POS Register And Deferred Settlement
Take payment now or leave a counter order unpaid, settle it later, and switch staff on a shared counter device with a PIN.
The POS register is the counter. It is built for the case where someone orders, pays, and leaves — but it no longer forces payment to happen at that moment.
Pay now, or settle later
Two paths from the same ticket:
- Take payment now. The usual counter sale: build the ticket, take cash, UPI, or card, print the bill, done.
- Create an unpaid POS Order. The ticket is saved as an order that owes money. Use this for a customer waiting on their food, a tab, or anyone who will pay on the way out.
An unpaid POS Order can then be:
| Action | What happens |
|---|---|
| Settle | Take payment against it and close it |
| Print the bill without settling | |
| Cancel | Void it, with the cancellation recorded |
| Edit | Change items while it is still unpaid |
Every one of these is quoted by the server, checks the order's revision before it writes, and is safe to retry. A double-tap on Settle does not take payment twice.
Once an order is settled it can no longer be edited. Changes after that are refunds, which keep their own record.
Service mode
A counter order can carry a service mode — dine-in, takeaway, delivery — so the same register handles a walk-in eating in and a parcel going out without pushing you into the table-service flow.
POS history
POS history lists deferred orders and directly-paid counter sales together. Unpaid orders are visible there with what they owe, so nothing sits forgotten in a drawer.
Counter sales do not appear in Service Orders. The two stay separate: the register is its own record.
Who is on the counter
A counter device is usually shared. Rather than everyone working under one login, Zesty asks "Who's on the counter?"
- Each staff member picks their name and enters a four-digit PIN.
- PINs are set in People & Access on the staff member's record.
- Five wrong attempts lock that PIN for five minutes.
Switching is a few seconds, so a shift change does not mean signing out of the device. Sales, cancellations, and refunds are attributed to whoever was on the counter at the time, which is what makes the shift report and Shift Desk meaningful.
A PIN is not a password. It identifies who is acting on an already-signed-in device; it does not grant access to anything the person's role does not already allow.
Printing
The counter prints receipts to a paired thermal printer. See Printers and devices for pairing and the 58mm layout.
Where to go next
- Orders, KDS, billing and refunds — the full service flow
- Sales workflow modes — running POS only, orders only, or both
- Staff, roles, permissions and access logs — setting PINs and who can void a sale