# Using the Register (POS)

The register is the counter point of sale, at **Admin → POS** (`/admin/pos`). It's designed for a tablet at the till. Anyone with Cashier access or above can use it.

## Setting up the till

1. On the tablet, sign in to ForkLine with a **Cashier** (or higher) account. This answers *which restaurant this register belongs to* and is done once — not once per shift.
2. Go to **Admin → POS**.
3. **Install it to the home screen** — iPad: *Share → Add to Home Screen* with the POS open; Android Chrome: *Install app*. You get a full-screen register with no address bar.
4. If several people work the till, set up [Register Accounts](/register-accounts) so each sale is attributed to whoever rang it.

## Ringing up an order

1. **Choose the order type** — **Counter** for a walk-in, **Phone** for an order called in. (The difference matters; see below.)
2. **Tap items** to add them. Filter by category; sections can carry colors to make them easier to spot — see [Managing Your Menu](/menu-management).
3. **Choose modifiers** when prompted.
4. **Attach the customer** if you want — a name, and an email for a receipt or [rewards](/rewards). The register doesn't ask for a phone number.
5. **Schedule a pickup time** if it isn't for now.
6. **Take payment.**

### Counter vs Phone

This is the one thing to get right.

**Counter** is a draft until it's paid. Nothing goes to the kitchen, no ticket prints, and no order number is spent until payment succeeds. So a cancelled payment leaves no half-made food and no gap in your numbering.

**Phone** fires immediately. The customer isn't standing there to pay, so the order goes to the kitchen at once, prints its ticket, and stays unpaid until they collect. It's a real order the moment you create it.

> Because a phone order is real, **"Start new order" won't cancel it.** The till clears and the order stays live under the **Unpaid** chip. That's deliberate — someone is cooking it.

## Taking payment

Choose the tender when money changes hands, not at ring-up:

**Card** — sends the total to the card reader. The customer completes it on the reader. See the prompt sequence below.

**Cash** — enter what they handed you; ForkLine calculates change and opens the [cash drawer](/cash-drawer).

**Phone** — not a tender. No payment is taken now.

## What the customer sees on the reader

For a card payment, the reader walks them through:

1. **Tip** — if you have tipping on. See [Tipping](/tipping).
2. **Receipt** — print, email, or none.
3. **Rewards** — if you run a program, the order earns points, and they aren't already a member, they can enter their email themselves. See [Rewards & Loyalty](/rewards).

They type their own email on the reader, so nobody reads an address aloud across a queue.

Steps are skipped when they don't apply — someone who just gave an email for a receipt isn't asked again for rewards.

## Recalling an unpaid ticket

Phone orders and online pay-at-pickup orders wait to be paid. The **Unpaid · N** chip at the top of the register lists them.

1. Tap **Unpaid**.
2. Search by name, email, phone, or order number.
3. Tap the ticket to load it.
4. Take **card** or **cash** as normal.

If you never take phone or pay-at-pickup orders, the chip won't appear.

## Discounts

Apply a percentage off the whole ticket, or discount a single line.

1. Choose the discount.
2. Enter the amount and a **reason** (required — it's what makes the discount report readable later).
3. Approve it if your store requires manager approval.

Depending on setup, discounts and custom off-menu items need a manager's approval. A manager with a [register passcode](/register-accounts) approves with their passcode, and the approval is recorded against them by name. Stores without register accounts use a shared manager password instead.

Ticket discounts reduce tax proportionally, so the screen and the charge always agree — a discount on a ticket mixing taxable and non-taxable items is calculated correctly.

## Opening the drawer without a sale

Use **Open drawer** to make change. It's recorded, so there's a record of who opened it and when. See [Cash Drawer](/cash-drawer).

## Troubleshooting

**The reader isn't responding.** Check it's powered and on the same network. Re-pair from **Settings → Payments** if needed.

**A payment is stuck.** Check the reader's screen — it may be waiting on the customer. Stuck payments raise an alert on the [dashboard](/dashboard).

**The drawer won't open.** See [Cash Drawer](/cash-drawer) → *Troubleshooting*. Nine times out of ten it's the cable.

**A cashier is locked out.** Five wrong passcodes locks an account for five minutes. See [Register Accounts](/register-accounts).

## Where to go next

- [Register Accounts](/register-accounts) — passcodes and attribution
- [Cash Drawer](/cash-drawer)
- [Tipping](/tipping)
- [Managing Orders](/orders)
- [Tables & Dine-In](/tables-and-dine-in)