POS/Module H - Point of Sale POS
INTRODUCTION TO SOLACE POS
A point of sale also called POS is a system that record all the retail transactions. A computerized POS system will comprise most of the time, a computer and peripherals devices for data entry and capture. To run a POS, the minimum device required is a printer but here is a list of devices currently supported by Solace POS beside standard keyboard, mouse, and screen. Solace POS is a real-time system; all sales are directly posted to the ledger and all reports in the accounting system are updated. This is useful the Solace Accounting for mobile app dashboard the refreshes constantly and to do wait for the shift to close the update.
Till slip Printer
Barcode Scanner
Biometric Finger Reader
Card Reader
Poll Display
Touch Screen
Cash Drawer
Dish Weight
Solace Point of Sale is a very user friendly and contains only functions that are necessary to the cashier activities. All settings and setup are imbedded in the main Solace account. Solace Point of Sale can be installed on a computer without the need to install the accounting if the computer will only be used by a cashier. However, different type of user profiles can be configured.
| Note: This Module is a complement of Module D – Users and Salespersons. The module D must be handy for reference. |
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SETUP AND CONFIGURATION
Before configuring Solace POS, the accounting side need to be configured so that POS will take few steps only to complete the minimum configuration.
Device Interfaces
Most devices use USB connection or serial connection via a serial port. USB devices will generally be picked automatically by the operating system, but serial ports configuration must be sets before using a serial communication device. To can it easy, Solace POS puts the serial port settings in one capsule and let you select the configuration group for attached device.
From the main screen click on Control Panel to open the main configuration menu.
Double-click on Company Settings
Click on Interfaces menu button
Click on the green cross to add new serial port setting
Type in the name of your choice to reflect the settings
Type in the serial port settings. These settings generally come with your device install guide. The settings can be attached to more than one device and do not need to create multiple identical settings.
Click on the save button
Click on apply button.
Cashier Role
Using module D:
Create a role and name it Cashier.
Create another role and name it Supervisor.
Setup all role right according to your need.
Cashiers
Cashiers are salespersons with restricted privileges. They are created as salespersons with a cashier role.
Method of Payment
Solace accounting provide ways to setup any type of payment. The most likely to be used are Cash, Card, cheque and electronic transfer (EFT).
To add/edit/remove MOP
From the main screen click on Control Panel to open the main configuration menu.
Double-click on Method of Payment to open the following screen.
Select Method in the list and click Add to add new method
Type in description CASH
Select the ledger accounting to record all the cash payments
Select the journal type that will record all cash transactions
Click on Save
The Options block must be completed but the Process block can be setup if more details need to be saved for each payment.
POS Settings
The main P.O.S setting screen is being were all configuration related to the P.O.S are done.
From the main screen click on Control Panel to open the main configuration menu.
Double Click on Point of Sales. This button is available only if the POS module is installed on the computer.
Click on General to start the general configuration
Select the Till Account. This account is a default cash customer account used for all till invoices. If the list is empty, create a new customer called Cash and set it as Cash Customer (see Module A)
Select Cash Transfer Account. This account will record all float movements. The float is money taken or put directly in or out of the drawer)
Tills
The tills are the actual cashier workstation, Solace POS has no limit on the number of workstations that can connect and work on the server.
From the POS setting screen, click on Till menu button to reveal the following screen
Type in the number of tills in the Settings edit box. Let use 10 for our store. The selectable list will be populated with numbers from 1000 to 1009. These numbers are the till identification number.
Select each till and edit the settings accordingly in each tab.
Global Tab
In the Settings block select in POS Type the type of screen display is more appropriate to your business. 4 Types are available, and the resulting screen layout will be explained in detail. The first one is the Standard Screen layout.
Select POS Type
Put a tick in Touch Screen if your screen has that ability.
Select or type in that System Update Path. This is used to centralise the POS software update allowing to put new version in one location and all workstations can auto update from local repository and not from individual internet update.
Drawer Tab
If a cash register is connected to this till workstation, click on Drawer tab and tick connected.
| Connected | Tick this option is the Cash drawer is present |
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| Via Printer | Tick this option if the drawer is connected to the printer |
| Port | Type in the port on which the drawer is connected. This is for serial communication drawer. The port must be created in the interfaces first. Refer to Company parameters setup. |
| Control String | Select Control string to open the drawer. If not in the list type in the sequence separating each command with a + sign. |
Pole Display
The standard poll has two lines of 20 characters each. Solace accounting can communicate with two poll display devices at the same time. Also, the system provides a scrolling message for idle. The marquee message will display after the delay parameter setting.
