Register 3: Basic Operations

October 01, 2024

The POS System Register

You can get to this part of the system by clicking on the Register Icon, as pictured below.

Primary Register Functions

Below the Customer area, you have several important functions:

Item Search and Add New Product - You can scan a barcode label into this area or enter keywords to Search for and select the product or class you want from a drop list. Search results can find Products, which have the price-tag icon for regular inventory, and a scissors icon for items sold per yard or per meter, Packages, which have the open box icon, Classes, which have the graduation cap icon, and Services, which have the magic wand icon. Subscription items have a 3d cube icon, not pictured below.

Miscellaneous, Gift Cards, Trade-Ins, Notes, and Rentals - From this area you can create Miscellaneous Items, non-inventory single-use products, if you don't need a permanent listing for an item. If the customer wants to purchase a Gift Card, you can click this link and either use the automatically-generated number provided, or you can scan in or enter your own. Gift Cards can be for any amount you like, and should be given a Title that makes sense, such as 'Birthday Gift for Becky from Dad.' Click here to see more about working with Gift Cards. If you take Trade-Ins, you can use this function to intake a trade item and sell whatever the customer is trading it for. You are able to enter Notes as needed that will print out on the receipt and will pop up automatically if you later open the transaction. If you are on our Plus level of service, you will also have access to our Rentals module, and you can start a Rental by clicking the link in this area. To learn more about Rentals, click here: Short Term Rentals.
Clerk Notification Text - If you go the Admin Button with your username in the upper right and go to Settings > POS Settings > General, you can scroll down enter reminder text or news of which you want your sales clerks to stay mindful. That Clerk Notification Text displays in this area.

Register Line Items

When you add items to the Register, each will go in as a separate line item. You can add the same item multiple times if you are doing something like a 'Buy One, Get One Free' promotion, and enter the first one at the regular price, then either edit the second one's price to $0, or give it a 100% discount. Here are the elements of a Register line item:

Item Information - Whether it's a product, a Work Order, or some other item, the title will be clear, and you can click on the Product Information area to open a panel with more information (ID numbers, inventory on hand and on order, Reward and discount eligibility, and the product's Vendor). If the item has an image in the system, it will display here. For products, this image needs to be in the first slot on the Images tab.
Price - The selling Price is listed here, and if the item has a Sale Price, that will be what is shown. You can manually adjust this amount if your User Group allows permission.
Quantity - By default, the quantity will be 1, but you can click on this box to change the Quantity as needed.
Line Item Subtotal - This area displays the Price multiplied by the Quantity for reference.
Discount - You can click the blue pencil Discount button to add either a percentage off the line item, or a set dollar amount off.

Adjust Unit Quantity

When you click to change Quantity, you'll see the following panel for items sold by the unit. The quantity number will automatically be highlighted so you can either use your number keys for entry or your mouse to click the buttons:

Adjust Yardage / Meterage Quantity

When you add a product that is sold by the yard or by the meter to the Register, the following Quantity panel will automatically open for you to add the appropriate quantity. The quantity number will already be highlighted so you can either use your number keys for entry or your mouse to click the buttons:

Create Products in the Register

Sometimes one of your customers might bring a product up to your Register that is somehow not in the system yet. Here is the way we recommend you handle that. Under Products > Categories, create a Category called Unassigned. When you need to create a product on the fly, click the + Button next to the product search area and you'll see the Add Product window open.

The only thing you absolutely have to have is the Product Title, but we recommend that you add it to your Unassigned category (so you can find it later and finish fully creating the product). All the rest can be done later.

Transaction Summary

The right side of the Register has the following functions:

