Using the Register

Your Register is the heart of the Point of Sale system and in this step you will learn about the following items:

• Entering Customers from the Register
• Creating Products from the Register
• Adding Items to a Transaction
• Working with Prices and Quantities
• Adding Discounts to Line Items and to Entire Transactions
• Suspending and Resuming Transactions
• Adding Notes to a Transaction
• Selling Gift Cards
• Changing the Date of a Transaction
• Changing Tills
• Different Payment Methods

To enlarge the video screen, please click the Full Screen button in the lower right of the video window, just to the left of the Vimeo logo.

 

The Rain POS System Register

You can get to this part of the system when you first log in by clicking the large blue Point of Sale button on the system Home page. If you are already logged in and need to get to your Register from anywhere else in the system, begin by clicking on the Cash Register Icon on the left side of the blue Admin Toolbar, or by clicking on POS > Register.

 

The Functions of the Rain System Register

Signing Into the System

When you first click to go to the Register, if you are using the PIN Code system to log the employee that will be using the Register, the PIN prompt will come up.

After you enter your PIN code and click to Login, if it's the first time you've logged into the system for the day, you'll be prompted to choose your Till. Note that once you have chosen a Till, you can easily change to any other Till you might need by clicking on the name of the active one on the far right and then choosing your new one.

Customer Functions in the Register

The first thing you have the option of doing is adding the customer to the transaction by either searching for the one you want, as shown below, and clicking on their name in the drop-list that comes up, or by clicking the blue + button and creating a new Customer entry for them in the system. Customers can check out anonymously, but if their name is in the Register, they will benefit from gaining Reward Points and coupons, and it will be easier for you to work with returns they might make or gift cards they might purchase. NOTE: To look up Quotes, Account Balance, Layaways, Special Orders, Work Orders, Transaction History, and Items Purchased, the customer's name will need to be loaded into the Register.

If you click to create a New Customer, you'll see a blank version of the sample Customer below. If you click on the Customer's name, you'll see their information in a panel like the one below. For more information on how to create Customers and work with Customer data, click here.

Once you have the Customer loaded, you can see a lot of useful information about them in the upper bar. You'll see 1) Contact Information (the small button of a figure with an 'x' will remove the current Customer and let you search for another), 2) Rewards program info and Customer Balance (credit balance in green numbers or balance owed in red), and 3) Customer Actions. In order as shown below, the Customer Actions are Quotes, Customer Notes, Work Orders, Reward Coupons, Rentals, Layaways, and Special Orders. Any of the icons highlighted have entries that are active in the system for the Customer. Clicking on any of the Customer Actions icons will open the Customer Actions panel, showing you all current activities for the customer.

Here is a breakdown of the various Customer Actions currently usable in the Register (see image below):

