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Web Help Version 2.0

  
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  POS Operation  
  Table of Contents  
  Click on any item to jump to that section.  
     
  Sales  
  Returns, Exchanges and Store Credit  
  Cash Drawer Functions  
  Customer Dialog Panel  
  Gift Cards  
  Reports  
  Closing the Day  
  POS Screen Layout  
     
 

(Press Alt S to advance to next result)

  
     
     
  Sales Top of Page Top
  Ringing Up a Sale  
  The first decision in making a sale is to determine the customer. By default, sales will be rung up against the default customer named "Walk-In" unless you change it. Select the Customer button from the Customer Dialog Panel located on the upper right of the POS screen to change to a named customer. The Customer button can be selected at any time prior to concluding the sale.  
     
   
     
  You do not need to change the default customer unless you are a) implementing a customer loyalty program or b) the customer will be paying for their purchases "On Account" meaning they will pay you later.  
     
  To make a sale you must first populate the Receipt Window with the Items you want to sell.  You can do this three different ways.
  1. Scan the bar code of the Item.
  2. Type the Product Code of the Item in the scan field and press enter. The scan field is right below the Item button. 
  3. Select the Item button and then search for the Item in the Product Search Grid. 
 
   
        Scan Field  
     
 
  • Select the Description button to display additional information about the Item
  • If the sale is for more than one of the same Item you can either a) scan each item several times or b) select the Quantity button located on the top bar to change the quantity
  • To change the Price of an item, select the Price button. This will not result in a permanent change to the price  
 
  Product Search Grid - After selecting the Item button, the following search product search grid appears on the right panel of the POS screen. This screen allows you to execute quick searches by entering part of the product description or part of the product code then clicking on the product to sell.    
     
   
     
  After you captured the Items to sell, you can use these other buttons to capture the zip code of the customer, how the customer got to you (source) and get information for customers about sale pricing, inventory availability, alternate items, etc.   
     
 

Capture zip code of the customer
Associate a sale with an offer, coupon, etc.
Delete the receipt line item
Discount a receipt line item
View the available stock of an item
View substitute items
View special price and price duration
 
     
  Tendering a Sale Top of Page Top
  Customers can pay for their purchases using these payment types or combination of two payment types (called a "Split Tender"):  
  • Cash
  • Credit Cards
  • Points
  • On Account
  • Gift Card
  
  Select the Tender button when you are ready to process payments from a customer.  
     
   
     
  By default, sales will be rung up against the Cash tender type. To make a cash sale, enter the amount tendered (the amount given to you by the customer) in the number pad or just select a denomination. For example, if the amount of the sale is $45.21 and the customer gives you $50 then select the $50 denomination on the number pad. The "Balance" field will display the amount due to the customer (or balance due).   
     
  Customers can also split the tender by paying for purchases using two payment types (but no more than two). Say for example a customer wants to pay for a $37.63 purchase with $20 in cash and the balance, or $17.63, on Visa.   
  1. Select Cash from the tender list
  2. Enter 20 on the keypad
  3. Click Visa
  
 

 
     
  Note the balance of $17.63 to be applied to Visa automatically backfills into the Visa field. Select Enter to process the card and print the receipt.   
     
  Credit Card Processing Top of Page Top
  When you select a credit card as a payment type, the below Payment form is displayed:  
     
 

 
     
  Once the Payment form is displayed this means the system is ready to accept a swipe.  Swipe the card using your magnetic swipe reader (MSR).
  • If the swipe is successful the POS will conclude the sale and print the receipt.
  • If the swipe is not successful, the POS will provide error messages to help you determine how to resolve the exception.  
 
  The two most common exceptions are a "decline" or "error reading card". If the customer wants to use a different card, then Close the Payment form, select another card type in the tender list and press Enter to bring the Payment form back.  
     
  Besides swiping a card you can also input the card number and expiration date directly into the payment form. This will be required if the card is damaged and you get an "error reading card" type message. To do this check the box in the upper right, "Manual Input" then enter the card number and expiration date and select the Submit button.  
     
  The full list of credit card error messages can be found in your Mercury Payment Systems customer manual.  
     
