How An EPOS machine Can Be Used?

The term "POS machine" based on the assumption that there is only one device that represents entire checkout. In fact the present day checkouts comprise of software and several hardware components such as:

• • PC monitors or tablet screen
• • EPOS (electronic point of sale) software
• • Card machine
• • Cash drawer
• • Receipt printer
• • Barcode scanner

Imagine that a POS machine refers to process a sale, the most used payment methods are cash and Credit/Debit cards.

How To Accept A Card Payment

There are commonly two different ways to accept cards at a till point: through manual entry or automatically by means of a linked up system. Both require a card reader a standalone terminal for manual entry or integrated terminal for a linked up system. Regardless of terminal type, it should connect with the internet.

A standalone card terminal is independent of the EPOS software or cash register where you register transactions through. This means when you`ve counted up the items to sell on the till screen or cash register, you need to then enter the total sum on the card machine keypad. When confirmed, it will print a receipt if it has an inbuilt printer, or confirm with a message on its display that the payment has been accepted.

An integrated terminal is connected with the EPOS software, so when you`ve entered items on the till screen and choose card payment, the central software will send the transaction amount to the card terminal. The card machine will light up and show the payment automatically, prompting the customer to pay that. You don`t need to enter anything manually on the terminal. As with standalone terminals, the integrated card machine processes the payment via telephone line or internet, printing a receipt.

How to Accept Cash Payment

The modern EPOS systems more often have a touch screen monitor with a visual interface for entering items sold and payment amount given. When you accept cash, you enter the amount given by the customer in cash, and after that the POS software calculates the due amount is given back to the customer. Now, you should place received cash in to the cash register and collect the due coins and notes from the cash register to offer back to the customer to make the paid amount right.

When you`re not using the cash register, it must be safely closed to prevent theft. In the modern EPOS systems,it is normally integrated with the basic system or tablet, so it automatically opens when you enter the paid cash on the till screen. If it isn`t integrated, you may need to manually open the till cabinet.

End-Of-Day Duties With A POS Machine

At the end of each day, you more often have to play out a "Z report" which shows all your every day totals divided into payment methods, for example cash, card, cheques and gift vouchers totals.

With a card machine, you may probably need to run a Z report on the terminal for just the card sales to compare and the sums in the EPOS system. The general POS Z report can be kept running on the till screen, smart phone or PC where you can sign into the EPOS system to see sales.

If you have a standalone terminal, you can compare the terminal Z report and the EPOS Z report to check whether the card aggregates are same. If they`re not the same, it can mean a card payment was not entered in the EPOS system, or a payment on the EPOS system was wrongly declared as a card payment when in fact it was made with cash or another method.

If you accept cash, you will also need to tally the till float, deduct the float sum at the start of the trading day, and after that you will have the total cash takings of the day. Compare that with the Z report`s cash total, and if it`s the same, it means you have given the right amount of change back to customers that day.

In case if it is under or over the Z report all out, it considers a discrepancy that should be noted in your accounting.

Regardless, it is a business prerequisite to record all sales in some sort of accounting system. The present EPOS systems more often than not do this for you, if you have entered all transactions in the till software, including card, cash and some other kinds of payments.