1. Quotes - A Quote is a permanently saved transaction and is used to either print and give to a customer for a requested quote, or just to permanently save a set of items that have been loaded into the Register for later purchase. To create a Quote, load the item(s) needed into the Register along with the Customer, open the Customer Actions panel and click the + for Quotes. From then on, that Quote will be accessible here whenever the Customer is loaded into the Register. You can open a saved Quote by clicking the Load button, you can also Print it at any time, or Delete it as needed. (See image below for each of these functions)
2. Customer Notes - If you open the Customer (by clicking on the name in the Register) you can add Notes that will display in this panel. This area is useful for reminders, such as club membership, birthdays, etc.
3. Account Balance - If the Customer has a balance, it will display here; numbers like those pictured below are for a Balance Owed, and a negative number represents a Credit Balance. Clicking on the balance will add it to the Register as a line item, either to be paid or as a credit to whatever is being purchased. NOTE: If the Customer has a credit balance larger than the transaction total, we highly recommend NOT adding the credit to the Register in this way. Instead, use On Account as a payment method, which will allow you to use only the part of the credit balance needed. If it is loaded as a line item and exceeds the transaction total, you will owe the customer change.
4. Reward Coupons - If the Customer has any Reward Coupons that are available for use, they will appear here. You can click on the coupon to add it to the Register, and it will appear as a Discount. Clicking the % button in the Register will show you details about the Reward Coupon.
5. Layaways - Any active Layaways for the Customer will be listed. You can start a new one by clicking the +. The Customer can make a payment if you click the Pay button, and that payment will go into the register as a line item with any late fees accrued, or the customer can pay off the entire Layaway if you click the Pick Up button. You can learn more about how to work with Layaways by clicking here.
6. Special Orders - If a Customer wants you to order them an item from one of your Vendors, you can click the + to create a Special Order. Please note that if you are not using our Purchase Order system, you will NOT want to use Special Orders, since each must be associated with a Purchase Order and then received in order to be picked up from the Register. You can view any active Special Order for the Customer by clicking on the Order Number, and once it has been received, you can click the Pick Up button to add the item to the Register. Click here to learn more about how to process Special Orders.
7. Work Orders - If the customers have any Work Orders that are in process or ready to be picked up, they will appear in this area. You can click on the Work Order listing to add it to the Register. Click here to learn more about Work Orders.
8. Search - The Search module for the Customer Actions is robust, and allows you to search for specific transaction or items, just enter a Transaction ID (or scan a receipt barcode) or enter keywords for products or scan a product barcode label. The list will filter down to display only the items that match the search.
9. Transactions - A list of the customer's Transactions is in this area, with the most recent at the top. You can click on any of them to view the transaction details.
10. Rentals - If the Customer has any Rentals that are currently Out or Overdue, they will be listed here. Rentals that are Out will display that in green, and Overdue Rentals will display in red, either can be adjusted by clicking the Edit button to alter the terms of the Rental. You can click the Return button to complete payment on the Rental. The Rental will be loaded into the Register as a line item and can be paid for in the normal way. To learn more about how to work with our Rentals system, click here. The Rentals module is available for all clients on our Plus service package for Point of Sale.

Primary Register Functions

Below the Customer area, you have several important functions:

1. 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.
   
2. Notes, Gift Cards, and Rentals - This tool allows you to enter Notes as needed that will print out on the receipt and will pop up automatically if you later open the transaction. 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 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.
3. Clerk Notification Text - If you go to the far right side of our blue Admin Toolbar at the top of the page and click on the gear-shaped button and go to Settings > POS Settings, you can enter reminder text or news of which you want your sales clerks to stay mindful. That Notification Text displays in this area.

Register Line Items

When you add products 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:

1. Title - Whether it's a product, a Work Order, or some other item, the title will be clear, and you can click on the Title 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.
2. 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.
3. Quantity - By default, the quantity will be 1, but you can click on this box to change the Quantity as needed.
4. 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 blue + button next to the product search area and you'll see the following panel 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Till - You can click on the current Till to change to a different one very quickly. This can especially be useful if you have a Tax-Exempt or Out of State till and you are taking a phone order that will be shipped out of state.
5. Discount - Clicking the Percentile 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.
6. Tax - Clicking the Minus 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 Minus button changes to a Plus button and you can re-add the tax again if needed.
7. Shipping - If you will be Shipping the order, you can click the Truck button to open the Shipping panel (see image below in the Shipping section for specifics).
8. 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).
9. 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).
10. Cancel or Complete Transaction - 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. 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.

1. Shipping Info - When you open the Shipping panel by clicking the Truck 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Suspending Transactions

At any time prior to adding payment methods to a transaction, you can click the Pause button to suspend it. It is highly recommended to have a Customer name loaded into the transaction before suspending so that it will be easier to find and re-open later. Transactions suspended this way can be safely kept for up to four weeks, but are not meant to be permanently stored. If you need to permanently save a transaction, click on the Customer Actions icons in the upper right of the Register and click the Plus button for Quotes to save the transaction as a Quote.

Once you have suspended a transaction, the Pause button will change to a Play button, and you can click that to reopen any suspended transaction in your list (see below). Take care when reopening suspended transactions! Once you reopen one it is no longer in your Suspended list. You must re-suspend it if you will not be completing it immediately, or you will lose it forever. Once you have lost a suspended transaction, there is no way for us to get it back for you, so please be careful.

Processing Payments

The Rain System offers a myriad of 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 not using our integrated debit and credit card processing, you will see a panel open like the one shown below 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.

Integrated Card Processing - If you are using our integrated processing, you'll see the interface below 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. 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. 

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 - 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. NOTE: 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 click the green checkmark button to 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. Here is a sample receipt from our example transaction:

Coming Up Next: Learn how to do other Register operations, such as Returns and Voids, as well as how to find and make adjustments to completed transactions.

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