Date - You can click this link to adjust the Date for which the transaction will be listed in your reports. The time listed is based on your computer's clock. Note that you can also change a transaction's date after it has been completed.
Clerk - If you are using the PIN codes so the system can track each sales Clerk in your transactions, the name of the sales clerk currently logged in will display here. You can click on the name to log in a different sales clerk.
Sales Rep - If there are commissionable sales items in the transaction, you can specify who the sales rep is, and if there were multiple sales reps involved, you can enter their names and set the commission split by clicking on the blue pencil.
Location - If you have multiple locations set up in the system, you can click the current Location to change to another one for the next transaction, if needed.
Open Cash Drawer - You can click the Open button to open your cash drawer. The system will send a very small print job to your receipt printer, which is necessary to actually open the drawer.
Till - You can click on the current Till to change to a different one very quickly.
Shift Management Menu (optional) - If you need detail cash-counting tools, shift reporting, register Pay-Out and Pay-In capability, and the ability to open and close for new sales clerk shifts, you can activate and utilize this function. To learn more about this function, click here: Shift Management.
Subtotal - This is the total of the order before any discounts or taxes are applied. This is an optional field you can turn on in your Point of Sale Settings: General Tab.
Discount - Clicking the Discount button will pop up a side panel that will allow you to apply a discount to all eligible items in the transaction equally. As with the line item discount, this can be either a percentage off or a dollar amount off. Any other discounts already on the transaction, including those from Reward Coupons, will display in the side panel as well.
Tax - Clicking the Remove button here will remove the Tax from the transaction. NOTE: If you do this, make sure to add a Note to the transaction about why it was done. Your accountant will need this when calculating your taxes at the end of the current tax period. If you have clicked to remove the tax, the Remove button changes to an Add button and you can re-add the tax again if needed. You can also just manually click on the Tax Amount and enter whatever amount the tax should be, if you need.
Tax Profile - If you need to use a different Tax Profile, for example if a customer with a special tax exemption is checking out, such as Native Americans, you can apply the appropriate Tax Profile as needed and the transaction will use that profile.
Shipping - If you will be Shipping the order, you can click the Shipping button to open the Shipping panel (see image below in the Shipping section for specifics).
Shipping Discount - If there is any discount on the shipping fees on a transaction you will see it here.
Total - This is the grand Total of the transaction, after discounts, tax, and shipping have been accounted for. Please note that if a deposit was made toward what is being purchased, it will be accounted for in a Payment Method line item as a Previous Payment, and that amount would be deducted from the Total and the result would display in the Due amount.
Tender - As you add different amounts paid in different ways using the Payment Methods listed below, each amount and type will be added as a form of Tender line item. Add more Tender amounts until the entire Due amount is reduced to zero.
Due - This amount will start with what you see in the Total and the Due amount will automatically reduce as you use Payment Methods to pay toward the total. When this amount reaches zero, or if the customer is due change, you will be able to complete the transaction.
Payment Methods - Once you have entered a line item into the Register, the Payment Method buttons will be highlighted for Cash, Card, and Other Payment Method (see section below for Processing Payments for more details). You can add Custom Tender types from the settings area, if needed.
Suspend Transaction - Once you have a line item loaded into the Register, the Suspend (Pause) button will be highlighted and usable. It is highly recommended that you also add a Customer (see the section below for Suspending Transactions for further explanation). If the transaction needs to be suspended for longer periods of time, it is recommended to click on the Customer Action icons and save it as a Quote instead, which makes a permanent save of the transaction.
Cancel - At any time, you can click the red Cancel button to clear everything out of the Register and start over. Once you do so, there is no way to get back what was in there.
Complete Transaction - For finalizing a sale, once you have added payment methods that cover the entire amount Due, the Checkmark button will highlight in green and allow you to Complete Transaction (please see the section below on Completing Transactions).

Shipping

Most areas do not tax shipping, so in the Rain Register, shipping charges are normally added after tax. If you need to have your shipping charges taxed, you will need to go to Products > Add New Product and create a product called Shipping, with the appropriate tax rate box checked in its Advanced tab, and add it to the transaction as a line item so it can be taxed.

Store Pickup Options - Clicking on this tab will show you any of the store pickup options for orders that you have set up for your location. These include In-Store Pickup and Curbside Pickup, if they have been configured in your settings.
Shipping Info - When you open the Shipping panel by clicking the Shipping button, any Customer information for name, address, and email will be populated already. For the fields listed in green, those are required so you will need to have information in each of them before you can save the Shipping settings. If you are shipping to a different address, you can enter whatever you need. You can also click the Clear button to remove all shipping information and you can click the Fill Customer Data button to once again populate the fields with the transaction's Customer information.
Shipping Method - You'll be able to choose any of your configured Shipping Methods that apply for the Customer's geographical area. If you changed the Name and Address in the Shipping Info above, click the Update Shipping button so the system can find shipping methods that apply to the altered address.
Total Weight - The combined weight values of the items in the transaction will display here. It will be listed as a decimal value.
Shipping Charge - You can manually adjust the amount of the Shipping Charge to add for handling charges or reduce for discounts as needed.

Click Save to finalize your Shipping settings. Please note that the transaction will now be listed under Products > Orders, where you can track the shipping and set the order Status as needed.

