Points of Sale

Overview

Define and configure point of sale terminals to process sales transactions offline via the Mezan POS application. This is useful in cashier sales workflows where you need to process sales transactions without interruption incase internet connectivity is lost.

Points of Sale in Mezan allow you to define and configure POS terminals that can be used to install and run the POS app, a separate Mezan application designed to operate offline as a cashier terminal. Each POS definition corresponds to a terminal configuration that can be deployed across your business locations.

Creating a Point of Sale Terminal

Setting up a new Point of Sale terminal requires configuring several key parameters that determine how the terminal operates, processes transactions, and interacts with customers and inventory.

POS Terminals give specific advantages for invoicing in a retail environment quickly, such as predefined cash accounts, store locations, and the ability to create invoices and receipts quickly and easily. As well as the ability to process sales transactions offline, and synchronize data with your Mezan account when internet connection is restored.

The following settings are available for each POS terminal definition:

  1. Name: Enter a descriptive name for the POS terminal. This name will be used to identify the terminal in your organization's dashboard in Mezan.
  2. Cash Account: Select the financial account that will be used to record cash transactions processed through this terminal. All cash sales and payments will be linked to this account in your financial records. This is usually best set as the cash drawer account for that specific terminal.
  3. Select Store: Choose the store location where this terminal will operate. This associates the terminal with a specific inventory location for automatic inventory management.
  4. Select Default Anonymous Customer: Specify the default customer account to use for walk-in or anonymous transactions. This customer will automatically be assigned to transactions when no specific customer is selected in the POS application. This is useful if your operations don't require customers to provide their details when making a purchase, so a point of sale does not require a customer to be selected. The best practice is to create a default anonymous customer for all your POS terminals, or one for each terminal if you prefer to have a different default customer for each terminal, as separate customer definitions are sometimes useful in reporting and analytics.
  5. Allow Defining Customers: When enabled, this option allows POS employees to create new customer records as needed, instead of always assigning the selected Anonymous Customer as the buyer on invoices. This is useful for businesses that frequently serve new customers and want to track their information.
  6. Must Define Customer: When enabled, this setting enforces the collection of customer details on every invoice, either by selecting existing customers or creating new ones. This is particularly useful for businesses that need complete customer records for warranty, loyalty programs, or regulatory compliance.
  7. POS References Prefix: Define a short code that will be used as the base prefix for all references generated by this terminal. This helps to identify which terminal processed a transaction, and to ensure unique references for each terminal which don't conflict with each other, or with your main Mezan references in sales invoices.
  8. POS Invoices Reference Settings:
    • Reference Prefix: Set the prefix for invoice numbers (e.g., INV)
    • Reference Counter: Set the starting number for the invoice sequence
    • Reference Example: Shows how the complete invoice reference will appear (e.g., POS1INV1)
  9. POS Receipts Reference Settings:
    • Reference Prefix: Set the prefix for receipt numbers (e.g., RCT)
    • Reference Counter: Set the starting number for the receipt sequence
    • Reference Example: Shows how the complete receipt reference will appear (e.g., POS1RCT1)

Using the POS Application

Once you've configured a POS terminal definition in Mezan, you can install the separate POS application on the device that will serve as your cashier terminal.

You can use the POS application on the browser directly, or download the application to the device. Visit the POS application page to get started.

Only an organization owner or a manager can setup the POS terminal for the first time, and once the terminal is setup, any team member with the "Point of Sale Access" permission can operate the POS terminal.

The way Mezan POS Setup happens is when a terminal is associated we assign that POS definition as "Locked", so that other devices can't also operate using the same definitions and settings. This is necessary to ensure that the terminal is only used by one device at a time, and to prevent conflicts in "references" and errors in the data, because the terminals are allowed to operate offline and synchronize data with the Mezan account when internet connection is restored.

The POS application will:

  1. Connect to your Mezan account to obtain a lock on the POS definition, and download the terminal configuration and other data needed to operate the terminal, such as the store inventory, product definitions, customers list, and other data.
  2. Allow for offline operation to process transactions even without internet connectivity, and synchronize data with your Mezan account when internet connection is restored.
  3. Provide cashier-specific interfaces optimized for point of sale operations, such as a product search interface, barcode reader integrations, printer integrations for automatic printing, and other features to make the cashier's workflow more efficient.

Offline Capabilities

An internet connection is required to initially setup the POS terminal, and to synchronize data with the Mezan account when the terminal is offline. Once the terminal is setup, it can operate offline and process sales transactions without the need for an internet connection.

If a new team member wants to operate the POS Terminal, an internet connection is required, once they login with their Mezan credentials for the first time for an existing terminal, and they are an existing member of your organization, they will be prompted to enter a PIN code to be remembered and used for future logins on this terminal without the need for an internet connection.

Key offline features include:

  • Offline login to the POS application using a PIN code for team members who already used the terminal before.
  • Generate references for invoices and receipts based on the POS definition settings, without the need for an internet connection.
  • Full invoice and receipts processing capability
  • Local storage of invoices and receipts
  • Inventory tracking based on most recent synchronization
  • Automatic data synchronization when connection is restored

Billing for Points of Sale

Mezan's plans always come with a single point of sale included for free, and you can always add more point of sale licenses to your plan whenever you need them. Refer to Mezan's subscription management page for more details.

Only active point of sale terminals count toward your plan's limit.