does not affect any previously created orders.

Order Numbers

Order numbers are generated automatically and are unique per location per day. The format is:

POS-YYYYMMDD-NNNN

Where YYYYMMDD is the current date (UTC) and NNNN is a zero-padded sequence number that resets daily. The first order of the day is 0001, the second is 0002, and so on.

What Happens After Order Creation

The order is created with:

• Status: Pending
• Grand total: Calculated from items, discount, and taxes
• Amount due: Equal to the grand total (no payments yet)

You are taken to the order detail page where you can:

• Record a cash or check payment
• Accept a terminal card payment
• Void the order if it was created in error

Tips

• Speed: Click products rapidly to build the cart. The grid is designed for quick tap/click workflows.
• Large orders: Scroll the cart area if you have many line items. The summary and checkout button stay pinned at the bottom.
• Multiple orders: After creating an order and collecting payment, navigate back to Dashboard > POS to start a new order with a fresh cart.

What to Do Next

• Accept Terminal Payments -- collect a card payment with a reader.
• Manage POS Orders -- record manual payments, void orders, and review history.