Processing Payments

The Rain System offers several ways to process payments. Here are the different Payment Methods you can add to the Register:

Cash - As one of the more frequently used payment methods, Cash has a dedicated button at the bottom of the Register sidebar. Clicking that button opens the Cash panel, with buttons for different amounts. You can click them and the amounts will add together to whatever amount needed (e.g. clicking the $20 four times in rapid succession is a fast way to enter the amount of $80). You can also click Exact if the Customer has exactly the Amount Due. If you prefer, you can just click in the Amount field and enter whatever amount you need using your number keys. Click Save to finalize the entry of the payment method.

Card - If you are using our integrated processing with Rain Payments, you'll see the interface to the left when you click the Card button. As needed, you can turn the integration Off or On, for example, if you have already charged a card for a transaction but just need to enter it into the system so it will show on your Reports, you can turn off the processing and just enter the amount so you don't have to charge the card again. By default, the total Amount Due will be in the Amount field, and you can adjust this as needed. You cannot charge a greater amount than the total Amount Due. When the panel first opens, the cursor will be flashing in the Card Number field, so you can swipe the card to run the charge. All of the other fields will auto-populate on a successful swipe.

Please Note: For security purposes, the processor will not allow identical amounts to run in successive charges from the same card in order to avoid duplicate transactions. Click Save to finalize the entry of the payment method.

Integrated Card Processing - If you are not using our integrated debit and credit card processing, you will see a panel open like the one shown here when you click on the Card button. All our system needs is whatever amount was charged to the card, and by default it will populate the entire Amount Due. You can manually adjust this if they are using their card for a lesser amount. You cannot enter a greater amount than the total Amount Due. You will run the actual card charge in whatever system you currently use to process card payments. Click Save to finalize the entry of the payment method.

Check - You can access this payment method by clicking the Other Payment Options button (the four purple squares) and clicking on Check. By default, the total Amount Due will be in the Amount field when you open this panel. You can manually adjust that number if they will be paying a lesser amount. You cannot enter an amount greater than the total Amount Due. You have the option of entering a Check Number and an ID / License Number to log that information for the payment. Click Save to finalize the entry of the payment method.

Gift Card - You can access this payment method by clicking the Other Payment Options button (the four purple squares) and clicking on Gift Card. When the Gift Card panel loads, the cursor will be in the Gift Card ID field, ready for you to scan or enter a number. When the system finds a match, it will put the number in a drop list as shown below, and you need to click the number. The system will display the remaining balance on the card right next to the number, and you can enter the Amount to Pay. Any left over amount on the card will be available for later use. Click Save to finalize the entry of the payment method.

On Account (Invoice) - You can access this payment method by clicking the Other Payment Options button (the four purple squares) and clicking On Account. You will want to make sure all sales clerks are trained to be careful in using this payment method. If the customer has a credit balance, make sure the Amount in this panel is not greater than the amount of the credit balance. If you go over the credit, the customer will owe the store whatever amount is left over. If the customer already owes money to the store, using this method will increase the balance owed. By default the entire Amount Due will display in the Amount field, so be sure to double check if this amount is more than the credit balance of the customer! Adjust the amount and click Save to finalize the entry of the payment method.

Outside Financing - You can access this payment method by clicking the Other Payment Options button (the four purple squares) and clicking on Outside Financing. If you use an outside financing institution to finance large purchases, use this payment method to log in our system how that amount was paid. By default, the entire Amount Due will be populated in the Amount field, and you can adjust that if a lesser amount is needed, but you can't enter an amount greater than the total Amount Due. Click Save to finalize the entry of the payment method.

Completing a Transaction

Once you have entered payment methods that cover the entire Amount Due, the payment method buttons and the suspend transaction button will gray out and the Complete Transaction checkmark button will turn green. If you need to adjust or remove any of the payment methods you entered, each has a Delete button that will remove it and allow you to take the payment a different way. Credit and Debit card charges go through at the time you swipe them, so to change those charges, complete the transaction and either void it or return items to process the return of funds.

After you complete the transaction, a panel will pop up with a summary of the order and options on what to do with receipts. You can print a Gift Receipt, if needed. If you check the box to Email the receipt, a field will open to add the Email Address it will go to. If the customer has an email saved in their account, it will auto-populate, but of course you can change it if needed. You can also check the box to have the system print a Signature Copy for you to keep for transactions that would need a signature. Click Yes to start the print process, or No if you don't need receipts.

The receipt contains the full details about the transaction, including breakdowns of Discounts and any Notes that were entered. You can scan the Barcode into the Register to reopen the transaction for returns or voids.

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Register 3: Basic Operations

Register 3: Basic Operations

The POS System Register