  On Account Sales / Payment on Account  
  To make a sale "On Account" select the On Account tender type. This type of sale means the customer will pay later. Each time you make an On Account sale the amount of that sale will add to the amount the customer owes you.  
     
  When the customer does pay, you can apply the payment by selecting the "Payment on Account" button found under the Admin button.   
     
   
     
   
     
  Sales Discounts Top of Page Top
  Blue Sky POS allows you to apply a percentage discount a line item of receipt or percentage discount to an entire sale, as discussed below. Note that tax is computed on the sales price after applying discounts.   
     
  Discount a line item: 
  1. Scan (or select) the product(s) to be sold
  2. Select the Discount button on the left panel of the POS
  3. Enter the percent of the discount to be applied in the numeric keypad and press enter.
  4. The discount percent appears in the "Line Discount %" field in the upper right section of the POS and the discount dollar amount appears in the Discount field (the one on the left) below the Subtotal amount.
  
  Discount an entire sale:
  1. Scan (or select) the product(s) to be sold
  2. Select the Discount button that is below the receipt window
  3. Enter the percent of the discount to be applied in the numeric keypad and press enter.
  4. The discount percent appears in the "Invoice Discount %" field in the upper right section of the POS and the discount dollar amount appears in the Discount field (the one on the right) below the Subtotal amount.
  
  Note: Any discounts applied using the above method will be in addition to discounts granted to the customer based on the discount percent applied to a Customer's price level.  
     
  Returns, Exchanges and Store Credit Top of Page Top
  Processing a return (also known as a void) is really the reverse procedure of making a sale. When you process a return, it has the following affect within the system: 
  1. On hand inventory is increased by the amount of the return
  2. Sales and related tax, if any, are reduced by the amount of the return
  3. Cash in the drawer is refunded and the cash drawer balance reduced if the sale was originally a cash sale; or the customer's credit card is credited if the sale was originally a credit card sale
  
  Returns  
  The procedure to process a return is as follows:
  1. Turn the return button on
  2. Scan (or select) the product(s) to be returned
  3. Select the Tender type (usually the tender type used for the original sale)
  4. If Cash, then refund the amount of the return; if Credit, then choose the card type used in the original sale (you will also be required to enter the original Authorization Number and Reference from the original sale)
 
  The return button functions in an "on or off" mode. When you turn the return button on, it will be bolded and underlined as shown below. Any products you scan will be negative. When the button is off, scanned products will be positive (a normal sale).   
     
   
     
  Exchanges  
  An Exchange is really just a return and sale in the same transaction. The procedure to process an exchange is as follows:
  1. Turn the return button on
  2. Scan (or select) the products(s) to be returned
  3. Turn the return button off
  4. Scan (or select) the products(s) to be sold
  5. The "Amount Due" will be the difference between the products being returned and the products being sold.
 
  Store Credit  
  You must have a customer account already setup to process a store credit transaction. The procedure is as follows:
  1. Select the customer by pressing the Customer button on the Customer Dialog Panel
  2. Turn the return button on
  3. Scan (or select) the products(s) to be issued store credit for
  4. Tender the sale to "On Account" tender type
 
   
     
  The system will print out a receipt with the customer's name on it and the amount of the store credit. The result is that the customer's account will have a positive balance equal to the return amount (including any applicable tax).  When the customer returns to redeem their store credit, you must bring up their account before ringing up any sales. Any items purchased in excess of the store credit existing on the customers account can be split tendered to any other tender type available.  
     
     
  Cash Drawer Functions Top of Page Top
  Blue Sky POS automatically keeps track of your cash drawer balance during the ordinary course of accepting cash, making change and processing refunds. There are other cash transactions however that Blue Sky will not track unless you record them. For example, you are low on cash so you add more cash to the drawer - or you take cash from the drawer for an emergency expense. In these cases, you will need to select the Drawer button to record these transactions so your drawer is in balance. The transactions recorded using the drawer functions will appear both in the Cash Balancing Wizard as well as the Close Register Report.    
     