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Weight Dish or Scale
The weight dish of weight scale is mostly used in grocery shop for weighing items like salad-bar, nuts candy and other bulk items. There are two types of generated barcode from the scale, the price embedded and the weight embedded. Solace Accounting provide interface to both barcode types. Any scale that can print UPC or EAN barcode should be suitable for solace accounting. For the price embedded, the price of the item is present in the code and for weight, the weight or quantity is present in the code. The code will always include the item code that references an inventory item in the system.
The barcode coding is much simple to configure.2CCCCC9XXXXX9 is the default format that inserted by solace accounting. The code must start with 2 to inform the POS that this is random code, any other value will be disregarded as embedded code. CCCCC is the item code, 9 are the checksum generated by the scale, XXXXX is the embedded value. Setup the deviser according to the scale calibration.
In a very simple way, C marks the item code position and X the value position.
| To test the format, scan barcode or type in a barcode generated by the scale and click test button. With the format 2CCCCC9XXXXX9 the Item code is 01002 and the total price is 20.51 With the format 20CCCC9XXXXX9 the Item code is 1002 and the total price is 20.51 |
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Card Reader
A card reader device is a as like a keyboard and the keyboard can be used in case of a faulty card reader. Solace accounting used card reader to retrieve customer account.
Biometric – Fingerprint reader
A fingerprint reader can be used in Solace POS for Cashier Verification or Cashier logging. Before using a biometric reader, ensure that the device is installed and tested properly on the workstation. Solace Accounting only interface with Digital Persona emulated devices. When this option is activated, the biometrics buttons in the user details will be enabled.
To record Cashier fingerprints
Create a user or a salesperson start the user details edit.
Click in the white square space for Biometrics.
The new scanner screen wait until the message Scan Finger is displayed
Put the one finger on the biometric device until the image is captured and lift up the finger.
Repeat the last step 3 times until all the 4 scans have been captured
Click Save button.
| Note: The Device will timeout after 10 sec. I any picture is not validated the whole process will need to be started again until all 4 scans are valid using the same finger only then the save button will be enabled. |
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Managing Touch Screen Menu
Solace Accounting POS can be customized to use touch screen functionality. Setting up the interface type to nonstandard screen with result into POS using a touch screen menu. We will provide a tutorial for a Take-Away Screen mode for this tutorial. The menu is organised in groups and items. A group button will open a new menu and a simple button will select the inventory item. The first group will be considerate as main menu and will be the first to display on the POS main screen.
To setup touch menu
From the control panel double click on Point of sales
Click on till button
Select Global tab
Select Take-Away Screen in the POS type box
Click Apply
Click on POS Menu button
Type in the number of buttons in one column
Type in the number of buttons in one row
Leave the buttons gap to 2. This is the button spacing
Click Apply button
Click on the green plus to add a group or sub-menu
Button Type is locked to sub-menu and the Button Display is locked to show Text.
Button Colour will be applied to the background
Font Colour will be applied to the text displayed on this button.
The empty boxes in Button text are provided for 5 lines of text on each button
Type in the group or menu description
Type in the Menu text in Button Text entry boxes
Click Ok Button
Select a group and click on the next tab (select Main menu and click on main menu tab) to exit the sub-menu
Click on the first button to setup the action for this button
| This new screen is like the sub-menu editor but with extra option to like the button to an inventory item or to a sub-menu. Button type let you choose the link type Button Display let you set the button to show a text or the item image on the button Button Text is the text that will be displayed on the button it button is text button Click on Button Colour or Font Colour to change colour used for background and foreground. Select Inventory button allow you to link the item to this button. |
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Select Sub-Menu
The button text box will change to a list. Select Breakfasts in the list
Click Ok, the button is linked to the sub-menu Breakfasts
Repeat this for all buttons on the first row and link to all sub-menus
To Add Items to the Menu
In the same way we added the sub-menu, click on empty button in the second row
Click on select Item
Choose the item to display for this button
Check Show image
Click Ok
Repeat for all buttons and link to desired items
The whole main menu now should look like the following picture when completed.
USING POS WORKSTATION
Each workstation has its own configuration file to define few start-up parameters. The most important are the server location and login credentials. The configuration file can be generated from Solace accounting and saved on the workstation under the settings folder. Solace POS is polymorphic as the main screen adapts itself according to the POS Type selected in the settings. For this tutorial we are using Take-Away Screen. The first screen gives the ability to lock the workstation only for POS purpose, the Exit from this screen can be linked to workstation shutdown.