   
     
   
     
 
  • Select the 'Open Drawer' button to "pop" open the cash drawer.
  • Select the 'Make Deposit' button to remove cash from your drawer for deposit into your bank, safe or other secure location.
  • Select the 'Cash Out' button to take cash out of your drawer that will not be deposited, for example for expenses.  
  • Select the 'Cash In' button to put cash into the drawer. This button should not be used in lieu of Drawer Float amount set up in System Manager->Settings.

 

  
  Customer Dialog Panel Top of Page Top
  The Customer Dialog Panel is used to learn information about your most valuable customers in order to facilitate a dialog with the customer. Refer to the Setup section of this manual for instructions on how to setup customers, sales persons and price levels. The "open points" button reflects the number of points the selected customer has earned and are available to redeem.   
     
   
     
     
  Gift Cards Top of Page Top
  With Blue Sky POS you can issue (also called selling a gift card) and redeem gift cards. To sell a gift card you must have an Item named "Gift Card" setup in the products database. The procedure to sell a gift card is as follows:  
     
  1. Select the Admin button:  
   
     
  2. Select the Gift Card button:  
   
     
     
  Reports Top of Page Top
  Blue Sky POS includes two types of reports: Standard Reports and Queried Reports. Standard Reports are accessed in POS by selecting the Admin button.  
     
 

 
     
  Queried reports are found in System Manager. In System Manager you can output any query that you execute using the Search feature.  
     
     
  Closing the Day Top of Page Top
  To close the day, select the close button on the left panel of the POS. After you select the close button you will be presented with the Cash Balancing Wizard screen.  
     
 

 
     
   
     
  The Cash Balancing Wizard helps you determine if your cash drawer is over or under (short) what it should be.  The wizard compares the value of what you count in your drawer (top part of the wizard) to what the system says should be there (bottom part of the wizard).   
     
  Procedure:  
 
  1. Open your cash drawer and enter the inventory of coin and currency from your drawer (or optionally enter the total value in the 'Total Currency and Coins:' and 'Total Checks:' fields).
  2. Press the 'Save Counts' button to save the count
  3. Press the 'Print Counts' button if you want to get a screen print (optional)
  4. Press the 'Close Register" button to get a printout of the entire activity for the day.
 
     
  POS Screen Layout Top of Page Top
  The following three tables outline the functions of each button on the POS Screen. The supervisor column identifies if the button can be changed to require a supervisor override. All buttons are set to not require a supervisor override by default.  You can change the default in the user setup section in the System Manager.   
     
  Left Panel  
 
Button

Function

 Supervisor?
Zip

Capture zip code of the customer

 No
Source Associate a sale with an offer, coupon, etc. No
Delete Delete an receipt line item No
Discount Discount a receipt line item No
Inventory View the available stock of an item No
Alternate View similar items of an item No
Special View date range and promo price of an item No
Override Supervisor login for transactions requiring an override Yes
Drawer Open the cash drawer, enter deposit, cash-out and cash-in transactions Yes
Close Enter cash drawer opening counts, closing counts and cash drawer balancing wizard Yes
Admin Print reports, process Gift Cards and payments on account Yes
Logoff Exit the POS screen Yes
 
     
  Top Row Top of Page Top
 
Button

Function

 Supervisor?
Item View and search the product (item) database No
Description View an extended description of an item No
Quantity Change the quantity to be purchased No
Price Change the price of an item for the sale only (does not result in a permanent price change) Yes
Customer Change the customer for the current sale; search customer database; change customer file details Yes
Sales Person View the sales person associated with a customer;  search sales person database; change sales person details Yes
Price Level View the price level associated with a customer No
Open Points View the number of open points associated with a customer No
 
     
  Bottom Section Top of Page Top
 
Button

Function

 Supervisor?
Date Displays the current date No
Invoice Displays the current receipt number or if selected displays the invoices for the day Yes
Location Displays your location name No
Register Displays your register name No
User Displays list of users or if selected allows login and logoff of users using PIN entry or card swipe Yes
Return Process a product return Yes
Delete Delete a receipt Yes
Suspend Place and retrieve suspended sales No
Tender Process payment for a transaction No
Clear Clear the POS screen and start over No
 
     
     

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