The POS is can only be used with the password, a salesperson or use must be created with a password to login into POS system.
POS MAIN SCREEN
The main screen is the most user friendly and easy to use. Any Cashier should find his ways on this standard POS screen. Read all the notes on the following picture to get acquainted with all features and functionality accessible to the cashier and the supervisor.
A single-entry box is used to facilitate the keyboard input, Solace POS will determine the entry according to the mode and to the accepted input from the user. In stock inventory item add, the search is done on barcode and inventory code. With a touch screen mode and menu button selection sets (like on the picture) menu buttons can be used to add a sale.
PARKING-RETREIVING SALE
| Solace POS can park or store temporary up to 3 sales on the stack. Buttons 1,2 and 3 on the sales tack allows to temporary hold a sale and process new sale to another customer and retrieve back or un-hold it when ready to complete. |
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SUPPERVISOR MODE
Most of the supervisor functions are intuitive to Solace POS, any function that need security will automatically enter in the supervisor mode. All functions except Add Qty, Payment, Reprint, PLU and logout secured with supervisor mode.
PLU
Price Look-up is a simple function for checking the price of an item without adding it to the current sale. The search is done on inventory code and inventory barcode.
PROCESSING A SALE
| From main POS entry screen, type in the item code or scan a barcode Repeat for all items Press Payment Button Enter the tendered amount Press Enter. The slip will be printed, and the system will be ready for the next sale. |
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VOID A SALE
When the sale needs to be cancelled for any reason, use the VOID function.
Click on VOID button
Type in the supervisor code or swipe the supervisor card
Press Enter key if keyboard used
The current sale is candled, and the system is ready for next sale.
REMOVE ITEM
To remove an unwanted item from the sale list, use the REMOVE function
Click on REMOVE button
Type in the supervisor code or swipe the supervisor card
Press Enter key if keyboard used
Select the item from the list or type in the item code.
The item is added with a (-) sign
The system is back to sales mode and ready for new item
REFUND AN INVOICE
When there is a need to refund a customer for a specific invoice use the function REFUND. The system will create a credit note for the invoice and the stock items are added back to store quantities.
Click on REFUND button
Type in the supervisor code or swipe the supervisor card
Press Enter key if keyboard used
The following sub-screen will display
Type in the correct invoice number from the customer slip, the date, account and amount will be fetched and displayed for verification.
Type in the customer or slip holder details
Type in the reason if any
Click Ok
Type in the amount tendered back to the customer. This should be the full amount or less according to the shop refund policy.
The system will be back to sales mode and ready for new sale.
ACCOUNT SALES
When selling on account and sends statements to your clients, the account must be changed to the specified customer account. To change the customer account use ACCOUNT function
Click on ACCOUNT button
Type in the supervisor code or swipe the supervisor card
Press Enter key if keyboard used
The following sub-screen will display
Type in the customer code or swipe customer card
Change the addresses if needed
Click OK, this is enabled only on correct account code
| Note: If the customer picture was recorded in the system, the account screen selector will display it. This is good practice to avoid account misuse and potential predators. Note the name of the customer is displayed in top the caption of the main screen. |
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The current sale will be record in the selected customer account and all accounting reports will be updated accordingly.
RETURNS AND EXCHANGE
Solace POS has a return-exchange function for any item that was sold and need to the replaced or just returned, for this use RETURNS function
Click on RETURNS button
Type in the supervisor code or swipe the supervisor card
Press Enter key if keyboard used
The system is in returns mode any item added will have a (-) negative sign. The return mode must be ended by the cashier. This will let the cashier capture multiple items returns with the same supervisor access code session.
| Note: The Returns mode must be ended by clicking again on the returns button. |
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REPRINT LAST SLIP
The reprint function will reprint the last processed invoice slip of the shift.
DAY-END FUNCTIONS
At the end of the day, the supervisor must run day end functions. These functions are accessible when the button Admin is clicked.
Close the current shift
Do the cash up
Print the shift report
All the data are archived in the database and all the accounting reports can be printed at any time. To access Day-end functions
Click on RETURNS button
Type in the supervisor code or swipe the supervisor card
Press Enter key if keyboard used
The following screen will display, and these functions are standard POS function that are simple to use.
WERE FROM HERE
Solace POS is a very active project, and many features are being added to the module, the tutorial will be updated regularly. You can request an updated document or check Solace Accounting website for any new and updates. Solace accounting is a vast suite a business management computerised tools many other modules and software extension are available, use the forum site for any enquiry.